Comparing The Bad Seed And The Allegory Of The Cave

Decent Essays
Every individual sees life the way they would like to see it. Living each day with ignorance may lead to the idea of a perfect world or destroy you emotionally. In the 1956 movie The Bad Seed, Christine Penmark has an interesting relationship with her daughter, Rhoda, resembling the state of mind and ideas found in Plato’s, The Allegory of the Cave. In the 1957 movie Witness for the Prosecution, both, Christine “Helm” Vole and Sir Wilfrid Robarts have a parallel to Plato’s, The Allegory of the Cave by their ignorant behavior throughout scenes of the trials in court found in the film. Both movies share a connection to Plato and the ideas found in his essays pertaining to ignorance and finding knowledge through means of a light.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato depicts the life of a group of men who since birth had been chained up in a cave. Their only outlet to the world above was the shadows that danced across the cave walls. “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. describes a utopian society where everyone is equal. Both of these readings show a struggle of some to learn more and the wish of some to not know. Both “The Allegory…” and “Harrison Bergeron” have a lot in common.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The fictional story the Allegory of the Cave can be interpreted in many different ways in the modern world. The way which I will try to interpret the Allegory of the Cave is the following. The prisoners as the Greek intemperate are the iron man just as humanity in this generation. The puppeteers are the government. The shadows that the fire cast, which puppeteer's show in the walkway represents what the government wants to show the citizen or (the prisoners of society).…

    • 113 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Truman show directed by Peter Weir and the dialogue “Allegory the Cave” written by Plato, both represent what an individual sees as the only truth when they are controlled by the man made truth. In the Truman show, it's a show where Truman Burbank has lived his whole life being broadcasted 24 hours, living in a false world without knowing the truth . Similar to the “Allegory the Cave” in where Plato explains 2 individuals are chained to a wall since childhood and all they see is shadows by the fire, the prisoners only see the shadows as the only truth they know. Both, The Truman Show and “Allegory the Cave” demonstrate how both individuals experience the false reality and experience the same journey.…

    • 125 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, just like the prisoners, I too was trapped in a “cave” of misunderstanding, my focus was only towards what was in front of me and nothing else. I personally believed that the way I defined my shadows were the right way, but Plato opened my eyes and made me realize that everything is not what it seems. It made me want to change my perspective, as well as, keeping an open mind on what I do not quite…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Enlightening Experiences Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, was written many years ago, and it is still relevant in the classroom today. The validity of the literary piece is not what is in question, but rather the agreement within Plato’s observations. Throughout the piece, Plato describes a situation of prisoners that see shadows on a wall and perceive it to be reality due to a narrow minded perception of the real world. Unfortunately, the prisoners Plato is referring to are humans in the real world, and he is making the claim that humans should not accept the reality in which we live in.…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Allegory of the Cave and the Inferno In the Allegory of the Cave there were people only able to look at the cave wall and only be able to see the shadows of what people were doing. The people looking at the wall could only really see a glimpse or part of what was going on in real life. This is a form of torture because the people are chained to face the wall and this is it, they can not turn around or anything. In the inferno Dante has to go through seven different layers of hell and torture.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alisha Saxena Philosopher, Plato, in his published work, Allegory of the Cave, describes a dialogue with Glaucon about the importance of truth and human nature. This in depth discussion about reality is expanded on throughout Plato’s book, The Republic. Plato uses The Republic in order to convey how morality and virtue is of utmost importance. Plato’s purpose of Allegory of the Cave is to communicate that our perceptions of the truth are limited, and how the truth might not always be what is predicted or imagined. He further supports this purpose by using extended metaphors, intense, connotative diction, and an eloquent, questioning tone.…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Allegory Of The Cave

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Most people are trapped into their own inexperience, and perhaps bitter to anyone who points it out. With the cave fable Plato argues that people are too stubborn with a moral story in themselves. The shadows in the real world are flawed reflections of ideal forms such as, roundness or beauty. The cave leads to many essentials including the roots of knowledge, the problem of representation, and the nature of reality itself. For one the ideal form exists in the mind of the creator and for another the theory illustrates the categorizing of factual things under philosophical terms, and for others some of us still wonder if we can really know if things outside the cave are anymore or real than the shadows.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Why Curiosity Did not Kill the Cat Some species have gone extinct due to lack of adaptation, however humans have consistently conformed to their surroundings to survive. Without adaptation, there would be no difference between humans and animals. Other species have limitations regarding their habitat, but humans use a more advanced thought process to find resources to adapt. In order for a human to discover a resource, they need to be curious about the purpose of an object. Curiosity enhances human survivability and it makes way for new discoveries and enhancements.…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A decently controversial concept is brought up in The Allegory… The cave prisoners were born believing all they see in front of them, the dancing shadows of people backlit by the fire behind them, are actually black beings moving along the cave wall in front of them. How is it possible they believe in such a reality as closed minded as this? Surely they would know better after one prisoner was freed and shown reality as non prisoners see, comes back and tells their story. Why don’t they believe him?…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Plato’s “ Allegory of the Cave,” Plato describes the cave as very dark with chained prisoners in front of a fire observing shadow of things. The shadows are the only “reality” they know. Outside the cave, there is “light” and the “truth”. A prisoner in the cave wanted freedom. But the prisoners could not get out.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In addition to a metaphysical comparison, this film showcases elements of Plato’s cave allegory quite definitively. I will be writing about these instances throughout the paper. My perception of ‘the allegory of the cave’ is that Plato’s theory of forms is attempting to answer three questions:…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Plato suggests that one’s senses are limited and imperfect; what one senses and what actually exists do not always coincide. While the life the prisoners experienced was real, it was not an accurate representation of reality or the world outside of the cave. The purpose of this allegory is to provoke a pursuit of an accurate representation of…

    • 1775 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In The Allegory of the Cave, Plato contends that there is a lower and higher level of understanding. We have the capacity to transcend the lower level of understanding and seek the truth only if we escape the darkness. However, humans are often confused of their own limitations to seeking eternal truth. Additionally, Plato believes that ignorance is the greatest evil, and in order to be morally good, one must obtain a clear knowledge of the world. He explains how he “would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner;” in the darkness (Plato 440).…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One common reading suggests that it demonstrates that our perception and our senses, like those of the cave dwellers, are subjective and unreliable and cannot provide us with objective truth. This can only be found through abstract thought and philosophical reasoning. Another important interpretation states that the allegory highlights the complexities of education and ignorance, demonstrating not only how humans may be advanced and enlightened through education but also explaining why the ignorant may cling, sometimes violently, to their own ignorance. As one of Plato’s most famous pieces of writing, “Allegory of the Cave” has not only provoked great philosophical debate, it has also inspired many more popular reflections ranging from the 1999 movie The Matrix through Mumford and Sons’ song “ The…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays