What if YOU had to send people overboard to their death, even though it meant saving others' lives? Wouldn't your conscience bug you for the rest of your life? You'd be haunted by the image of them slipping away into the deep....
Anyway, that's what makes this such a powerful movie: the prospect of "what if?"
Honestly, it really wouldnt bother me. Kind of like a cop having to kill. Its tough but it had to be done. I didnt create the situation and i would do what i can to save the masses. Later on thats what i would concentrate my thoughts on. Not rhose lost. They were out of my hands
shareHonestly, I don't think you can possibly know how you would feel in this situation. Of course, you would have to focus on the necessity of what you did to live with yourself...that doesn't mean it wouldn't haunt you for the rest of your life. It's nothing like a cop having to kill. Cops don't shoot the hostages first. In the logic of this film, the innocents are sacrificed to the sea, while the morally culpable are allowed to live because they are stronger.
shareIt would tear me apart for the rest of my life. The logic of sacrificing a few, even if they probably wouldn't have made it anyway, to save more is all very well, but it's not there at two in the morning when you can see their faces every time you shut your eyes.
I don't think it's at all the same as police who have to kill - that's usually in the heat of the moment, and usually only an aggressor, or somebody who's a serious threat to others would be shot - the police wouldn't shoot the little old lady sitting at the end of the street (I hope).
*spoiler*
I think that's why he (and you) sees a hazy image of those he's given up at the end - it's an indication of what life will now be like for him.