Allegory Of The Cave

The Allegory of the Cave is a hypothesis put into perspective by Plato, regarding human awareness. In the short story a group of prisoners have been confined in a cavern ever since birth with no knowledge of the outside world. They are chained facing a wall unable to turn their heads. While a fire behind them gives off a faint light. Sometimes people pass by carrying figures of animals and other objects that cast shadows on the wall. The prisoners believe that the shadows are real and they begin to classify them. Suddenly one prisoner is unchained and brought outside for the first time in his life. The sunlight burns his eyes and he finds the environment unadaptable. When told that the things in sight of him now are real and that the shadows …show more content…
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. The passage leaves us with the impression that as we go about our lives can we be precise about what we know. Perhaps one day a glimmer of light might allow us to make a change but will you break free to chase that light or will you remain …show more content…
From a young age were basically forced by our parents and the government to go to school. While also pursuing a post secondary education once graduated from high school. In this case the cavern is referred to as the school system or the school itself. In addition, students creativity is destroyed as you move further into school. Although we might be learning information related to the subjects of math, reading, and science were never exposed to reveal or talk about the creativity which lies within us. The shadows in this case would be the illusions of how our future might look if we do go to college or university. Most students go to school get good grades, get involved, and pass each semester with satisfying grades and feel as if they have done enough. Some parents are so ancient in their thinking that they have no exposure to the many opportunities that are in existence now. As Plato mentions, when one of the prisoners is freed and exposed to the outside world to discover new things he feels the need to go back help his friends escape they reject him and tell him that he's been fooled. The similar situation relates to when one follows his own fate instead of the school systems notion. Others may perceive them as selfish. Another example, is when Plato states, “True, how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?” (Plato). In school we're forced to follow the school system, having