Cast Away: Through the lens of philosophy of nature, work and technology!

The movie Cast Away is a potent manifestation of a human’s needs be it his basic needs of food, water and sex or his social needs of companionship and power. But the pursuit to the fulfillment of these needs is the important part to focus on and that is where nature, work and technology come into play. The movie describes the misadventure that Chuck Norris, the protagonist, goes through when he suffers a plane crash and lands up on a deserted island. The story is all about human survival when the protagonist is “cast away” from his hectic life full of modern luxuries. It’s his journey of survival for four long years all by himself.

The turning point in Chuck’s life is the plane crash, the clear implication of power of nature over man and technology. We could infer man’s tussle with nature and its bearings and it was not very pleasing. For example during the crash, till the last minute pilots made relentless efforts but they could not escape the fury of the storm and fell prey to it. When Chuck landed on that deserted island, he was alone with the might of nature and felt very insecure about it. He was unable to accept the daunting power of nature over him. In the night, he was very alert as he did not ‘trust’ nature after all that he went through. When he found out about the falling coconuts, he threw them on the rock to break them and then also tried crushing it with stones but all in vain. It was very clear perhaps due to the long disconnect with nature in his preceding life, he wasn’t having “effective interactions with his environment”. But learning from mistakes, very soon he used ‘technology’ to confront nature. He made tools like screw drivers with rocks to get over his thirst. Next, when it came to food, again Chuck had stressful experience catching fish and crabs also he couldn’t eat them raw. Very clearly the modern man was having a hard time coping up with nature without tools of technology. But then came the significant point when the protagonist created fire. After serious efforts when Chuck was able to make fire, he jumped with elation. His self-esteem boosted. He sang and danced as it fulfilled his need for power over his environment. This was the first instance where he was happy, happy to defeat nature.

Later, in the movie we could see that Chuck realized that he couldn’t survive by constantly batting with nature and thus he had to make peace. We could very clearly see the gradual harmony that came along. During the course of four years, Chuck could loosen up on his addiction with technology which was barring his relationship with the environment. He could now eat fish raw and was very sharp with his hunts. When he gave himself to nature, she taught him to survive.

Very evidently the movie describes the restlessness of man when power and sense of control are taken away from him. It was not necessary the work he did would bring sure shot reward. He couldn’t control the weather, shelter or even food. That lack of control got to him which frustrated him initially. The work he did was very inefficient as he did it as he had to do it. Work caused him anguish both physically and mentally. He hurt himself multiple times while working because he could not adapt to that setup where he did not have control. Though it wasn’t imposed on him by any means, but it was his instinct for survival that ‘forced’ him to do it. And that is why he tried to escape that island in longing of his life where he was the master of his work and life. But again the way to escape was not pre mediated carefully thus he failed. It is interesting to note about human nature here that Chuck craves for the place where work is all about running around here and there with no time for him and loathes the setup where work is about adventure, exploration, reflection and skills to survival. Later in the movie, when he returned back, he told his friend that he attempted to commit suicide but the log of the tree snapped and that’s when he realized he had no sense of autonomy on the island as he didn’t even have the choice to die. He had POWER OVER NOTHING. So he started gelling up with the circumstances and decided to live of that island. He used whatever leftovers that came along with the crash as a way to curb his appetite for technology. Like using the blades of the ice skates as knife, the dress as fish net and the life boat as shelter. And his creative thinking was the sole reason that he could escape that island when he could visualize the huge piece of tin as a mast for his raft. In his innovation spree, he also made a companion out of the volleyball and called him Wilson. He talked to him to banish his loneliness on the island and gradually got very emotionally attached to it.

In his life before the island, where man had invented so many labor saving devices, his labor wasn’t reduced. He did not have time for even proposing to the love of his life while after coming to the island he had all the time in the world to recreate. He painted the caves he lived in and the raft he made. He had the time to contemplate on his life and remember his love and think about her all day which he couldn’t do in all the years he was near her. Earlier he was clasped and choked by the ‘comfortable’ work and now he had the freedom to uncomfortable work, the freedom to survive the way he wants.

According to me, the ‘alienation’ he goes through brings him closer to life and the ultimate reality. No one in the ‘real world’ talks about the ‘alienation’ with nature as they think they have mastered it but surviving alienation from human civilization is considered to be a great achievement, a very human centric approach to survival. I think even this ‘real world’ is not real enough as it is disconnected from nature which is the ultimate reality. And that is why time and again we see nature reminding us of our position with Tsunamis, floods, droughts. Technology is not above nature and can never be. Though it is interesting to see how technology makes our life drastically easier. When Chuck returns from the island and there is a feast for him, the way he looks at the crab legs and the torch which lights fire with one click, he perhaps recollects the tremendous toil he underwent to create those two things and how easy technology has made things. But the trap is, man has made technology his identity which can never be as it is transient and ever changing. It is a superficial mask worn by people to project their power which is negligible in front of the greater forces. It is just a means to pacify the little and mundane things in life and he probably thinks people wouldn’t ever be able to understand that until they go through and moreover survive a life changing event that he went through to know about the greater forces and reality of life.

The movie is a poignant reflection about human nature and provokes the person to think where he is and what environment is he living in. It is an awakening from the materialistic goals of life and an effort to tell people to not be at strife with nature. If time is cyclic, will there be a day where man will go to the same stage where he started from, trapped in a situation where all his arrogance would be shattered and he would learn to live the harder way? No one knows and no one can answer. It was an amazing effort to make people realize that even in this world of comforts we wake up every day in hope that the sun will rise and who knows what the tide could bring, so our life is just gift wrapped in technology our final destination lies in nature. We rise form the womb of nature and will end in its womb in the form of ashes.  Beneath the hustle and bustle of man advancing every day, we are approaching towards our animalistic instincts; we are retreating back in time. Our boastfulness and the bubble created by superficial power will be burst one day. If it could happen to Chuck, it could happen to anyone but not necessarily everyone would survive. Until and unless we learn to respect our environment and come closer to it distancing ourselves with the technology foe, we can never be sure of our life. Technology is a fake assurance to life, the ultimate goal is to be with nature and work in harmony with it.