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... Plato’s prominent work of literature, Politeia, has established a profound effect on American and European thought. ... The illustration is meant to dovetail with the Similes of the Sun and Line, two other physical representations of Plato’s ideas. ... All of the dialogues in Republic are between Socrates, Plato’s revered teacher, and various combative personalities. ... The Allegory of the Cave represents Plato’s illustration of the effects of education on the soul. ... The prisoners are bound for life, believing the shadows that they see to be the only existent plain of truth. ... Gradually the truth was revealed to the exile, and the man recognized that the shadows he was forced to look upon were not all that life had to offer. ... Upon the man’s epiphany, he returned back the darkness of the cave to tell the remaining captives that what they were being subjected to was not reality. ...
In Plato’s insightfully constructed allegory, the prisoners in the cave represent human minds being held in captive. ... The mind only grasps images of tangible objects in everyday life. The sunlight leaking through the cave represents the inimitable truth, a truth only achieved through knowledge. Plato is contending that to truly be free, the mind must comprehend the broader conundrum of metaphysical concepts.
The captives’ response to the freed man’s revelation of truth is exceptionally important to the entire meaning of the Allegory of the Cave. The prisoner’s refutation of the man’s testimony, and furthermore the captives’ violent reaction to his words, represent the human mind’s inherent refusal of an existence which it does not know.
Approximate Word count = 1313
Approximate Pages = 5.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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