Are you excited about the upcoming holidays? Snow, decorations, cookies, time with family –all the things that make the Christmas season so wonderful. Despite all of these delightful aspects of Christmas, I’m having trouble getting excited. Why, you ask? I was lying in bed one evening after my Philosophy class, pondering what we had discussed that day. Images from Plato’s Republic about the Allegory of the Cave and the Sun and the Line kept rushing through my head. Then, I had an epiphany. Santa Clause, who is the face of the holiday season, is really nothing but a shadow dancing along the cave’s wall. Of course, I stopped believing in Santa Clause a very long time ago, but my means of concern are something much deeper than that. In
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The cycle of believing in Santa Clause begins with adults, parents in particular. They are the people standing behind the wall, in front of the fire, holding up objects and images of Santa. Ultimately, they have the power to make their children believe anything they want them to believe. Children are the prisoners looking at the projection of Santa on the cave wall. They believe these images of Santa Clause are the truth, because that’s all they have ever known after being chained and forced to look ahead since birth. Eventually, the restraints are loosened and the children are able to look at the scene around them. They see their parents, advertisements, and other influences in their lives holding up the legend of Santa Clause. The initial enlightenment pains the children at first, but they want to learn more. The children climb up the steep path toward reality, experiencing pain at every step. Unlike the prisoners who feel physical pain, the children undergo the heartbreak of losing a piece of their childhood. Finally, the children make it out of the cave and into the sunlight. Unwillingly, they accept the reality that Santa Clause is not real. Just as Plato encourages, the prisoners want to share the news of reality with their acquaintances still down in the cave. Children scurry off to school and tell their new discovery to their friends, “Santa Clause is not real.” This causes an uproar. The children who knew the truth about the poster boy of Christmas are called liars and are made an outcast by the current prisoners. The children who know the truth remain in the light, and eventually the other children will follow their same path. In contrast to Plato’s cave, the story does not stop here. Ideally, once the prisoners learn of reality they should try to tell others about the truth and remain in the light;
The cycle of believing in Santa Clause begins with adults, parents in particular. They are the people standing behind the wall, in front of the fire, holding up objects and images of Santa. Ultimately, they have the power to make their children believe anything they want them to believe. Children are the prisoners looking at the projection of Santa on the cave wall. They believe these images of Santa Clause are the truth, because that’s all they have ever known after being chained and forced to look ahead since birth. Eventually, the restraints are loosened and the children are able to look at the scene around them. They see their parents, advertisements, and other influences in their lives holding up the legend of Santa Clause. The initial enlightenment pains the children at first, but they want to learn more. The children climb up the steep path toward reality, experiencing pain at every step. Unlike the prisoners who feel physical pain, the children undergo the heartbreak of losing a piece of their childhood. Finally, the children make it out of the cave and into the sunlight. Unwillingly, they accept the reality that Santa Clause is not real. Just as Plato encourages, the prisoners want to share the news of reality with their acquaintances still down in the cave. Children scurry off to school and tell their new discovery to their friends, “Santa Clause is not real.” This causes an uproar. The children who knew the truth about the poster boy of Christmas are called liars and are made an outcast by the current prisoners. The children who know the truth remain in the light, and eventually the other children will follow their same path. In contrast to Plato’s cave, the story does not stop here. Ideally, once the prisoners learn of reality they should try to tell others about the truth and remain in the light;