PART 1
Intro
Cast Away, directed by Robert Zemeckis, stars Tom Hanks who uses his psychological instincts to survive on an island with no civilization. Tom Hanks, known as Chuck, daily satisfies his human needs as he is faced with the reality that he may never be rescued. Analyzing Chuck’s behavior on the island is evidence that humans adhere to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as wells as concepts such as external perceived locus of control, autonomy and persona. Chuck must primarily seek food and shelter while also fulfilling his transcendent needs as a means of survival.
Summary of the film
Chuck Nolan, a worker for the Federal Express, spent most of his time working and loving his girlfriend Kelly. She was his world and he was eager to move towards marriage with her. On an afternoon flight to deliver FedEx packages over seas, a fierce storms takes down Chuck’s plane. Chuck, the only crash survivor washes up on a nearby shore. Realizing that his chances of being found are slim to none, he is forced to find ways of survival on the tropical island. He uses items from FedEx packages as well as natural items from the island to obtain food, build a bed and comfort himself. One box contains a pair of ice skates that are profitable for using as an axe. His most prized possessions that keep him alive in spirit are the volleyball (his companion) which he called ‘Wilson,’ a box marked with a pair of wings, a picture of Kelly and a watch given to him by her. For years, Chuck develops a knack for gathering food, building fires, and collecting drinking water. Chuck struggles daily with the idea of loneliness and even attempts suicide, but he continues pressing forward. On another ordinary day, Chuck comes across a pair of plastic walls from a port-a-potty and originates the idea of using them to build an escape raft. He uses resources from the FedEx packages as well as trees trunk to form a durable raft. His journey of escape begins with the thought that he would rather die at sea than live alone on the island for the rest of his life. Chuck brings along his companion Wilson, who he has grown deeply attached to. At sea, during a brutal storm, Wilson falls overboard and Chuck struggles between the decision of losing Wilson or losing his raft. He chooses to save his raft and continue his escape journey. As Chuck’s hope reaches rock bottom, he is approached by a massive ship that nearly takes him under but instead ultimately rescues him. When Chuck returns back home, he finds out that his beloved Kelly is married to another man and has children. Chuck and Kelly finally meet to discuss life and catch up on the past four years they have been apart. Even though the two previous lovers realize their undying love for each other, Chuck knows that Kelly must continue on with her new life and he must attempt to reconstruct of new life of his own. After all the years Chuck spent reflecting on the idea that he would never have Kelly again, he comes to the conclusion that “[He] had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope, and all [his] logic said that [he] would never see her again. So that’s what [he] did. [He] stayed alive. [He] kept breathing. [He’s] so sad to say [he doesn’t] have her, yet [he’s] so grateful that she was with him… And now [he] know[s] what [he] have to do now. [He’s] gotta keep breathing, because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”
Discuss the psychological concept(s) using your research (define and describe the topic)
Throughout the movie Cast Away, many psychological concepts are displayed. For example, the idea of autonomy. When Chuck was stranded on a forgotten island, he did not feel a sense of self-government or community. In fact, Chuck felt the complete opposite. He was lacking in the area of autonomy because he felt as though he had no sense of control over anything. Not the weather, if he got food, or if anyone ever came to save him. He could not sway any of these things because he was all alone and abandoned. Another aspect of psychology the film Cast Away addresses is external perceived locus of control. Chuck clearly had an external perceived locus of control because initially he was being restrained by the environment rather than having his circumstances be based off of his behaviors and choices (internal perceived locus of control). He had very little perceived choice over his food source, health, or the weather while he was on the island. He did everything he needed in order to survive, which ties into Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. To reach total self-transcendence of morality and acceptance, Chuck first focused on his physiological needs such as food, water, and sleep. When faced with a strong appetite, he had to develop skills in order to meet his need for hunger. Next on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Chuck essentially needed the security of feeling safe. He wanted resources, family, health, and answers. Chuck spent many hours contemplating whether he was the only person on this island, and if he wasn’t, what else was there? Also, showers are a daily necessity and without one for a couple weeks, Chuck began to lose all security in his body. Chuck was struggling physically, but most of all Chuck wanted love. On Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, love and belonging fall right in the center. With the thoughts that his soon-to-be fiance is moving on with her life and will never know that Chuck is still alive, he begins to lose all hope that he has family or sexual intimacy ever again. But most of all, he feels as though he has no one. No friends, nothing. In order to fulfill this desire, Chuck creates a persona or personality named Wilson, who becomes his best friend that is in the form of a volleyball. Wilson becomes Chuck’s prime emotional source. He has conversations with Wilson and genuinely cares for his well-being. Lastly, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that esteem is essential to reaching self-actualization/self-transcendence. Considering all the circumstances Chuck has been thrown into, his esteem is fairly low. He lost is girlfriend, he’s all alone on a forgotten island, and his best friend is a volleyball named Wilson. With tackling all of these struggles as best he can, Chuck fundamentally reaches his self-transcendence by using the resources he has to find food, to feel safe in his new environment, to feel compassion and love with a friend, and to reach a confidence from all these things. This essentially leads Chuck to be content and to live his new life on an island. One last example of psychological concepts in the film Cast Away are the ideas of instincts and specifically the fight-or-flight concept. When Chuck is faced with danger and stress, a biological trigger helps him decide whether to stay and fight or get the heck out of there — flight. He is bound by his circumstances to stay and fight against this horrible situation he is in. When Chuck is worried and afraid, his hypothalamus is activated and begins to prep the body for whatever is to come.
Address whether or not the movie presented the psychological topics accurately
In the film Cast Away, the psychological topics are presented accurately. The display of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for Chuck to reach his destination of self transcendence include his struggle for the need of physiological things such as food and water. Chuck also strives for the need to feel safe, to feel loved which causes him to create a persona, Wilson, from a volleyball. Psychologically, Chuck develops this persona from a lack of intimacy. Lastly, Chuck’s esteem is displayed as a roller coaster from the beginning of the story and throughout. Going through all these struggles and needs, Chuck will finally reach the destination of self-transcendence. Another psychological concept that is displayed in the film is the idea of external perceived locus of control. Resulting in being stranded on an island, Chuck is not really in control of anything, rather his environment is. He did not feel a sense of community or self-government of anything which displays the insufficiency of autonomy. This is a perfect example of external perceived locus of control and autonomy combined. The idea of fight-or-flight instincts in Chuck’s situation are presented very well and demonstrate both the “fighting” and the external perceived locus of control controlling his circumstances.
Conclusion
In the film, Cast Away, Tom Hanks presents a character named Chuck Nolan who is tragically stranded on an island with nothing but his instincts to survive. Chuck must daily satisfy his needs of food, safety, and loneliness. Looking at his situation, Chuck displays a perfect example of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Chuck will also adhere to external locus of control, autonomy and lastly, persona. To fulfill his need for friendship, Chuck will create a friend named Wilson from a volleyball. In doing all these things, he will reach the destination of self-transcendence as a measure to survive this tragedy.
Sources:
http://www.psyartjournal.com/article/show/h_ingram-of_time_narrative_and_cast_away
PART 2
- Just as Chuck demonstrated in the film, humans have a strong desire and need for relationships and love. Chuck went to the extreme of creating a non-living companion in order to fulfill his needs. This blog discusses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the ways that Twitter satisfies our needs for friendship and belonging. Twitter gives humans a chance to connect with other people around the world. http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/2009/10/06/why-are-we-using-twitter-anyway/
- This post explains ways of being successful in life with internal locus of control rather than external locus of control. Throughout Cast Away, Chuck displays an external locus of control. With an external locus of control, you believe you have no control over your situations. According to the post, a person with this type of control believes that their failure has everything to do with outside influences and nothing to do with his or herself. Chuck does not believe he has control of his situation, which could be the reason he doesn’t escape off the island until four years after the plane crash. http://www.2knowmyself.com/Success/how_to_be_successful_in_life
- This article from the Office of Educational Technology talks about how autonomy must be respected in the medical field. Doctors must not force any opinions onto the patient when the patient is making medical decisions for him of herself. Autonomy is just the right to govern one’s self. In Cast Away, we see Chuck demonstrating autonomy. Chuck was the only one on the island, so ultimately he had to demonstrate autonomy in order to survive. There were no other opinions surrounding him other than his own, unlike the opinions of doctors that could be expressed in a medical setting. http://missinglink.ucsf.edu/lm/ethics/Content%20Pages/fast_fact_auton_bene.htm
- Someone took one of the most profound quotes from the film Cast Away and posted on their blog about what it meant to them. The quote specifically talks about how loneliness can truly affect someone and trying to find love, hope and peace somewhere else. Every person is like this at some point, and Chuck is a great example of feeling completely alone. One of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is love/belonging and Chuck displays the need for this and it is evident in the quote. http://www.jamesindigital.com/just-a-cast-away-off-your-shore/
- This voiceover in the show One Tree Hill talks about life and how we don’t need to focus on the disappointments in life because there will be days when there is darkness and we feel as if there is no hope. Chuck felt this way to the extreme when he was stranded on the island. But also he realizes that every day is a gift and to take everyday as it comes, he recognizes that “every day won’t be sunny,” because “who knows that the tide could bring?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ey-TcUET9c
- In this article, the details of human survival instincts are discussed and explained. Chuck obviously had to use much of his human survival instincts to survive because it was not his choice to be on an island with no help and no means to survive but with his own knowledge. Our human instincts can have such an impact on us, more so than we even know and like in Chuck’s case, they can save us. http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/wired-for-survival1.htm
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