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Allegory of the Cave

 

            The Allegory of the Cave was a very enjoyable piece. I enjoyed it because of how it can be connected to life today, even though Plato wrote this piece THOUSANDS of years ago. To me there are so many interpretations that can be made of this story. After reading some information online, and discussing the reading with friends, the most common interpretation is that it stands for a journey to finding the truth (just like in the movie The Matrix). The prisoners are basically trapped in a false reality, where all they know are the shadows that they see in the cave. When the prisoner finally breaks free, he starts his journey to finding the truth, and in this case, he finds that the truth is not always the easiest thing and that at times the truth can be very painful( just like in the movie The Matrix). This is when it becomes apparent to me that the story is teaching us that at times in our life it is hard to see the truth or the reality of life, and that it is much easier to just see the "shadows" (which are the deceptions that we face in life). There is also another representation in the story, if you think about it, it is easy to see that this is a battle of light vs. dark, because the darkness comes from the caves, and the darkness of the cave represents the deception and lies, and the light is the sunlight that the prisoner eventually sees, and this light represents the prisoner finally seeing the truth and becoming enlightened. I really thought that this story was great, although it took me 4 times to fully grasp everything that was going on before I really could interpret it. I think that the main idea being pushed across in this piece is that there are always going to be false truths in our lives, and that we have to learn to overcome these lies before we can free ourselves from the darkness of the cave. .
            


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