Cast Away is perhaps the best survival movie of all time that serves as major inspiration to keep moving forward in life no matter what happens, because "you never know what the tide will bring in." The film stars Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland—a FedEx businessman who lives a hectic, fast-paced life with no intention of slowing down. He is in love with Kelly Frears, who is played by actor Hellen Hunt. Right before Chuck gets on the plane that will crash land him near an island that he will unknowingly spend the next four years of his life on, he gifts his love, Kelly, an engagement ring and says he'll be right back.

Instead, he is the sole survivor of a plane crash and drifts onto an island in the middle of nowhere, off course from the plane's assumed route. On the island, FedEx boxes wash up on shore. Chuck opens all of the boxes to find anything useful—all except for one box marked with orange angel wings and blue loops. Like Chuck's locket with a picture of Kelly, and his volleyball he personified with the name Wilson, this package gave Chuck a reason to continue living and not end his life like he had been thinking of doing.

The thought of one day being able to return the package gives him something to look forward to. Chuck even created a noose at one point off-screen. The package, locket, and volleyball also serve as symbols for Chuck holding onto control and his life prior to the crash. But soon after contemplating suicide, Chuck accepted his fate and continued surviving despite all the odds. That is when the tide brought in a ripped piece of door from a porta-potty and gave Chuck the idea of using it as a sail.

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When Chuck loses Wilson at sea, it is like he has lost his last remaining attachment to his old life. Just when all hope seems to be lost, a container ship floats by past Chuck. He desperately reaches out his hand, and then suddenly, he is back home with all the conveniences of modernity. Kelly had thought she lost Chuck, and she moved on, got married, and had a child. This devastates Chuck, who feels he has lost her all over again. Chuck admits to how sad he is about losing Kelly, but he is grateful she was not on the island with him. The final shots of the movie reveal that Chuck still has the unopened package, which he returns to the sender with a note that says "this packaged saved my life, thank you."

This is the main story, or storyline A. But there is a B story going on that actually starts and ends the film. The B story is carried throughout the film (literally) by the unopened package, which serves as a Red Herring to the real meaning of the film. The package by the end of the film connects story A to story B. The side story follows a woman named Bettina and her cheating husband in Russia. Bettina is sending a package to her husband in Russia, but this package makes its way back onto the FedEx plane Chuck was on, perhaps because the husband issued a return-to-sender. This is the unopened package that Chuck finally returns at the end of the film.

The opening shot of Cast Away is of a literal crossroads—with a road that points in four possible directions (interpreted as four possible futures). The title sequence is very specific, carefully showing how Cast Away is two, separate words and not one. Each word appears slowly, and with definitive purpose. The singular word "castaway" is defined as a person who has been shipwrecked and stranded in an isolated place. But the title of the movie, Cast Away, is two words, suggesting that not only is this a story about a castaway, but this is a story about literally casting away something. For Bettina, she is clearly casting away her husband, as her farm's gate now reads "Bettina" rather than what it used to say: "Dick & Bettina."

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For Chuck, he is casting away his need for control over his life, and he has to learn to accept life as it comes instead of fighting against the tide. He learns to "go with the flow." What is in the package is irrelevant to what its purpose is. The unopened package serves as a device to bring Chuck and Bettina together, as she was perhaps his soulmate after all. It is just a shame it took a disaster to bring them together. Chuck's time on the island was not wasted, as he now learns the importance of time, but understands the need to be flexible. The final shot mirrors the opening shot as Chuck stands at the crossroad, signifying his freedom of being able to choose his next move. Chuck looks down the road in the direction of Bettina's farm, and the screen fades to black suggesting Chuck will now go with what the tide has brought him instead of trying to hold onto his past.

For fans who insist on knowing what is actually in the package, many have theorized that it was a satellite phone—which could have been used to get Chuck off the island quicker. But that isn't the point and Chuck wouldn't have learned a lesson. Though Chuck does not end up opening the package in the movie, in the script he did. In the script, the Angel Wing Package caught Chuck's eye. Instead of tearing it open recklessly like the others, he pauses a moment—studying the art on the package. He imitates the design by trying to unsuccessfully draw it in the dirt with a stick. Then, he carefully cuts the package open with a stone knife.

Inside the box is no satellite phone, no seeds, no GPS, or water purifying system. Instead, the box contains two jars of homemade green salsa and a letter. Chuck studies the letter, which reads, "You said our life was a prison. Dull. Boring. Empty. I can't begin to tell you how much that hurt. I don't want to lose you. I'm enclosing some salsa, the verde you like. Use it on your sticky rice and think of home. Then come home—to me. We'll find the spice in our lives again. Together. I love you. Always. Bettina." And with that, fans finally have an answer to the question of what was in the package in Cast Away.

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