The Human Experience In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Plato’s allegory of the cave depicts the existence of human beings in the bleakest manner, we could view his allegory as one that is unfathomable and quite hard to contemplate in regards to human life and the existence as a whole. Plato’s take on the world clearly envisions the world as a singular cave, one that’s dark and enclosed, and human beings as though they are prisoners in this cave. The human beings are depicted to be trapped within the walls of the cave without a possibility of ever escaping and all their experiences are depicted as shadows on the walls of this cave. It can be argued that, the human experience is shown by Plato as unrealistic, as though everything were a shadow and the human experience seems to be all but a lie. In …show more content…
Their lives revolve around this one reality that they can only experience and contemplate. Following this scenario, the poor people talk about it, they joke about it, and they even name the puppets, all in the name of making the best use of the only life they are aware of. However, amidst the imprisonment, at one particular time one prisoner is able to leave or rather escape from within the confinement of the cave’s walls as Plato describes through Socrates words, “So now, I replied, watch the process whereby the prisoners are set free from their chains and, along with that, cured of their lack of insight, and likewise consider what kind of lack of insight must be if the following were to happen to those who were chained.” (Plato 514a). Through the process of escaping or rather getting set free, Plato describes the experiences which such an individual would go through and the difficulties they would have adjusting to the new reality presented before them. More so, this would open up such an individual’s mind to endless possibilities and a whole new world of which they never knew before of its existence. On realizing a whole new world out there, the prisoner feels sorry for his fellow prisoners and this leads to his return to the cave to explain to them of what he has seen. However, the prisoners don not believe what they hear, and instead they believe he has lost his mind. On further trials, the prisoner is only able to convince just a few and the rest opt to remain within the confinements of the cave. Socrates depicts this notion when he says, “…and if they can get hold of this person who takes it in hand to free them from their chains and to lead them up, and if they could kill him, will they not actually kill him?” (Plato 514b), Glaucon agrees, “They certainly will” (Plato 514b). It then certainly becomes clear how