The Allegory of the Cave Analysis Essay Example

The Allegory of the Cave, often known as Plato’s Cave is an analogy provided by the Greek philosopher Plato in his book Republic. It was written primarily to comprare “the impact of education and the lack of it on our nature.” Education has been thought to be an important component to philosophers, logsist, even common folks. Plato’s writing gives off his definition of philosophical education ,and the education that surrounds us. 

As well it gives off examples such as the Allegory of the Cave to refer to how it plays in the real world. Giving us an important key role in the analogy of the divided line on how well we are able to understand our education that is being taught to us not only at academies ,but at our surroundings. 

In the book Republic on chapter 7, Socrates gives an example to differentiate humans in level based on their education ,and awareness of their surroundings to Glaucon. It starts by describing a group of people who have spent their lives chained to a wall faced to a ‘blank canvas’ of a wall. As they age through time their only set of entertainment seems to be shadows of other humans carrying their necessities and puppets on their ‘blank canvas.’ Giving them names for each shadow figure that either looked like a normal person walking by ,or an animal shaped puppet that was being carried out by common folks. The only thing provided to them was a fire that was built behind them which caused the shadows to appear. All the inmates didn’t have a realistic idea of something greater than a fire giving them light.

To the prisoners that was their reality, that was all they knew that life was just about watching shadows in a cave while their realistic world was just behind them. Not being able to think of a realistic idea of something greater than a fire being the only thing that can radiate light. It represents how little concern ,and awareness we have for the real world around us. That there is more than what is in front of us, it might be our phone that might distract us from learning a piece of knowledge that makes our environment viable. 

As the story moves on, Socrates explains how the philosopher who is freed from the cave ,begins understanding that their world of shadows was oblivious to reality. He soon became blinded by the radiant sun. The prisoner couldn’t recognize anything of the outside world “the dazzle and glitter of the light, was unable to discern the objects whose shadows he formerly saw.” His mind was so illusioned by the tiny room that the cave provided that his mind couldn’t captivate what was outside of the cave. As a matter of fact his mind was so captivated that he began to realize the reason  behind the shadows. Putting in his observations on the being that were making the exact movement as their shadows were on their cave wall. Unrolling his mind that there isn’t just one level of education there are layers such as natural science, mathematics, and theory of forms.

Once he came back inside to the other inmates they did not comprehend his experience of the outside world. Having absolutely no hunger for desire to leave their prison they’ve never learned how to live a better life. After ages of imprisonment inside a cave they have absolutely no level of knowledge or logic of what seems to be directly behind them.

Plato continues, saying that the freed prisoner would think that the world outside the cave was superior to the world he experienced in the cave and attempt to share this with the prisoners remaining in the cave attempting to bring them onto the journey he had just endured;” he would bless himself for the change, and pity,” and would want to bring his fellow cave dwellers out of the cave and into the sunlight.