Allegory Of The Cave Symbolism

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Allegory of the Cave is a story written and presented by Greek Philosopher Plato in his work, Republic. It is written as a dialogue between Plato’s brother Glaucon and his mentor Socrates, narrated by the latter. Allegory of the Cave, Socrates says that the people live under the earth in a cavelike dwelling. Meaning that instead of them actually living on the earth, they have no connection to the outside world or reality, so instead it seems like they are living under the earth because they are so unaware of the world they live in. The theme of Allegory of the Cave is present through different elements by Plato and the theme is, Enlighten yourself so you don’t continue to slip into living in cave mentality because there is more to life that …show more content…

Every symbol in the text has a meaning. The cave is meant to represent the environment we’ve become acquainted with, chains that represent us from being hindered from freedoms and success, and the fire representing manufactured beliefs that we have conceived and told ourselves they were true. The prisoners, however, represent a person that we can relate to, and ‘Prisoner one’ is meant to represent a person who escaped the cave mentality. However, every symbol presented in the story has a meaning that allows for the reader to connect to it, and relate it to the world we live in today. Overall, they all contribute to the theme that is to enlighten oneself and to not be confined to a cave …show more content…

The events that happen, such as the freed prisoner returning to tell the others what life outside the cave is like, and he attempts to free them, but they refuse to believe him. The hostility shown by the prisoners is displayed when Socrates and Glaucon exchange dialogue: “SOCRATES: And if they can get hold of this person who takes it in hand to free them from their chains and to lead them up, and if they could kill him, will they not actually kill him? GLAUCON: They certainly will.” (Socrates 6) The hostility shown by the prisoners toward what is actually their reality is, represents us when we are faced with reality and truth. Plato is using them as an example to show what the cave mentality can truly do to

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