, like most things in philosophy, can be deciphered in many different ways. It basically says that people are chained to the wall of a cave and they have nothing to look at but shadows on the wall that are provided by another. This is all that they know and have never been out of the cave. That tells nothing on the surface, but once one looks really hard a few messages or meanings can be interpreted from the Allegory. The main point of the Allegory of the Cave is to give an example of the way that we all live our lives. Except for a chosen few like Christ, Gandhi and maybe even Socrates, no one is really enlighten, or has seen what life is all about. The remainder of the Earth's inhabitants see what we think is reality when actually it is, persay, the shadows of true reality. The Shadow makers represent the opinions makers, or the people that make us look at the world the way we do. An opinion maker can be anyone, a priest telling you how God wants you to live, ones parents teach them morals or the television. These shadows make us think that this is the way to live and that this is what is important in the world. As stated before, few can break the chains and escape the cave. When they do and find out what true reality is, most come back and want to spread the truth. In most cases these people are looked down upon for not conforming or for trying to poison the minds of others. Look at Christ, he was crucified for trying to teach as was Socrates. The main point of the Allegory is to illustrate the way in which we live and show how what we think is reality merely are shadows. I seem to think there is another meaning to the Allegory of the Cave. I agree with the interpretations of the story up to a point. The part where my believes differ is upon leaving the cave. I do believe while on Earth some do break their chains and escape the cave to see what reality is, however I believe that we all eventually break the chains some just do it while on Earth.
