Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs In Castaway

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Castaway In the movie Castaway, Tom Hanks’ character Chuck Nolan is deserted on an island by a plane crash in the ocean, hundreds of miles off course. He must learn to survive on his island to make it back to his girl. His survival techniques coincide with Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs: Physiological, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self Actualization.
Physiological needs are the most basic of needs and are located on the base of Maslow’s Hierarchy. These are needs such as food, water, sleep, and the sun, the necessities of human life. Chuck demonstrates these needs almost immediately after he is washed up on the island. His first successful attempt for water is by breaking open and drinking coconuts. This …show more content…

They are a person’s need to feel loved and important. Since Chuck was the only survivor of the plane crash, his time on the island was spent in solitude. This proved to be bad for his mental health as he started going crazy very quickly on the island. When Chuck opened the FedEx packages that washed up onshore, he found a Wilson brand volleyball that he eventually drew a face on. He started calling it Wilson, and talking to it as if it were a person. This eased some of his need for companionship, even if it was synthetic. Another item that satisfied his need for love and belonging was the pocket watch that Kelly gave him that contained a picture of her. He looked at it at night and throughout the day to give him motivation to keep going because she loves him and he belongs with her.
Esteem needs are second to last, the way others feel about you, and how you feel about yourself. One self esteem boost that Chuck experiences is when he finally is able to start a fire. He is incredibly proud of himself and finally feels a bit of hope in his situation, that he might survive. He does survive for four years on the island, and he has been planning and studying the tides in this time. He builds a raft that he hopes will get him to safety with the makeshift sail he found. He is very proud of his project and research, and is more confident that he can get off the

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