Cast Away:



Cast Away:

An Interpersonal Communication Perspective

Interpersonal Communication

Prof. Steele

February 26, 2007

I. Introduction

Academy Award winning movie Cast Away (Zemeckis, 2000), tells the story of a Fedex employee, played by actor Tom Hanks, who survived a crash landing and struggled to survive alone in a deserted island for four years. This movie contains several concepts and theories discussed in the readings of Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters (Wood, 2007).

II. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

In 1968, Abraham Maslow created a pyramid that contained the hierarchy of humans needs starting from the most basic to the most abstract. These needs are portrayed throughout the movie Cast Away:

1. Physical Needs for Survival: This is the most basic need in Maslow’s pyramid and is the one humans need for survival like air, food, and sex. This is perhaps the most evident need in the movie. The first thing that Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) did after arriving on the island was search for food and water by attempting to catch fish and crack open coconuts to drink.

2. Safety and Protection Needs: This need says that humans need shelter for survival like a house or in Chuck Noland’s situation, the cave he used to sleep in at nights. He also attempted to make a fire to keep himself warm at nights.

3. Belonging Needs: According to Maslow, Inclusion and Fun are important to the survival of humans. Although Chuck Noland didn’t have anyone to talk to while deserted in the island, he did find a volleyball that he named Wilson and became his good friend. Although a little strange, he did fulfill his need for inclusion and socialization by acquiring conversations with Wilson.

4. Self-Esteem Needs: This need requires for humans to value and respect themselves and also get respect from others. Again, since Chuck Noland didn’t have anyone to talk to in the island he did find respect by talking to Wilson in the scene when he was finally able to start a fire. He continuously bragged and announced on his success of starting a fire after many attempts.

5. Self-Actualization Needs: According to Maslow, this is the most abstract human need. To achieve this need it requires for someone to realize that they have completely mastered a talent and cultivate potentials. Chuck Noland to some extent did reach this human need. At the beginning of the movie he had trouble catching fish, making fires and cutting coconuts but after a few years he had completely mastered his foresting and hunting skills.

III. Forms of Nonlistening

There are six kinds of forms that do not involve real listening in which humans engage frequently in communication. These forms include pseudolistening, monopolizing, selective listening, defensive listening and literal listening.

1. Pseudolistening: When someone pseudolistens that person pretends to be listening by appearing attentive although their minds are probably thinking about something else. Tom Hanks in the movie exemplifies pesudolistening in a scene after he got rescued where all his friends were gathered in his apartment celebrating. He appeared to be attentive but he was really in a daze, probably thinking about his experience in the island or maybe his wife before the accident.

2. Monopolizing: This form of nonlistening is when someone tries to focus the conversation on themselves instead of listening on what another person has to say. In the movie, after the plane crash Tom Hanks was declared dead and after four years of missing his wife had moved on and found another husband. After Tom Hanks was rescued he was supposed to meet with his ex-wife but her new husband showed up instead. Her husband said she was not ready to talk to Tom Hanks yet because a lot was going and she had to clear her thoughts but he failed to ask Tom Hanks how he felt after the rescue and how he felt about the situation about his wife.

3. Selective Listening: When someone listens selective they only focus on parts of a conversation that interest them. Being a workaholic in the movie, Tom Hanks got on the plane on Christmas Eve and failed to listen to his wife’s request to stay home with her instead. Because of selective listening, he got on that plane and was involved in the crash that left him deserted.

4. Defensive Listening: This type of non-listening is when someone believes that the conversation being presented is an attack or a criticism to that certain person. In his deranged state, Tom Hanks got in a fight with his friend volleyball, Wilson, because he believed that the volleyball was insinuating that they were never going to get rescued and they were going to die in the island.

5. Literal Listening: This form of non-listening involves listening for specific literal things and completely ignoring the whole meaning of the conversation. This form is exemplified when Tom Hanks finally goes to visit his ex-wife and talks to her like nothing happened and avoiding the fact that they still had feelings for each other.

IV. Types of Nonverbal Communication

Sometimes people use nonverbal actions to express themselves in a conversation, also people express themselves by the way they dress or look, this is called Nonverbal Communication. In the film there are a few types of nonverbal communications presented.

1. Kinesics: This type of nonverbal communication refers to a person’s body position and motions and how they are used to perceive someone. For example, if someone walks and stands erectly you might perceive that person as confident. In the movie the director used body motions to portray different feelings in the movie. For example, when Tom Hanks hurt his leg with the coral reef he was limping for a while in the film, this showed the audience the amount of pain he was in.

2. Haptics: This type of nonverbal communication is when someone uses touch to express something, for example a kiss or a hug. When Tom Hanks and his ex-wife kiss after four years, haptics showed the audience that they were still very much in love.

3. Physical Appearance: People focus a lot on the way people look. Many times they’re first assumption about someone is by looking at the way they present themselves. In Cast Away, Tom Hanks physical appearance changes a lot. Before the plane crash he looked like an average healthy man but after four years on an island he looked very different. He looked a lot thinner and sunburned. He had a long beard and his hair was now blonde and long. You could infer just by the change of color hair that he had been in the sun for a long time.

4. Environmental Factors: This type of nonverbal communication states how someone’s surroundings affect the way they act and feel. For example a clean room will be more inviting to someone and may make a visitor feel a lot more comfortable. In Cast Away it is clearly shown how the environment of the desolate island affected the way Tom Hanks acted. He became anxious and violent and also delusional when he began to talk to his friend volleyball Wilson.

5. Paralanguage: This kind of communication is verbal but does not involve words or language for example, screaming, gasping etc. Tom Hanks screaming after the coral reef cut him is an example of Paralanguage.

V. Models of Interpersonal Communication

A model is used to represent something and show how it works. In the text there are three models that represent different kinds of interaction in communication. In Cast Away there models are presented throughout the dialogue.

1. Linear Models: This model is portrayed by communication going in one direction. Think of a professor teaching a class while the students just sit there and listen. The students are not responding therefore the kind of communication being used is linear. In the film we can see this kind of communication in the dialogue between Chuck Noland and Wilson. In his delusive state Chuck is talking to the volleyball but the volleyball is not really responding to what he is saying.

2. Interactive Models: Unlike a linear model, this kind of communication involves a listener who gives feedback which is a reply to a message. This kind of communication is very present in the film, for example the dialogue between Chuck and his wife before he got on the plane. Chuck said he had to go and his wife replied if he could be back by New Years Eve.

3. Transactional Models: This type of communication says that the way people communicate change over time because of newly gathered experiences. For example, if you just met a person you will not be very personal with that person, but after time the conversation might feel more comfortable and lead to more intimate subjects. In Cast Away you see this model but in an opposite way. Chuck and his wife were very intimate at the beginning of the film, but after his four year disappearance, the way they communicated was more limited; they were not expressing they’re true feelings.

VI. Adapting Listening to Communication Goals

There are different kinds of listening skills and the best way to begin to listen effectively is to understand why you are listening at that particular moment. These kinds of skills can be exemplified with the movie Cast Away.

1. Listening for Pleasure: This kind of listening does not involve people to respond to communicate, it just requires for that person to be mindful and not focus on distractions and enjoy what you are listening to. This kind of listening can be exemplified when Chuck Noland was driving his car and listening to Elvis after he got rescued. He had no worries and was just enjoying life and his favorite singer after being deserted on an island for four years.

2. Listening for Information: This kind of listening is sought out to gain and evaluate the information being received. Sometimes people need this kind of communication in order to act properly, for example in a work situation. In order to effectively use this kind listening it is necessary to use skills to think critically, organize and store information. In Cast Away, Chuck was a fedex employee and his job was to make sure that each branch was working efficiently. At the beginning of the film he is in a scene where he’s telling fedex workers that they need to work faster and meet quota by the end of the day and in order to do this they need to work quicker and as a team. The kind of listening that the employees are doing is listening for information.

3. Listening to Support Others: This kind of listening happens when you listen to someone’s worries or give advice to someone when they’re having a problem. It involves being mindful and understanding the other person’s perspective. There was a scene in the movie where Chuck was listening to a friend of his talk about his terminally ill wife and Chuck offered his help and told his friend he would find out the number of a great doctor so his wife could get treated and hopefully get better. The kind of listening that Chuck was involved was Listening to Support Others.

VII. Conclusion

Communication is the most important thing to establish a relationship in life. Many times we fail to see why a relationship is going poorly and it is probably due to poor communication. People communicate poorly because they are not aware of the different concepts and skills that can help to communicate effectively. It only takes opening your eyes and ears and understanding other people’s perspectives and words. These skills are presented in every day life, so common that in a film like Cast Away you can even see these concepts of Interpersonal Communication.

Works Cited

Cast Away. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Writ. William Broyles Jr. Prod. Joan Bradshaw. Twentieth Century Fox and DreamWorks, 2000.

Wood, Julia T. Inperpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters. California: Thompson Wadsworth, 2007.

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