Analysis+of+Allegory+of+the+Cave

Analysis of //Allegory of the Cave//

One interpretation that can be made of //The Allegory of the Cave//, is the different meanings of symbolism. From one reader's point of view, the main symbols: the cave, or darkness, and the fire could be represented in different ways. For example, the cave could be interpreted as the womb of the mother, indicating that the fetus can only hear sounds while in the womb, rather than being able to see reality. The fire could be represented as the sun, or the light in which the baby first sees once leaving the womb. "...what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision" (Plato). This can be related to reaching enlightenment because once leaving the womb, the human will have a better grasp for reality, rather than being blinded by something impractical.

An example of the //Allegory of the Cave// being used in modern film is the movie //The Truman Show//. It is the story about a man who grows up from a tiny infant into an adult being filmed 24 hours a day without his knowledge. He lives a scripted life in a fake reality. However, much like the people chained up in the cave, this lie that he is living is the only truth that he knows. Once he beings to discover the truth about his existence, he at first is in shock and pain, like the person in the cave who first "look towards the light,he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows" (Plato). Finally, he reaches enlightenment when he travels through all the obstacles his director can throw at him to the edge of his city and is able to walk out into the real world.

Is it more beneficial for a person to remain in a false reality or to be told the truth about their life?

Is education the process of placing facts into empty minds or making people realize what they already know?



[|Allegory of the Cave]