Katrine Schoen

The Hero's Journey is about how a character advances and grows throughout the course of a story. There are ten stages that a character must accomplish in the Hero's Journey. The character that I will be discussing in this essay is Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks), the main character from "Castaway." I feel that he has completed the Hero's Journey because he started with a separation from a calling which led him to the threshold were he was thrust into the descent, which was the initiation that consisted of the abyss, gaining a mentor, going through a physical and mental transformation and returning to a creation.
In the beginning of the story, Chuck went through a separation from his home and fiancee. His calling was FedEx flight 88, were he was to accompany the shipment of some packages. The separation and calling being the threshold to what would soon be his five to six year journey. When his plane is torn apart by the storm, he is thrust into the descent as the only surviving member of flight 88; he then ends up stranded on an island for five years. This, in my opinion, is one of the hardest ways to start on the Hero's Journey because Chuck had not intended this journey, it just started as a normal day to day routine for his job, and ended up as a nightmare that would last for five years.
In his initiation, Chuck encounters the abyss, gains his mentor, and goes through a transformation, not only physical, but mental as well. After being thrust into the descent, Chuck enters his abyss, a lone island; here he does everything possible to survive, but his greatest challenge is to find shelter, food, and to create a fire. Most of this he achieves with the items he recovered from the crash, except for the fire. Now comes his mentor; like many civilizations, there is usually a god of some sort, but in Chucks case, his mentor happens to be a volleyball by Wilson, which he names "Wilson." Throughout his five years on the island, Chuck undergoes a transformation; in this stage he becomes more knowledgeable of the island and its inhabitants: What is edible and a shelter that can withstand a tropical storm. Not to mention, lest we forget what shows a man's age better than a beard, and the scars to tell his story of what he has endured.. In my opinion, all of these factors show how he has done on the initiation; he has passed.
Chuck's return is his greatest feat in this journey.; building a raft from trees and vine he gathered from the island, he and Wilson begin their voyage at sea were Chuck is rescued by a passing ship. Chuck returns home to a celebration, but discovers that his fiancee has moved on, married his dentist and had a son, this being the creation. All journeys eventually come to end, whether it be by death or successful completion. But if all one has worked for was for disappointment, but what is the use in completing the journey? From my previous statement, it is clear that it was not chucks intention to be a hero, but to return home to the one he loved; hat was his motivation.
In conclusion, Chuck started his journey, not knowing were it would lead, that his business trip would lead him to Hell, and from it he would become a changed man. But all would be for a price, that he would lose the one he loved to his Dentist. So I believe he has successfully completed the Hero's Journey.