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Often times in works of literature and film, the story begins with a character not knowing the true nature of their situation, which is later on revealed to them. This occurs in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, The Truman Show by Peter Weir, and the “Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. Although Oedipus, Truman and the Prisoners all began in a very similar situation in which they are being lied to and only seeing the shadows, the outcomes of their respective situations after being exposed to the truth and light are vastly different. Whether it be self harm, going back to try and convince others, or even just simply walking out, they all took a different approach to the situation. In all three works, the main characters are only looking at the shadows, …show more content…
For the prisoners, one was simply unchained and brought outside of the cave. “First he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven” (Plato). This was like a sensory overload for the prisoner who is only used to looking at black shadows and the bland color of the cave. For Truman, he wasn’t exposed to the truth all at once. Instead it came in a couple of steps as the show makers began to make more and more mistakes. Whether it be the radio switching to a channel that is described exactly where Truman was driving, Truman’s real love ‘Lauren’ telling him that everything is fake, or even when he saw his ‘dad’ and two people promptly came to take him away. He finally understood that everything around him was staged and that everything was centered around him. This final nail in the coffin was when he was driving far away from the town and encounters a cop who he has never seen before. The cop begins the conversation by saying “Hey Truman! …”(Weir) and this set off all the alarms in his head. He finally decided he had had enough and wanted to get out so he planned his escape and went through with it. Unlike in Truman’s or the prisoners case, Oedipus’ truth is much more dark and terrifying. This is why even when he was exposed to it by the Oracle, he kept on denying and asking for more and more evidence. It wasn’t until the shepard revealed to Oedipus that “They said it was Laios’ child; But it is your wife who can tell you about that” (Sophocles 1106) and “There had been prophecies… It was said that the boy would kill his own father” (Sophocles 1110 - 1112), that he began to accept his fate and realize the terrible situation he has put himself in. To make matters
When the prisoner got out of the cave “he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners.” Plato says that the knowledgeable prisoner should “become happy on the change, and pity them?” The prisoner would share the truth with the others while the giver kept the truth or the “light” from the citizens. Another difference is that the receiver chose to know more about the truth and not stay in the perfect black and white world. In the cave, the escaped prisoner tried to tell the others about the real world, but they chose not to listen to him because they are so stuck into the knowledge that has been given to them, which makes them think that the knowledge that the escaped prisoner has is a
The Allegory of the Cave has many parallels with The Truman Show. Initially, Truman is trapped in his own “cave”; a film set or fictional island known as Seahaven. Truman’s journey or ascension into the real world and into knowledge is similar to that of Plato’s cave dweller. In this paper, I will discuss these similarities along with the very intent of both of these works whose purpose is for us to question our own reality.
In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus, the King, there are various instances where Oedipus tries to escape his destiny—enlightenment—only to discover the truth that he cannot. Similarly, in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” the prisoner travails to understand and adjust to his newly visited environment. In both works, the men first had to realize their ignorance before they could begin to acquire knowledge and true understanding of the complexities of the human condition. Specifically, in Oedipus, the King, it was Oedipus’ illusion of himself as a man unequaled in leadership whereas in “Allegory of the Cave” it was the prisoner’s initial refutations of enlightenment being shown him until he realizes its intellectual, spiritual, and social significance.
This shows that once again the withholding of knowledge has led to Oedipus not being able to know the truth and avoid his fate rather if Oedipus had known this from the start he may never have left Corinth.
Plato is one of the most familiar and commonly studied philosophers. His work is of the highest intelligence and full of thought-provoking attributes. Plato’s “Allegory Of The Cave” is perhaps one of the works most easily related to life. This allegory creates a sense of advancing into the “light” of understanding and knowledge.
Oedipus the King is a very famous Greek tragedy written by Sophocles that was first performed in 429 B.C. A major theme during the course of the play is the characters keenness to ignore the truth. Many times in the play, there are circumstances in which the truth is blatantly obvious, however the major protagonists are blinded by their own self-preservation to see it. For instance, when the messenger says, “Your ankles… they tell the story. Look at them”(1032). When Oedipus was a child, his birth parents, Jocasta and Laius, bound his feet together. The fact that Jocasta never made the connection between Oedipus and her once baby illustrates that she doesn’t want to hear the truth.
The "Allegory of the cave "is broken down into four levels. The cave itself representing the tunnel we as humans have dug for ourselves away from the world of learning and knowledge to a world of safe answers where nothing is ever questioned . The cave represents the human's subconscious struggle to be safe and hide from the unknown. Beginning with Level one . The shadow watchers(the mystified )Illusion the figures and shadows reflection on the cave wall.This level is best described as such because the prisoners are not seeing what is real .They are seeing a copy or illusion of what is the real.They are seeing what they want to see.Level two The shadow casters .I believe the shadow casters area people who realize that the world is not as it
The movie "Matrix" is drawn from an image created almost twenty-four hundred years ago by the greek philosopher, Plato in his work, ''Allegory of the Cave''.The Matrix is a 1999 American-Australian film written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. Plato, the creator of the Allegory of the Cave was a famous philosopher who was taught by the father of philosophy Socrates. Plato was explaining the perciption of reality from others views to his disciple Aristotle. The Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave share a simmilar relationship where both views the perciption of reality, but the Matrix is a revised modern perciption of the cave. In this comparison essay I am going to explain the similarities and deifferences that the Matrix and The Allegory of the Cave shares.In the Matrix, the main character,Neo,is trapped in a false reality created by AI (artificial intelligence), where as in Plato's Allegory of the Cave a prisoner is able to grasp the reality of the cave and the real life. One can see many similarities and differences in the film and the allegory. The most important similarity was between the film and the Allegory is the perception of reality.Another simmilarity that the movie Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave shares is that both Neo and the Freed man are prisoners to a system. The most important difference was that Neo never actually lived and experienced anything, but the freed man actually lived and experinced life.
American’s education system has been entering crisis mode for a long time. Throughout the past few years, the overwhelming question “Is college needed or worth it?” While it is an opinion, there are facts that back up each answer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” mentions that the enlightened must help the unenlightened and further their knowledge. The problem with America today is that high school students are given the option of college and that makes for less enlightened people. While it is possible to learn in the work force or Army, college is a better option. Mary Daly wrote the article “Is It Still Worth Going to College?” which talks about the statistical value of attending. Michelle Adam wrote the article “Is College Worth It?” which mentions the struggle young people are going through to even get into college. Caroline Bird wrote the chapter “Where College Fails Us” in her book The Case Against College where she
George Owell’s Animal Farm and Peter Weirs Truman Show both have similar but different themes. This essay will explain that power of the stronger characters is fuled by the ignorance of the weaker characters. That you can only have happiness or freedom never both, that the idea of utopia is different in both texts.
Imagine living through life completely bound and facing a reality that doesn’t even exist. The prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” are blind from true reality as well as the people in the movie “The Matrix” written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. They are given false images and they accept what their senses are telling them, and they believe what they are experiencing is all that really exists. Plato the ancient Greek philosopher wrote “The Allegory of the Cave”, to explain the process of enlightenment and what true reality may be. In the movie “The Matrix”, Neo (the main character) was born into a world of illusions called the matrix. His true reality is being controlled by the puppet- handlers called the machines who use the human body as a source of energy. In the movie, Neo, finds and alternate reality and he has to go on a journey to discover himself and what is around him. Much like “The Allegory of the Cave” the prisoners in a dark underground cave, who are chained to the wall, have a view of reality solely based upon this limited view of the cave which is but a poor copy of the real world. Both the prisoners of the cave, and Neo from the Matrix, have to transcend on the path of ‘enlightenment’ to know the truth of their own worlds.
As the tragedy comes to a close, the truth is revealed to Oedipus concerning his lineage and unnatural actions. Although the truth had been spoken to him about these matters previously, Oedipus had chosen not to believe and understandably so. True revelation comes to Oedipus through the same slave that had been ordered to kill him as a baby.
Throughout Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, there are many references to sight, blindness, and seeing the truth. Characters, such as Tiresias, are able to accurately predict what Oedipus’ fate will be through their power to see the truth in a situation. Oedipus maintains a pompous and arrogant personality throughout the play as he tries to keep control of the city of Thebes and prove the speculations about his fate as falsities. Ironically, although Tiresias is physically blind, he is able to correctly predict how Oedipus’ backstory will unfold, while other characters, such as Jocasta and Oedipus are oblivious to the truth even though they can physically see. Thus, we can conclude that the power of “seeing the truth” deviates greatly from the power of sight in reality and can lead to an expedited fate or a detrimental occurrence.
In book seven of ‘The Republic’, Plato presents possibly one of the most prominent metaphors in Western philosophy to date titled ‘Allegory of the Cave’.
It is said that the truth will set you free, but in the case of Sophocles’ Oedipus, the truth drives a man to imprison himself in a world of darkness by gouging out his eyes. As he scours the city for truth, Oedipus’ ruin is ironically mentioned and foreshadowed in the narrative. With these and other devices Sophocles illuminates the king’s tragic realization and creates a firm emotional bond with the audience.