The movie Cast Away (2000) is about Fed-Ex executive Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks) who survives a plane crash only to be washed up on the shore of a small, desert island. Most of the movie is the story of Noland’s survival on the island. The most gripping part of the story is not Noland’s survival ingenuity, but how he manages to maintain his sanity while being alone on the island for four years. More than anything, the film reveals how unnatural it is for people to be alone (Gen. 2:18).
To cope with his isolation, Noland transforms a volleyball into his personified friend, “Wilson.” Wilson is Noland’s only companion during the four years of isolation. Wilson is alongside of Noland as he struggles through the pains of survival, loss, grief, joy, defeat, despair, and rediscovered hope. Wilson is always there.
After several failed attempts, Noland finally succeeds in sailing away from the island with the hope of being discovered on a crude, man-made raft. He takes Wilson—his best and only friend—with him. While Noland is sleeping from exhaustion, Wilson falls from the raft into the ocean and slowly drifts further and further from Noland and the raft. As Noland awakes and realizes that Wilson is no longer on the raft but hundreds of yards away, he frantically dives into the ocean to save his friend. Noland is unable to retrieve him. Wilson is too far away. This sets up the most moving scene in the movie where Noland thrashes about in anguish calling out to his friend. Noland is torn apart over the loss of his friend—the volleyball.
What’s so gripping about this scene, and the movie altogether, is that it’s a raw account of humanity. It strips everything away, to reveal what’s at the core of the human existence. The most precious thing that Noland has is relationship.
The bottom line is that we’re made to be in relationship. This is because God is three Persons and all existence stems from that reality. Before God was a sovereign, He was a Father. There is nothing outside of personhood and relationships. In a phrase, this is being as communion. That is, that which constitutes human existence is always found in another. Seeking to find our meaning in life in an impersonal force will always leave us hungry, frustrated, and ultimately lost.
