REVIEW: The Watch that Ends the Night by Allan Wolf

Allan Wolf’s The Watch that Ends the Night is a YA historical fiction novel in verse that brings to life the chronology of the Titanic’s maiden voyage and tragic sinking. This haunting novel takes place in April 1912 and is separated into nine parts, detailing the ship’s journey from its proud and optimistic departure to its devastating and disastrous aftermath. Wolf utilizes twenty-five distinct ‘voices’, ranging from the millionaire John Jacob Astor to overlooked figures like refugees, postmen, and bakers. Wolf even writes from the perspective of a ship rat and personifies the iceberg into an omnipotent antagonist. The book includes extensive back matter, including a section named "RMS Titanic Miscellany" filled with fascinating, fun facts such as the weight of the iceberg to the number of dogs on the ship. Wolf also includes a bibliography that offers a fascinating look at the primary and secondary sources used to research the novel.

The tone of The Watch that Ends the Night is hauntingly authentic due to Wolf’s meticulous inclusion of primary source elements like telegrams and Morse code. The book explores themes of man’s hubris, the inevitability of fate and death, and man versus nature. By focusing on the diversity of the passengers on the ship, the theme of shared humanity is highlighted as people on the ship may feel they have nothing in common, but will all experience the tragedy of the ship's sinking, no matter their social class or race. While deeply emotionally impactful, the novel is also incredibly informational. Wolf's expert inclusion of historical details helps students authentically learn about social class and the Second Industrial Revolution.

Wolf’s use of poetic elements is masterful. He uses alliteration, "children clamor" and onomatopoeia, "clickety-clack" to immerse the reader in the physical world of the ship through sound. The ship’s rat is not personified, but sense imagery is used to bring him to life as he scurries on the ship’s floor, "scuttle, scuttle/sniff sniff…food.”

Wolf uses sound for characterization as well. He creates a staccato rhythm for the work of the postman as the postman's poems are crafted with the staccato sound of the monotonous postal room “Sort. Shuffle-shuffle. Slot. Shuffle-shuffle. / Sort. Sort. Shuffle-shuffle. Slot. Shuffle-shuffle.” This rhythm is turned on its head when, later in the novel, we see the postman as he fights for survival in the icy ocean after the ship sinks, "Paddle. Float. Gasp. Shiver.” The postman's staccato rhythm evolves from monotonous sounds of the mailroom, where nothing happens, to urgent and eerie as he fights for survival in the freezing sea. 

Dramatic irony is used throughout the novel as characters plan their lives and hope for a better future, all the while the reader knows they will most likely not survive. The tragic sinking of the ship will emotionally impact teen readers as they see through the eyes of the historical passengers' perspectives. One poem is hard to select to exemplify the novel, as it is written from so many perspectives, but I selected a poem from the iceberg as it encapsulates the themes of the novel, and the iceberg itself serves as the omnipotent narrator of the tragic voyage. The repetition, “I am the ice” and “Come sunrise,” feel like an ancient chant as the unfeeling iceberg describes the lives and fates of the passengers and coldly foreshadows the impending sinking of the ship.

 The Iceberg

I am the ice. I have no need of sleep.

Why do the humans crave it as they do?

While they and I’ve a secret tryst to keep,

I will not rest. There is no time to lose.

Onshore a young boy dreams himself a man.

Another youngster dreams of a future home.

A toddler dreams of chocolate eggs to eat.

A restless girl dreams of soldiers in pursuit.

A gambler dreams a trick of all one suit.

On board the lookouts rest their weary eyes,

for sleep is precious rare when out at sea. 

The uniformed fifth officer, awake,

awaits the bells that end the midnight watch.

At White Star dock, Southampton’s crowning jewel,

Titanic, finally settles down to sleep:

The pantries stocked, the coal bins full of fuel,

the crew recruitment list at last complete.

Come sunrise they’ll arrive from near and far.

Come sunrise they’ll arrive from every port,

by railway, horse-drawn cab, or motorcar.

Come sunrise they will rush to climb aboard.

For now, her engines dumb, Titanic waits.

She waits dim-witted, slow, colossal brute,

to carry on her back her human freight.

I am the ice; I am of water made.

That’s why it’s now of water that I speak:

watch how the water licks Titanic’s hull.

Hear how the water makes her rivets creak.

See how, before her trip even begins,

the water is obsessed with getting in.

To introduce this poem to students, I would work with the history teachers and pair it with a nonfiction social studies unit on the Titanic. To start, I will have students read the poem aloud, a different student will read the line for each of the characters mentioned (for example, one student will read the line for the gambler and one for the toddler, etc.) Through participating in a group reading of ‘The Iceberg,’ students will become immersed in the reality of the diversity on the ship, and the voices will come to life. By emotionally engaging students in history, the event will become more authentic to them as they begin their research.

This haunting, emotional novel is a great way to get students to feel that history really happened and real lives were lost. Wolf brings the historical passengers to life as the reader is able to hear them speak of their lives, hopes, and dreams. Teens will be engaged to hear new stories of the Titanic passengers and may find one similar to themselves. I highly recommend The Watch that Ends the Night to high school students, as this novel is filled to the brim with readable, accessible history. 

Wolf, A. (2013). The watch that ends the night: Voices from the Titanic. Candlewick Press. ISBN-13: 978-0763663315