How does the author convey the terror and despair that the castaways experience while on the lifeboat? For what purpose? Use examples from the text to demonstrate your claims.

What is the primary theme of the novel, and how do the character’s words and actions contribute to this theme?

Compare and contrast the different ways that the survivors interact with the stranger calling himself the Lord. How do their opinions of the stranger affect their actions on the boat, if at all? Do their interactions with the stranger have anything to do with their deaths if they die?

How does Benji’s attitude toward death and his own mortality change from the moment of his first being dragged aboard the lifeboat to his eventual survival and landing in Montserrat?

Compare the stories relayed in the novel to those relayed in the Bible. How are they similar? Different? For what purpose?

Choose three symbols in the novel and explain their function in service of one of the main themes.

According to the novel, is the purpose of one’s life to build a place of refuge and peace in a world of chaos, or to build a place of isolation where one can hide away from the real world? Use examples to support your view.

How do Geri and Lambert act as foils for one another? What do their differences in character and action say about the human condition, especially under pressure and mortal danger?