Restraint In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” symbolizes society and the restraints held on society. The different aspects of the allegory represent the parts of society and factors that affect it. In my life, it can symbolize school and the restraints held on my education. Although new knowledge can be gained, limitations and authority figures can prevent people from learning new things.

Restrictions are placed on what and how we are taught. Plato said that the prisoners, in the cave, “have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them” (Plato 1). The physical restraint also reflects the mental restraint the prisoners faced. They are limited to only seeing what is before them, rather than what is surrounding them.

In my life, school can place restrictions on what can be learned within the classroom. Religion and the origin of life are often restricted from curriculum because of the diverse range of cultures and opinions that surround those topics. With religious conflicts, we are allowed to learn what is presented to us, but we are unable to learn about the conflicts between the religions that are surrounding us in our daily lives. Restrictions bound us, just as the chains bound the prisoners.
Authority figures are the ones enforcing the restrictions placed on our learning. Plato says the prisoners only see shapes in the shadows “like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets” (Plato 1). The prisoners are only viewing images that the puppeteers want them to see. Authority has the ability to influence what we learn and how we learn it. The principal and the district in a school establish the curriculum taught to the students. An example of authority having the ability to control what our education consists of is when Common Core was put in to place. This was a new learning that was being enforced by the district. We had no choice but to follow it and just had to trust that they knew what they were doing.
The freedom to gain knowledge in different ways is restricted due to authority figures. This freedom of knowledge is gained easier after one’s education is finished because one can study what they want and how they want to. This not only relates to education, but also to anything that allows someone to gain knowledge. There will always be restrictions, but these restrictions will lighten up. New freedoms will become available in the future and allow for growth, but they will never be truly free of restrictions.