The Stranger in the Lifeboat

On the most obvious level the sea is a symbol of death in the story since it quite literally causes almost every death that occurs over the course of the castaways’ time in the lifeboat. A few of the group die from wounds sustained from the shipwreck itself, and Jean Philippe almost seems to die of a broken heart after the death of his wife, but the sea is the direct cause of the majority of the deaths. Some drown, some succumb to drinking the seawater, and some are even killed by the sharks that persistently follow them.

At a deeper lever, however, the sea is symbolic of death because of it represents the chaos of the castaways own hearts and serves as a metaphor for the cold and dark prospect of their impending doom. Considering the sea as a symbol of chaos and death is, however, a reality almost as old as recorded history itself. The ancient Israelites for instance, along with the rest of their Ancient Near Eastern neighbors, spoke of the sea as the realm of death and the powers of chaos (so much so that the author of the New Testament book of Revelation speaks about a vision of heaven as a place in which there is no more sea). The only survivor of the wreck is not even rescued while at sea but needs to reach land to find salvation.