I think that Cast Away can loosely correlate with the beginning of the Odyssey. In the beginning of the story Odysseus is faring well but languishing for home on a desert island. Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is stuck on a deserted island, eventually he is surviving well. He to longs for home and eventually makes a raft to leave the island. This is similar to Odysseus's exit from the island. Both of these characters were on journeys that were brutally interrupted. The gods destroyed Odysseus's ship and drowned his crew, and Noland survives a plane crash with no other survivors. Both of the main characters are clever and strong willed with a drive to survive. There is also the epic romance of both characters. What keeps Noland alive and fighting to live is the memory of his girlfriend. Odysseus has his wife Penelope, to which he loves and is "faithful" in spirit to and wants to return home to.
However, Noland is not being kept company by a Nymph. He has to make do with Wilson, his volleyball. Also, Odysseus really isn't struggling to stay alive. He lives in relative comfort, while he may be bored Odysseus faces nowhere near the same amount of struggles as Noland does on his island. However, later in the Odyssey might make up for this. Both are trapped on their respective islands for years at a time, meanwhile their epic romances are tested. In Cast Away, Noland loses his love which is much different than Odysseus's last minute rescue of his.
This is interesting view on the Odyssey that I wouldn't have thought of. The more you truly think about the more you can see this movie really does relate. Just the entire journey home from an Island is just like Odysseus, and he kept there by the elements like Odysseus was by the gods.
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