A former prisoner is capable of laying eyes on a new world, filled with people, animals, plants, landscapes, and so on.Īt night, he looks at the stars and the moon, an entirely new set of reality presents itself. Now he has the privilege to see a human reflection in the water. For years he was exposed only to shadows. Gradually, he begins to absorb the environment, his eyes adjust to everything including the sunlight, and he is much more comfortable right now. The beauty of the world scares him he has never seen anything other but shadows. At first, the prisoner would fight and act as though his house is robbed. Plato is persistent: “What if someone drags that person out or use force to bring him out in the open to see the sun and nature. Their eyes won’t hurt anymore, because there is a wall that has been deeply missed. This world, this safety and comfort zone is more than a home to them. Even freeing is not enough, when the mental boundaries are too strong and overwhelming.ĩ/10 prisoners would have returned to the cave – afraid of the freedom offered to them. Poor eyesight weakens the visual perception of the objects on the wall.Īs an illustration, if someone told this prisoner that his life was, in fact, a “fabricated reality” he would have gone crazy. Nonetheless, the brightness of it damages his vision and hampers his perception.

The first thing he sees is the fire behind him.

One of the prisoners is cut loose and sent to explore the real world. They are vulnerable to everything that is above their safety net – or a field of knowingness. Even though the shadows are merely reflecting the outer world, the inmates are not aware of it. Socrates indicates that all prisoners are exposed to a different set of reality. However, the prisoners believe that the voices and vibrations are coming from the shadows on the wall. The sounds these people make when passing by is their only amusement. The only thing they can actually witness is the shadows coming from the puppets these people carry.Īs we mentioned, the prisoners are literally blinded to the outside world. In front of them, there is a low fence so that their appearance won’t cast a shadow for the inmates to see on their side of the wall. The people walking down this road, carry puppets of humans and other creatures. The only thing they can do is to stare at the wall in front of them.īehind this line, there is a raging fire, and between the prisoners and this fire, there is something similar to a sidewalk – raised above the ground. Their neck and legs are fixated so that they cannot move around a lot. These individuals are locked since the day of their birth, without much room for exploring neither the cave nor the real world. To cut a long story short, Socrates asks Glaucon to create/imagine a cave where a group of people is imprisoned. The allegory of a new philosophical journey starts with a simple question that is addressed to Glaucon. The symbolic part of the story is perhaps the most intriguing one. The dialogue between Glaucon – Plato’s brother and Socrates is at the very center of happenings. He mainly focused on education and how the availability of it can produce a better person. The renowned Greek Philosopher Plato attempted to dive deeper than anyone ever did before him– regarding the human nature. He is the author of Symposium, The Republic, Apology, and others. Plato is one of those figures who needs no introduction, due to his achievements in the early stages of civilization. We warmly recommended it to all people who want to change their own little world. “ The Allegory of the Cave” is a story suitable for the entire world.

What if we tell you, that the key to release yourself from bondage, is in your pocket. Sometimes the chains around our neck are too tight, impossible to break. Who Should Read “The Allegory of the Cave”? And Why? Our book summary willingly joins the efforts to educate the population. The cave-world acts as a symbol of self-imposed imprisonment most people carry out. The allegory is composed of a handful of signs and indications that describe the average mentality of an everyday person.

Allegory of the cave summary