Why Did Rose Throw The Necklace In The Ocean At The End Of Titanic?
As the highest-grossing movie when it came out for quite a while, it's natural "Titanic" has sparked numerous cultural discussions. The biggest one to puncture the zeitgeist is how they're definitely was room for Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) on the piece of wreckage Rose (Kate Winslet) was floating on. However, there's another mystery lurking in "Titanic," and it all has to do with the Heart of the Ocean.
The necklace is the driving force in the movie, as the crew searches for it amongst the wreckage and brings in older Rose (Gloria Stuart) to aid them. She tells them the story of her time on the Titanic but doesn't reveal she had the necklace the entire time. Instead of handing it over, she drops it into the ocean, likely never to be found again.
Many have likely wondered why Rose would throw away such a valuable piece of jewelry. But her holding onto it for all those years, combined with giving it away at the end, really cements her character arc in the film.
Rose letting go of the necklace is her letting go of Jack
Why did Rose throw the necklace into the ocean? After the ship sank and she was rescued, she was brought back as a nameless immigrant, and surely, the necklace would've helped her financially. However, the necklace meant more to her than a way to make some quick cash. It symbolizes her love for Jack. She had gotten married later in life, but her holding onto that piece meant she never extinguished the flame she had for him.
As for dropping it in the ocean, it represents her finally letting go of Jack in the most appropriate way. Giving the Heart of the Ocean to someone else to sell or keep in a glass case wasn't good enough for Jack's memory. It deserved to go where Jack's life ended, forever cementing it as someone that belonged solely to him and her. And once she let go of Jack, there was nothing else for her to live for. She dies not too long after and is reunited with Jack in the afterlife.
The symbolism of the Heart of the Ocean literally being Rose's heart could've been made a lot clearer in an alternate ending for "Titanic." In it, crew members would've seen Rose dropping the necklace into the sea and her explicitly stating why she has to let it go. It would've made things a lot clearer why Rose did what she did to the audience. In the version we got, the message is subtler but significantly more powerful than just stating the movie's themes.