Plato's Allegory of the Cave

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Recommended: Social norms flashcard

In society today most people live by what is call “social norms”, most people follow these norms and some choose not to follow them. Social norms are certain things in life that everyone does to be accepted by their co-workers, family, friends and even strangers. Some may feel that they have to live by these norms to get through life without being rejected and to be known as a “normal” person, hence the word “norm”. If a person were to stray from this path and just do what they felt like doing and do what made them happy as an individual, would they be criticized? In Plato’s Allegory of a Cave he describes an example of people conforming to the norm they were born into and then shows the results of a person emerging from this community into a completely new and different world. People today are trapped into conforming to the American way to avoid being chastised but if we all stand up and make our own decisions based on what we want and our own path, eventually individuality will become the social norm.
In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the persons in the allegory were born and raised in an underground cave with their feet and necks shackled and chained so that they could not walk around or move their faces; they could only look forward at the cave wall. Behind them was a short wall with a fire at the back of the wall where people walking by or “puppeteers” would place objects upon the wall making shadows for the people chained to see. Their whole lives all they ever saw were shadows of objects, never seeing the true items form. They would make names for these items then hold competitions for who could call out which item was what, if a person called the wrong name then they were laughed at and made fun of. One of the people was...

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... I do not want her to accept the shadows on the wall as being the truth, I want her to explore the world and see the real truth and what makes her happy.
I know I have made the right decision for myself and my daughter and I only hope that other women can stop this cave thinking and venture out on their own. If the buck starts somewhere, it will spread. Not only will this effect women but it will continue to affect others who are just living day by day, in comfortable lives, doing what they think they are supposed to be doing just to feel accepted and not judged by others. They say ignorance is bliss, but is it really?

Works Cited

Swapnil Srivastava. (2013). Prisoners in the Cave. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/platos-allegory-of-the-cave-meaning-and-interpretation.html

Plato, & Parker, P. M. (2005). The Republic. San Diego, CA: ICON Classics.

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