I've been sick for the past two or three days, and I've found myself watching videos and films about the sinking of the Titanic, and its film adaptations. In one such video, a clip from a podcast (language warning), one of the hosts mocks those who continue to show reverence for the event, imitating people who call the victims of the sinking "poor, lost souls". This got me thinking. Now, my question is not about whether the sinking should still be spoken of with reverence over a century later—my question is, how and why did the victims of the sinking come to be so often referred to as "lost souls"?
I was readily able to find a number of examples online, using Google Search and Google Books, in which the casualties of the Titanic are called "lost souls":
And in my search, I found a very early example from a publication dated just less than a year after the disaster, Herald and Presbyter (January 22, 1913), p. 6.:
The cry of the lost souls who went down with the steamship Titanic startled the world.
I'm wondering if there is perhaps some religious, cultural, or maritime context that I'm missing. Perhaps it simply has to do with the fact that many of the victims' bodies met an unceremonious end, rather than receiving a more traditional, "proper" burial?
An additional note: some time ago, I watched a 1985 Japanese animated film called Night on the Galactic Railroad. In the film, two cats go on a journey aboard a train across the Milky Way galaxy. During the journey, they are briefly joined a tutor and two children who were aboard the Titanic. The train makes a stop at the Christian Heaven, and the tutor and children depart. This would seem to me to give further credence to the possibility that the "lost souls" moniker is connected to an idea of the victims' souls not being properly laid to rest. Any thoughts?
Hi there!
Thanks to the mods for tagging me in this but your question isn't actually a Titanic question, it's a religious question or at least an etymological one. The phrase "lost souls" has no special or unique ties to Titanic, that is, it's used pretty much every time there is unnecessary death or disaster. I'd wager if you googled "famous event lost souls", you'd get hundreds of books, films, articles, etc etc about it. If anything, it's just how western society refers to a mass of dead and at worst- it's maybe just a generic title :)
So the word "souls" and "lost souls" pretty much appeared instantly with Titanic because it's just a common expression. It's all over the early newspapers, following memorials and masses, and literature/media since. Countless articles are available from the proceeding days, all searchable, and many using the term. I'd direct this question to someone more knowledgeable on religions and language. I'd bet it's a lot older than 1912 :)