The Theme of Survival in Cast Away and Lord of The Flies

Author William Golding of “Lord of the Flies” and director Robert Zemeckis of “Cast Away” use a range of stylistic conventions such as setting, character/conflict and symbolism to explore the theme of survival. These texts encourage as to consider the physical and psychological aspects of survival. Contextually “Cast Away” was filmed in 2001, around the same year that September 11 attacks took place in New York City. William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” was released in 1954, which was a few year after World War Two. The novel and film were created at a time when people were dying on a large scale. The director and author were trying to give people hope. Hope was given through creating a novel and film that shared a similar theme of survival. Both the novel and film showcased numerous tips and skills on how to survive through difficult situations.

Zemeckis and Golding have both utilized the setting through the introduction of characters and period. Whilst William Golding’s novel was set in the 1950’s, “Cast away” was set in the later period, 1995 to 2000’s. “Lord of the Flies” takes place on an unnamed, uninhabited tropical island in the Pacific Ocean during a fictional world war. The main characters of the novel, the boys arrive to this unknown island when their airplane unexpectedly crashes. Similarly “Cast away” also takes place on an island but unlike “Lord of the Flies” the location was on a small island in Fiji. The main character Chuck Noland played by Tom Hanks arrives to the small island in a similar fashion as the boys in “Lord of the Flies” do, he’s plane crashes due to stormy conditions. The boys before arriving to the Island were just a couple of English boy’s in the midst of a world war. They were being transported by an airplane to a safer location, when they were suddenly their plane was shot down. The boys found themselves scattered on an unknown island by themselves and couldn’t find each other. “Cast Away” main character Noland is on a business trip for FedEx with his partners. Unlike “Lord of the Flies” Noland’s plane crashes into a sea, and has to witness the plane sink into the ocean with his friends on it. The director uses a medium close shot of Hanks face, this shows his expression but also lets the audience know how much of a struggle his experiencing trying to stay afloat. Comparing both settings leads us to the conclusion that both theses texts are set in impossible to survive situations. Zemeckis creates empathy for Noland as the audience sees him in a shocked state of realisation of the situation his in. Golding introduces them as kids who are afraid of the war, and crash landed onto an island without any adults, the reader is made to feel empathy towards them.

Another stylistic convention is character and conflict. Through descriptive writing and directing Golding and Zemeckis introduce their main characters/ conflicts. The main characters of the novel are Ralph, Piggy, and Jack. Ralph is an athletic, charismatic protagonist, who the group elects as their leader. Ralph is represented by Golding as the primary representative of order and civilization, all characteristics of a great leader. Jack is the antithesis of Ralph, he’s strong willed, his a savage, violet and desires power more than anything. Piggy is overweight, intellectual, and a talkative boy. Of all the boys Piggy is the most trusted and loyal. Throughout the novel there’s heated conflict between Ralph and Jack, when Ralph is chosen leader, Jack gets very envious and wants to take that power for himself. Ralph being friendly, he allows Jack to keep charge of his choir, “Jack’s in charge of the choir. They can be — what do you want them to be?” Ralph’s kind gesturer leads to his down fall as Jack with his hunger for power, takes his hunters to begin his own savage tribe. Similarly the main character in “Cast Away” is a man, his name is Noland who’s played by Hanks. Unlike Ralph he’s completely alone with nothing but his thoughts. The director explores the psychological impact on Noland. After spending only a year on the island the audience can see the psychological impact of isolation. The audience witness as his motivation and hope of survival reduces, and as he heads into a state of depression. After comparing both the character from “Lord of the Flies” and “Cast away” it’s clear to see that Golding and Zemeckis introduce their main characters to help both the audience and reader to develop a deeper relationship and understanding towards the characters.

Perhaps the most interesting technique is symbolism. It plays a major part as it give a deeper meaning to the texts. In Lord of the Flies one of the main symbolism is The Signal Fire, the boys use this as a way to attract the attention of moving ships so they can be rescued; “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there may be a ship out there… and if we have a signal going they’ll come and take us off”. Dissimilar to the “Lord of the Flies”, “Cast Away” main symbolism through the film is Wilson, a volley ball that Noland puts a face on. This Volley ball represents a friend figure, which helps Noland through his lonely time on the island.

In conclusion William Golding and Robert Zemeckis used a range of stylist conventions such as setting, characters/ conflict and symbolism to explore the theme of survival in both “Lord of the Flies” and “Cast Away”. The theme of survival is represented through the perspective of the main characters Ralph and Chuck Noland.