The Stranger In The Lifeboat is a book written by Mitch Albom. Mitch is an American writer, a musician, and a journalist. He has been associated with many sports writing content in the early part of his career. A staggering 40 million copies of his work have been sold worldwide. He is most famous for writing on inspirational themes that have garnered many audiences. His music-related articles are still a portion of his earnings. Moreover, he is the most awarded sports journalist of his era. Ever since he turned into an author, a series of books came out, for example, Tuesdays With Morrie, The Five People You Meet In Heaven, For One More Day, The Time Keeper, and The Stranger In The Lifeboat.
The book which we will discuss, The Stranger In The Lifeboat, came out in 2021 by Harper and became the #1 New York Best Times seller in its first week. The story of Benji Keaney, who is seen as a very complex character, is keeping a guilty secret. A sort of accusation that has kept him in the dark, and it scares him. The story deals with the situation of 10 strangers when they are left with the lifeboat after the explosion on the cruise ship. Is he behind the complacency which led to the outbreak? He was just a low-ranked crew member of the luxury cruise ship where several died. An intriguing storyline that has a lot of answers.
So let’s find out what happened.
The Stranger In The Lifeboat- Ending Explained
The story starts with Benji, shown as a kind-hearted man who loves his wife. He is a crew member of a luxury ship called Galaxy. Half of the guests were invited by a mega-rich man. The book is written in a second-person perspective and is dedicated to someone called Annabelle. The book describes the events by Benji, what happened in the lifeboat, and his involvement in the ship’s sinking. The notebook was first discovered by a police officer named Lefleur. Lefleur is unhappy with his life and his relationship with his wife. They both are mourning because of the sudden demise of their child. However, upon receiving the book, Lefleur is captivated by all the events Benji mentioned.
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Benji and Lefleur are both narrators of the story. Benji is the one describing the incident, and Lefleur is the one answering the incidents. After the ship sinks, nine people are left on a lifeboat. Three days pass, and the people struggle with food and water. Suddenly, they see a man floating without any lifejacket, supported by the waves, as if casually. They call him and help him get on the boat. He claims to be a god after all the passengers ask the Lord for help. Benji recorded each day in his notebook and expressed his guilt for causing the explosion to happen.
Ending Explained
Mitch has greatly written this masterpiece in a way that forces readers to feel the themes in the story. Why do people believe in god? When do people believe in god? Is it only when people are in trouble they ask god for help? Grief, empathy, love, and guilt, among many others, are the main themes of this book. Mitch has written this story so that it is up to the readers to decide what is right and what is wrong. The connection of human emotions through various life incidents of people is what the story is about. Mitch wants you to connect to all of it, feel it, and then say how you see the world. Because when the lifeboat was found at the end of the shore, there was not a single person present except Benji’s notebook.
The Stranger In The Lifeboat is undoubtedly a thing of beauty, meant for everyone to read.