Enegory Of The Cave Essay

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The Allegory of the Cave: An Enlightening Burden
Imagine a group of people, prisoners, who had been chained to stare at a wall in a cave for all of their lives. Facing that wall, these prisoners can pass the time by merely watching the shadows casted from a fire they could not see behind them dance on the walls. These shadows became the closest to what view of reality the prisoners have. But what happens after one of these prisoners is unbound from his chains to inspect beyond the wall of shadows, to the fire and outside the cave? How would seeing the world outside of the walls of the cave affect his views of the shadows and reality? It is this theme with its questions that make up Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. It is in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave that there are several key ideas presented in the allegory. The ideas presented in the allegory can be related back to themes of education and the gaining of knowledge and in ways that can relate back to “us”, the people. In the Allegory of the Cave, when …show more content…

In the fact that the enlightened prisoner was unable to complete this part of the goal and his leadership position was denied emphasizes the relatable idea that knowledge can be painful – as well as for the prisoners refusing to gain further knowledge that ignorance is bliss. This can relate to all people in that people are not only stuck in their perspectives, but that people prefer not knowing because not knowing releases one from the pains and responsibilities that come with gaining knowledge. This in itself can be politically reflective in that the prisoners refusing to receive enlightenment have been socialized by their surroundings and circumstance to view the world according to merely what is around them, and not ever question that world of

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