Everything about Castaway totally explained
A
castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a
shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island either to evade their
captors or the world in general. Alternatively a person or item can be
cast away, meaning rejected or discarded. Note that when a person was left ashore as punishment, usually the term
maroon (or maroon'd) was used.
The provisions and resources available to castaways may allow them to live on the island until other people arrive to take them off the island. However, such rescue missions may never happen if the person isn't known to still be alive, the fact that they're missing is unknown or if the island isn't mapped. These scenarios have given rise to the plots of numerous stories in the form of
novels and
film.
Real occurrences
Thorgisl
Icelander Thorgisl set out to travel to
Greenland. He and his party were first driven into a remote sound on the east coast of
Greenland, then Thorgisl, his infant son and several others were abandoned there by their
thralls. Thorgisl and his party traveled slowly along the coast to the
Eystribyggð settlement of
Eric the Red, on the southwest coast of
Greenland. Along the way they met a Viking, an outlaw, who had escaped to East Greenland. This history is told in
Flóamanna Saga and
Origines Islandicae and occurred during the early years of Viking
Greenland, while
Leif Ericson was still alive.
Grettir Ásmundarson
Icelander Grettir Ásmundarson was
outlawed by the assembly in
Iceland. After many years on the run he, with two companions, went to the forbidding island of
Drangey, where he lived several more years before his pursuers managed to kill him in 1031.
Fernão Lopez
The Portuguese Fernão Lopez was marooned on the island of
Saint Helena in
1513. He had lost a hand and much of his face as a punishment for mutiny. With some interruptions he stayed on the island until his death in
1545.
Juan de Cartagena and Pedro Sánchez Reina
In August 1520 a mutiny broke out in
Magellan's fleet while at the
Patagonian seashore. After he put it down and executed some of the ringleaders, Magellan punished two others, the
King of Spain delegate Juan de Cartagena and the priest Pedro Sánchez Reina, by marooning them in that desolate place. They were never heard from again.
Gonzalo de Vigo
Gonzalo de Vigo was a Spanish sailor who in March
1521 deserted from
Magellan's fleet in the island of
Guam. He was unexpectedly found there in
1526 by the
flagship of the
Loaísa Expedition, on their way to the
Spice Islands and the second
circumnavigation of the globe. Gonzalo de Vigo was the first European castaway in the history of the
Pacific Ocean.
A Miskito called Will
In
1681, a
Miskito named Will by his English comrades was sent ashore as part of an
English foraging party to
Más a Tierra. When he was hunting for goats in the interior of the island he suddenly saw his comrades departing in haste after having spotted the approach of enemies, leaving Will behind to survive until he was picked up in
1684.
Alexander Selkirk
The
Juan Fernández Islands, to which Más a Tierra belongs, was to have a more famous occupant in October
1703 when
Alexander Selkirk made the decision to stay there. (Selkirk had been born in
Lower Largo in
Scotland in
1680). Selkirk was concerned about the condition of the
Cinque Ports, on which he was sailing, and remained on the island. The ship later sunk with most of its crew being lost. Being a voluntary castaway, Selkirk was able to gather numerous provisions to help him to survive, including a
musket,
gunpowder,
carpenter's tools, a
knife, a
Bible, and
clothing. He survived on the island for four years and four months, building huts and hunting the plentiful wildlife before his rescue on
2 February 1709. His adventures are said to be an inspiration for
Robinson Crusoe, a novel by
Daniel Defoe published in
1719. In
1966, Más a Tierra was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island.
Philip Ashton
Philip Ashton, born in
Marblehead in
New England in
1702, was captured by
pirates while
fishing near the coast of
Nova Scotia in June
1722. He managed to escape in March
1723 when the pirates' ship landed at
Roatán in the
Bay Islands of
Honduras, hiding in the
jungle until the pirates left him there. He survived for 16 months, in spite of many insects, tropical heat and crocodiles. He had no equipment at all until he met another castaway, an Englishman. The Englishman disappeared after a few days but he left behind a knife, gunpowder, tobacco and more. Ashton was finally rescued by the
Diamond, a ship from
Salem.
Leendert Hasenbosch
Leendert Hasenbosch was a
Dutch ship's officer (a bookkeeper), probably born in
1695. He was set ashore on the uninhabited
Ascension Island on
5 May 1725 as a punishment for
sodomy. He was left behind with a tent and a survival kit and an amount of water for about four weeks. He had bad luck that no ships called at the island during his stay. He ate
seabirds and
green turtles, but probably died of thirst after about six months. He wrote a diary that was found by British mariners in January
1726 who brought the diary back to Britain. The diary was rewritten and published a number of times.
As late as
2002, the full truth of the story was disclosed in a book by the Dutch historian Michiel Koolbergen (
1953–
2002), the first book to mention Leendert by name. Before that time, the castaway's name hadn't been known. The story is available in English as
A Dutch Castaway on Ascension Island in 1725.
Charles Barnard
In
1812, the British ship
Isabella, captained by
George Higton, was shipwrecked off
Eagle Island, one of the
Falkland Islands. Most of the crew were rescued by the American
sealer Nanina, commanded by Captain Charles Barnard. However, realising that they'd require more provisions for the expanded number of passengers, Barnard and a few others went out in a party to retrieve more food. During his absence the
Nanina was taken over by the British crew, who left them on the island. Barnard and his party were finally rescued in November
1814. In
1829, Barnard wrote
A Narrative of the Sufferings and Adventures of Captain Charles Barnard detailing the happenings.
Other castaways
Castaways in popular culture
Various novels, television shows and films tell the story of castaways:
Philosophus Autodidactus, a 12th century novel by Abubacer
Theologus Autodidactus, a 13th century novel by Ibn al-Nafis
Robinson Crusoe, a novel by Daniel Defoe based loosely on the real life of Alexander Selkirk, first published in 1719 and sometimes regarded as the first novel in English
Survivor, a CBS television reality series that pits contestants against each other on various remote island areas
Baby Island, a 1937 novel by Carol Ryrie Brink about two preteen sisters caring for four babies on a South Seas island
The Blue Lagoon, a 1908 romance novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole about two children stranded on a tropical island after a shipwreck which was adapted into the 1980 film starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins
Cast Away, a 2000 film starring Tom Hanks, directed by Robert Zemeckis
Castaway, a 1986 film starring Amanda Donohoe and Oliver Reed, and directed by Nicolas Roeg, based on the book Castaway by Lucy Irvine.
Castaway, a 1984 book by Lucy Irvine describing her life with Gerald Kingsland on a deserted island which was adapted into a 1986 film starring Amanda Donohoe and Oliver Reed
Castaway 2000, a British reality television series in which a volunteer community lived for a year on the previously uninhabited Taransay in the Outer Hebrides
, a 1999 PC game created by The Learning Company
Gilligan's Island, an American TV sitcom which aired on CBS from 1964 to 1967
Flight 29 Down, a television series on Discovery Kids about teenagers on a charter plane for a class trip to Palau. Their plane crashes on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. Created by D.J. Machale and Stan Rogow
Hatchet, a novel that follows the life of a teenage boy as he survives in the Canadian wilderness after the plane he was on crashes. While he was brought into the situation by a plane, Hatchet's plot (and most survivalist fiction) features many similar elements to castaway stories.
Island of the Blue Dolphins, a book by Scott O'Dell about a girl marooned on an island for 18 years
Life of Pi, in which the title character, Pi Patel, spends months on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger
Johnny Castaway, a screensaver - perhaps the most extensive ever - that follows the daily exploits of the screensaver's namesake.
Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, and several movie versions
Lost, a 2004 drama series
Mr. Robinson Crusoe, a 1932 Douglas Fairbanks movie
The Mysterious Island, a 1874 novel by Jules Verne
The Swiss Family Robinson, an 1812 book by Johann David Wyss that has been adapted into various film and television versions
Swept Away... by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto), a 1974 film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller about a rich woman and a communist sailor stranded on a Mediterranean island
Castaways are part of other stories as well, where the event isn't the central plot but is still an important aspect. Examples include:
The Black Stallion (film)
The Road to El Dorado
The idea of a character becoming a castaway is common in television series, particularly ones that utilise the scenario for comic effect – it's a more extreme version of a character being stranded, but less likely and therefore more appropriate for non-serious series. Series that have had an episode about castaways include:
Family Guy episode "The Perfect Castaway"
Full House episode "Tanner Island"
Futurama episode "Obsoletely Fabulous"
The Mighty Boosh episode "The Nightmare of Milky Joe"
The Simpsons episode "Das Bus"
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 chatshow in which the subject is invited to consider themselves as a castaway on a desert island, and then select their eight favourite records, favourite book and a luxury inanimate object to occupy their time. This concept has become so widespread as to have become a part of popular culture.Further Information
Get more info on 'Castaway'.
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