The Dialogue Allegory Of The Cave By Plato

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The dialogue Allegory of the Cave, written by Greek philosopher Plato, begins with prisoners who are imprisoned in a cave since birth. Chained by the necks and arms, these prisoners do not have the slightest idea of what goes on in the outside world for all they know is darkness and a fire located behind them that creates shadows on the walls, and for them, these shadows are what they consider reality. Eventually in the passage, one of the prisoners becomes free and has the chance to see the fire, which blinds him, causing him to think everything he is seeing is all imaginary. The prisoner then makes a physical departure from the cave, up to the surface and is blinded by the sun’s light. Because this is the prisoner’s first time seeing reality, he becomes completely shocked but then realizes there is more life outside of the cave. Thrilled about this discovery, the free prisoner tells the two remaining prisoners in the cave about his experience in the outside world. With no knowledge of the world outside the dark cave, the free prisoner is accused of being crazy. …show more content…

The first and most obvious symbols are the three prisoners. They represent the individuals whose knowledge grows only around what society wants them to know. They are stuck in the cave and have come to believe that this is the real world. Another symbol in the text includes the free people in the cave. They represent individuals and groups who are able to construct the society’s knowledge. Chains are also a symbol, preventing the prisoners from knowing anything outside what the free people in the cave want them to know. The fire is another symbol in the text as well. The fire is man-made and represents the actual information that society creates and wants you to believe. As for the outside world and the sun, they represent all

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