How is loss a central theme in the poem, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald?” Why is it important to remember these men? 

Loss is a central theme due to the event that they are telling us a story – death was inevitable and for this crew, they were doomed on this voyage. The ballad describes how the ship’s slow and gloomy death, towards its end from the very beginning. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship in North America’s great lakes – with her loss in the Lake Superior came the loss of her men. The workers on this voyage were everyday people that one would know – good, hard-working men that were simply doing their jobs and providing for their families, as is said here, “With a crew and good captain well-seasoned” (12, Lightfoot). They were simply doing their duty as husbands and fathers when having perished. 29 deaths – 29 men. It was surely a terrifying death, with a tragic end, when having faced the storm, they stared into the eyes of death itself, “The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound… And a wave broke over the railing… And every man knew, as the captain did too… T’was the witch of November come stealin‘…” (17, 18, 19, 20, Lightfoot), so they knew that their end was nigh. And when their end came, their families were left behind, having lost the central male figures in their lives, “And all that remains is the faces and the names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters” (39, 40, Lightfoot). Now what is important is the fact that the victims of the storms were innocent people – and they should be remembered for having shown bravery in the face of death.