Plato's Allegory of the Cave depicts humanity as prisoners trapped in a dark cave, seeing only shadows on the cave walls that they mistake for reality. The document discusses how Plato wrote the allegory to convey his beliefs that our senses show us not the real world but an imperfect version of it, and true knowledge can only be attained through reason. It also examines themes in the allegory like ignorance, how the prisoners are misguided by the cave guards, and how freeing oneself from the cave represents gaining true understanding.

1. Jenny Chaykovsky
English 231
October 6, 2014

2. Introduction

 Plato's Allegory of the Cave is not the rosiest take on the
reality of human existence. It envisions the world as a
dark cave, human beings as trapped prisoners, and all of
our experiences as nothing but shadows on a wall.
 According to Plato's allegory of the cave, the way we
perceive things around us and the way we lead our lives,
is actually not the "truth". We human beings are leading
ignorant, incomplete lives, following the paths, rules,
norms, ethics, set by the previous generations, without
questioning them.

3. Imagery


4. Question?

 Why was the Plato's allegory of the cave written??
 The son of a wealthy and noble family, Plato (427-347
B.C.) was preparing for a career in politics when the trial
and eventual execution of Socrates (399 B.C.) changed
the course of his life. He abandoned his political career
and turned to philosophy, opening a school on the
outskirts of Athens dedicated to the Socratic search for
wisdom. The Allegory presents, in brief form, most of
Plato's major philosophical assumptions: his belief that
the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but
only a poor copy of it, and that the real world can only be
apprehended intellectually.

5. Connection/Themes

 There are several themes represented in the allegory
of the cave. One of the first themes you come across
while reading the Allegory of the Cave is ignorance.
The chains binding them to the cave could merely be
interpreted as a metaphor for ignorance, as if they
wanted to fulfil enlightenment, all they would have to
do is ask questions and seek the truth

6. Life/Academic
Experience

 Plato makes a good point we often do lead incomplete lives
following rules, the norms, etc. Sometimes we get so boxed in
doing the same thing over and over again not only do we age
ourselves beyond our years, but we miss out on the pleasures
and joys of life. Life is meant to be lived, to be creative and think
outside the box.
 The prisoners in the cave have innate conceptions of the forms
(according to Plato), so they understand what the shadows on
the wall are as they use their natural inclination. However, the
guards misguide their understanding of the world and the
shadows as they see it in an imperfect light in its material form.
Due to ignorance, they believe the shadows on the wall are
reality, and they attach exterior noises to what they see on the
dark cave walls.

7. 
“My opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of
good appears last of all and is seen only with an effort,
and when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author
of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the
lord of light in this visible world.”
People are born blind and do not have the
capacity to see. Those with freewill have sight,
but can abandon it by shutting their eyes.

8. Conclusion

 Open your eyes to the world around you. Get in the
habit of seeing in the dark. When you have acquired
the habit, you will see ten thousand times better than
the inhabitants of the den. You will see truth and
beauty.

9. Works Cited

 http://www.shmoop.com/the-republic/cave-allegory.
html
 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/allegory-of-the-cave-summary.
html
 http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/allegory.html
 http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Themes-
Adresses-In-The-Allegory-1203301.html