Ayn Rand's Allegory, The Cave

Improved Essays
In the allegory “The Cave”, the author had a very vivid way of connecting the shackles that the prisoners experienced in the cave to modern day society. Sadly the analogy is very similar to what we experience on a day to day basis. From social media, to marriage, jobs, learning disabilities, and actual prisons, “The Cave”,represents our very own version of a cave, or prison . In this essay I will overview some background of the cave, explain how the cave represents shackles on our minds, and why these shackles have created prisons or better yet “caves”.

So basically in the cave these prisoners where shackled to the walls of the cave since childbirth only allowed to see what's in front of them. We are not told why they've been shackled
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We automatically form an opinion in less than 20 seconds when introduced to someone or a new idea . children were taught to learn by association , taught to never question a fact being fact and opinion being an opinion . Trained to only look for one answer , so when posed with two answers or new ideas it's difficult for most . This is why we have trouble creating. We all piggyback off one another to create new aspiring creations . As we see these shackles of the mind have been instilled in each of us since as long as we can remember, these shackles create prisons . For example a husband could be closed minded and not understand why abusing or cheating on his wife is wrong , of course being unable to display compassion and understanding , now Creates a “personal cave” or prisoner for his spouse. Overall in the Allegory of “The Cave”, Plato did a very good job of vividly displaying how the shackles connect to actual prisoners of today. Hopefully my point of view of the allegory is understood . Although Plato taught us learning isn't easy it's scary . Let's work to change this cycle , I know the world would be different

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