Connection+with+Edgar+Huntly

Connection with //Edgar Huntly//

Charles Brockden Brown's novel, //Edgar Huntly// and //The Allegory of the Cave// share the same ideals of individual freedom and the search for truth. Being one of the first American novels set in the new nation, Brown explores the rural lifestyle and strong sense of liberty the frontier had fought for in previous years.

Plato describes the people of the story as "a resident of the cave (a prisoner, as it were)" (Plato) to show how their individual rights to know the truth have been stripped from them.Despite questioning whether or not the person in the cave would really want to know whether or not they live in reality, Plato ultimately proves that it is necessary for people to know the truth, even though it may cause them pain at first.

The main character of //Edgar Huntly// is in search of the murderer of his friend throughout the story. When he even attemopts to remember Waldegrave, his "recollections once more plunged me into anguish and perplexity. Once more i asked, who was his assasin?" (p. 7). Only once he finds the killer at the end of the novel does he truly feel satisfied and at ease. This is the same case with the prisoners of the cave, their questions are finally put to rest once they are able to turn their heads and see what they have been blind to their whole lives.

Is it really possible for humans to reach this difficult goal of enlightenment?