Platos Allegory of the Cave free essay sample

People’s perception on reality is not always true. Those are mistaken for ideas they believe is reality. This is what Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† was based on. According to the text, the prisoners are sitting in a cave, chained from their legs to their neck so they cannot move. The prisoners are watching images cast on the wall with fire blazing above and behind them. They cannot grasp true reality, which are shadows intentionally made by men. They were forced to have one idea; and if anyone tried to lead a prisoner to the light, they would be killed. A prisoner is soon set free from the chains and forced to watch everything from the outside. He needed much adjustment, but soon he had a much deeper view of reality. When he went back into the cave to explain his new outlook, he was rejected. Plato’s ideas of reality are similar to those of modern situations we have in today’s society such as, childhood myths and fast food restaurants. The prisoners watch these scenes and believe them to be real because this is all they ever see. Even when they talk to each other, these shadows are all they talk about. Plato describes this as the stage of imagination. 2 One day a prisoner is freed from this cave and looks upon the fire and statues that were casting the shadows. The prisoner goes through a confusing period of pain and shock because of all the sudden exposure to light. The prisoner realizes that what he has Just seen is more real than anything else.He realizes how the stories they saw were Just shadows and copies of the real thing. Plato describes this stage in the cave as belief. After this the prisoner is taken outside the cave into the real world. At first the prisoner Is so confused that he only looks at the shadows. But then he realizes where he Is and slowly moves onto the reflections and finally towards the real objects. He sees that these are even more real than the statues and the fire and that the statues were only copies of this. Plato describes this as the prisoner reaching the stage of Hough.The prisoner has finally seen the real forms and starts to think about them. Up into the heavens and sees the sun. He understands that the sun is the reason the world looks like this and that it is the creator of everything that surrounds him. The sun is supposed to represent the Form of the Good and the Plato describes this as the prisoner reaching the stage of understanding. However, the prisoner cannot stay in the real world forever. He needs to return to the cave and help the other prisoners find their way to reality.