(Plato's) Allegory of the Cave

   Today in class, Mr. Schick and Lily read a part of Plato's whole book called The Allegory of the Cave. This story is a discussion between Socrates and Glaucon, Plato's brother. In this story, Socrates is telling an allegory to Glaucon. Glaucon is fascinated by this story and agrees with what he is saying. An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. The allegory that Socrates is telling consists of three parts. Part one is called Setting the Stage. In this first part of the story, it provides us with the setting of the story, and allows the reader to paint a picture in their head on what the setting might look like. In the story, there is a cave where prisoners are shackled to the ground/wall. There is a wall that blocks their view of what is behind them.  Behind the wall is a fire that gives them light and a highway leading to the outside of the cave, into the daylight. People from above/puppeteers come down holding statues above the wall, so that the prisoners will see the shadows, casted by the fire from behind. The puppeteers will talk and the prisoners think they are actually beings that are talking to them. The second part of the story consists of three mini parts. The first is called Freedom Stage One- Three Parts of Liberation. In this part, one of the prisoners gets free of the chains and sees the fire behind the wall. Socrates mentions that if someone were to look at the fire, it would be out of pain, and it would be easier for them just to see what they've always seen/ go back to how it was for them. He is talking about change; when someone experiences a big change in their life, it hurts them a little because it is easier for them to just go back to how they were living before. The second mini part in part two of this story is called Freedom Stage Two- Three Parts of Liberation. In this part, the prisoner is dragged out of the cave, up the rough, rocky terrain, and into the sunlight. In was very painful, but he got used to it, and then started to see the shadows up above, in real sunlight and water. The third mini part in part two of the story is called The Sun. In this part, the prisoner is looking at the sun and the nature around him. He is also thinking about this heavenly place and the cave. He starts to feel bad that he got to come up while the prisoners are still down in the cave. It was hard for him, coming up, but in the end, he finds that this place above the cave is actually really nice. When he is up here, he feels like his eyes have opened and he is starting to understand life more. The final part of the story is called The Prisoner Returns to the Cave. The prisoner feels like he must share his experience and newly acquired wisdom with the other prisoners down in the cave. So, he goes back down, and his eyes once again meet with the fire. His eyes have experienced the sunlight for the first time, and now he has come back down to find his eyes filled with darkness again. The fellow prisoners ridicule him for coming back down because they claim that it wasn't worth it to go up in the first place and ultimately, they would just end up in the cave again. They say that he came up only to come back down again. The prisoner wants to tell them about his new findings on the shadows and nature, but the prisoners wouldn't allow it. If they had the chance to kill the person who wanted to "open their eyes" on this whole situation (and life), they would take the opportunity. This story, Plato's Allegory of the Cove, relates to Socrates' life. This is because Socrates comes out of the "cave' and sees the light. He found wisdom in the nature around him and his new findings. He returned to the "cave" (the life he was used to; his life in Ancient Greece) and wanted to pass on his knowledge. He wanted people to think for themselves, and he wanted to make that happen, using his "Socratic Method". However, he was killed for it. This is like the prisoner in the story; he wanted to share his knowledge and try to pass on his wisdom, but would be killed for it if the other prisoners had the chance to kill him.