Philosophical References in the Truman Show

The Truman Show begins with the star, Truman Burbank, a mild-mannered insurance salesman that has lived his entire life in a false reality. From the day he was born the actors on the show have been his family and friends, not because they wish to be, but because they are told and p

Another comparison to the cave is the town in which Truman resides, a place of routine and order. Seahaven is a small town on the end of a peninsula with a beach that is not a stones throw away. This place is yet another shadow in Truman’s life, but to him is his true living environment. The town can be argued as an actual reality for it is true in the sense that the buildings are made of wood and concrete, but it is what is behind the town that is false in nature. The extensive amount of cameras and lights are there to cause a false reality that is being portrayed. Every aspect of the town was built around creating the perfect truth for Truman in order to create the perfect human being. In order to keep Truman from leaving his small town, certain fears had to be installed in him.

aid to be. They come to the set everyday to play roles in the life of a real person. Their job is to pull the proverbial wool over Truman’s eyes, so as they can broadcast a true life over the television waves. Even Seahaven, the town in which he lives, is merely constructed to give Truman a sense of reality. All these factors lead us to ask the question, was Truman's reality any less valid because it was created by one man's vision for a television show?

The movie finishes with Truman knocked out by the storm and lies with his arms outstretched as though he died. He has broken the chains of bondage and confronted the shadows on the wall. The sea is calm and he comes to. The sun is shining, the darkness is gone. This film is one symbol upon another. He continues to sail until he unexpectedly crashes into the end of the world, which in actuality is the back wall of the gigantic sound studio in which he lives. Truman gets out of the boat and walks on the ledge, as if walking on water, to a set of stairs leading up into the sky. This final scene of enlightenment is of Truman discovering that the world that he has come to believe is nothing more then mere shadows created by objects in front of a light. The stage, the characters, and the

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