CAST AWAY

Introduction

Cast Away which is directed by Robert Zemeckis, stars Tom Hanks who has to use
his psychological instincts to survive on an island which is uninhabited. In the
start, Tom Hanks who is known as Chuck in the movie had hopes of being rescued
but as time progressed, that hope was lost but he never lost the desire to one day
return back home. Chuck’s behaviours are governed by Theory of Maslow’s
Needs. Chuck primarily seeks food and shelter for fulfilling his basic needs of
survival. Eventually, his need for social interaction arises.

Main Concepts

Throughout the movie, many psychological concepts are showcased. For an

example the idea of autonomy. Chuck being stranded on a forgotten island he
couldn’t / didn’t feel a sense of self-government or community. He didn’t have any
control over the weather, food, water and shelter. Swaying any of these things
wasn’t possible as he was alone and abandoned. Chuck did everything he needed
in order to survive, which relates to Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs. In
order to reach a state of total control over morality and acceptance, Chuck first
focused on his physiological needs such as food, water and rest. Chuck needed a
feeling of security. He wanted to know whether was he the only person on the
island?! and if he weren’t who was?
Once he got used to the island and the new way of living all that was left was the
need for social interaction. Coming to the Theory of Maslow’s Need, Socials needs
arises on the 3rd list of the needs. Once the first two are satisfied, Chuck feels a
sense of loneliness and a sense of belonging. After scavenging through the
packages which had come with the plane crash. Going through the wreckage he
found a volleyball. Who knew that the sole reason, Chuck would survive the way
he did, was because of that volleyball. Chuck also strives to feel safe and to feel
loved which makes him create a persona being only a figment of his imagination.
Another concept which is displayed in the scene is the idea of external perceived
locus of control because of being stranded on an island, Chuck isn’t really in
control of anything but his environment is.
Social interaction is the main concept of the scene/movie, in order to satisfy this
need he makes a face on the volleyball naming him ‘Wilson’. We can see a symbol
of personification here wherein Chuck personifies the volleyball into a human
being in order to create a person whom he can talk to, to suppress his lack of social
interaction... What we can see Chuck doing is that he projects his own thoughts on
Wilson (volleyball) and then to make it seem that Wilson is talking, adds the other
half of the conversation in his head. Conversations are made between the two i.e.:
Chuck and Wilson in order to convey his feelings and most importantly to maintain
a level of psychological/mental stability so that he doesn’t end up killing himself.
Elaine Cassel “ states that these depictions of people are created in order to fulfil a
person’s need for social interactions, which is the third level of Maslow’s
Hierarchy of needs.”
Another aspect which is seen is PTSD which is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The series of events which Chuck goes through puts an intense pressure of
remoteness and discomfort for which he seeks his sense of belonging and
togetherness in a volleyball “Wilson”.
We can clearly see in the clip that Chuck is going through a mental breakdown. He
can be seen arguing with Wilson ( volleyball ) and shouting at him. Wilson in the
movie is the ‘voice’ opposite to that of whatever Chuck is thinking or saying.
Wilsons is Chuck’s inner thought or voice, doubt, the imagination that Chuck has
given himself to verbally associate with. Wilson is used as a plot device in the
movie to make the audience hear the actor’s/Chuck’s voice simply otherwise it
would seem that Chuck is rambling to himself. In the above clip, we can see that
Chuck for a moment realizes or acknowledges the fact that he is talking to a
volleyball and not a person. Seeing this he gets angry at Wilson (the volleyball)
and throws him out of the little space which was there in the cave. A moment later
he realizes his sense of insecurity and then panicked thinking that he had lost
Wilson, who was his only friend on the remote island. Basically who was
accompanying him on his lonely journey. He then goes out in search of Wilson.
The psychology what can be derived from this incident is that Chuck realizing that
if he is unable to find Wilson, he will never make it back home alive. He is so
mentally attached to Wilson that the mere absence of Wilson’s presence will make
him cross the thin line between him being mentally stable to sanity. We can say
that Wilson was that very thin line. Also when he is able to find Wilson stuck
between a rock, it gives Chuck a sense of sanity and restores a state of mental
stability. He then brings back Wilson to cave. Chuck then is in a sorry state for his
above action and keeps apologizing to Wilson and says that he would never do or
repeat such a thing again.
Nature

Interpersonal communication involves Interdependent Individuals – As it is stated

above, it involves two or more individuals. Here the two individuals are Chuck and
the other being Chuck talking to himself in the form of Wilson. Chuck lives under
the illusion that Wilson (the volleyball) is actually a person. Hence the
interaction/communication between the two is possible. Not only Chuck and
Wilson are “connected” but they are also interdependent. The volleyball cannot
speak for obvious reasons but Wilson’s part of communication also comes from
Chuck
Interpersonal communication involves verbal and non-verbal messages- During the
clip we can see various examples such as to give a character to Wilson, Chuck
draws a face on the volleyball so that there is some sort of connection formed
between them. Chuck also stares at Wilson in order to communicate something to
Wilson and this one form of non-verbal communication. But if you look at it in a
general perspective the communication which takes place throughout the scene is
non-verbal from Wilsons side.

Elements

Here Chuck is both the encoder and decoder of the message. Chuck formulates his
side of the message his head and speaks it out and then formulates Wilsons’s side
of the message and does the above again. So basically he is doing all the elements
of communication ie: encoding, sending, channel & medium, decoding, feedback.
Hence the process/cycle is complete.