The Stranger in the Lifeboat

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of death.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What draws you to Albom’s exploration of divine encounter in crisis situations? How does The Stranger in the Lifeboat compare to his other works like The Five People You Meet in Heaven or For One More Day in terms of addressing questions about faith and mortality?

2. The novel presents God as both the mysterious stranger and the little girl Alice. How effective did you find this approach to depicting the divine, and what impact did it have on your understanding of the story’s spiritual themes?

3. Albom structures the narrative through three interwoven perspectives: Benji’s diary entries, LeFleur’s present-day investigation, and news reports. Did this storytelling method enhance or complicate your reading experience?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Both Benji and LeFleur struggle with grief after losing someone they love deeply. How do their different approaches to processing loss resonate with your own understanding of grief?

2. What significance does the stranger’s requirement that “everyone here believes I am who I say I am” hold for you (11)? In your own life, how do doubt and faith coexist when you’re facing difficult circumstances?

3. The lifeboat becomes a place where social hierarchies collapse and Lambert’s wealth means nothing. Have you experienced situations where external markers of status became irrelevant, and how did that shift change the dynamics around you?

4. Benji’s confession that “the church and I parted company years ago” reflects his complicated relationship with faith after disappointment (10). Can you relate to his struggle with believing in divine goodness when faced with personal tragedies?

5. LeFleur finds healing through reading someone else’s story of survival and faith. How has encountering another person’s experience of hardship or spiritual journey influenced your own perspective on difficult times in your life?

6. The novel explores how we cope with guilt over things we didn’t do to help others, as seen in Benji’s regret about not stopping Dobby’s planned revenge. When have you grappled with responsibility for events you might have prevented but didn’t?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Lambert’s gathering of the brightest, wealthiest, most influential people on the Galaxy reflects real-world elite summits and exclusive gatherings. How does Albom’s portrayal of this wealthy class and their ultimate fate comment on contemporary discussions about privilege and social responsibility?

2. The contrast between the yacht’s crew members and its wealthy guests becomes meaningless in the lifeboat, where survival depends on cooperation rather than status. What does this dynamic reveal about the artificial nature of social hierarchies?

3. Benji’s initial plan for revenge against the wealthy passengers stems from his belief that they “think they can gather like lords of the planet, decide what’s good for the rest of us” (119). How does this sentiment reflect current tensions between different economic classes in society?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Benji’s role as an unreliable narrator becomes clear when we learn about his confabulation and altered memories. How does Albom use this narrative device to explore themes of trauma, guilt, and the stories we tell ourselves to cope with unbearable truths?

2. How does the recurring motif of three days connect to biblical symbolism? Consider the stranger’s appearance after three days at sea, the traditional three days of Jesus in the tomb, and how this timeframe functions in the story’s spiritual framework.

3. The sea serves as more than just a setting in this novel. How does Albom develop water as a symbol of both chaos and cleansing, death and rebirth, throughout Benji’s journey from despair to acceptance?

4. The revelation that Alice is the true Lord reverses ideas about divine presence in the story. What literary techniques does Albom use to prepare for this twist while keeping it genuinely surprising?

5. The episodic structure shifts between past diary entries, present investigation, and news reports from the time of the wreck. How does this fragmented storytelling mirror the characters’ fragmented understanding of truth and their gradual movement toward clarity?

6. Prayer appears as both direct address to the stranger and Benji’s written words to Annabelle in his diary. In what ways does Albom use these different forms of communication to explore how people seek connection with what they’ve lost?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine you’re designing a memorial for the Galaxy victims that would be meaningful to both the wealthy passengers and the working crew members. What elements would you include to honor the different lives lost while acknowledging their shared humanity in death?

2. The novel ends with Benji’s transformation from someone seeking revenge to someone offering hope to others through his diary. If you could write an additional chapter showing Benji helping another grieving person years later, what situation would you create for him to share his hard-won wisdom?

3. Picture yourself as the sole survivor in the lifeboat after everyone else has died, facing the same choice Benji confronted about whether to believe Alice’s claim to be the Lord. What internal struggle would you experience, and what would ultimately convince you one way or the other?