In Ray Bradbury's “Fahrenheit 451”, the character Guy Montag is similar to the prisoner in “The Allegory of the Cave” because, Montag and the Prisoner were brought into the world with forced opinions and thoughts that shaped how they feel and think. Both Montag and the prisoner had nothing to look back on that showed a different opinion, so they were both stuck to believe anyone at face-value. These forced opinions however, were later changed after they were revealed by a character (the old man or Faber) and caused them to shed a whole new set of skin.
Is there a truer higher reality than what most people experience? This question can best be answered by examining the protagonist in both Allegory of the Cave by Plato and The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright. The answer to this question, is very complex as it includes the definition of reality, how to measure the terms truer and higher, and the consensus of people’s experiences. because there is no way to prove that there is a truer higher reality beyond what most people experience, this statement is false. While there are multiple definitions of reality, the most accurate is the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
Ray Bradbury born in 1920 to a middle class family. Bradbury went on to write and publish over five hundred pieces of literature. One of the novels he wrote was Fahrenheit 451, where he attempted to predict what the United States of America would look like in the future. The novel illustrates the idea of a totalitarian government and society burning books to stop the spread of knowledge, by following the development of the main character Guy Montag. Furthermore, the novel bring up the idea of Plato’s cave, in which Montag attempts to overcome the ideas of the society he grew up around.
Plato tells us that the prisoners are confused on their emergence from the cave and that the prisoners’ will be blinded once they had been freed from the cave. After a period of time they will adjust their eyesight and begin to understand the true reality that the world poses. The stubbornness to develop a different perspective is seen in much of today’s society. The allegory of the cave is an understanding of what the true world is and how many people never see it because of their views of the society they are raised in.
“The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, and A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt all have in common a person that is challenged by a group of people on their beliefs, ideas, as well as knowledge. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, one person is challenged based on his knowledge about the world outside the cave. Next, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, Dr. Thomas Stockmann is challenged by the people of his town on his belies of the water being contaminated that later is proven to be true because he sends a sample to be tested. Lastly, A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, Thomas More is challenged by King Henry and his followers on his idea of divorce because he is dedicated to the Catholic Church which doesn’t approve of King Henry divorce. Furthermore, I believe Dr. Thomas Stockmann is a greater hero than Thomas More.
In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato’s idea of the human who escaped the cave, but came back to tell about his learnings but the other people in the cave did not want to listen to him since they believed that the cave was the real truth and did not want to be educated about the outside
1) In the allegory of the cave, Plato’s main goal is to illustrate his view of knowledge. A group of prisoners have been chained in a cave their whole lives and all they have ever been exposed to were shadows on the wall and voices of people walking by. The prisoners in the cave represent humans who only pay attention to the physical aspects of the world (sight and sound). Once one of them escapes and sees the blinding light, all he wants is to retreat back to the cave and return to his prior way of living. This shows that Plato believes enlightenment and education are painful, but the pain is necessary for enlightenment and it is worth it.
Knowledge already exists inside a soul, but it is crucial that this knowledge be pointed toward the good in order to benefit future rulers. Plato states that the men stuck inside the cave of only sensory perception are not ‘obliged to share in the toils of politics.’ They have grown up in the dark so it is the only lifestyle they know. It is understandable that they would not show any gratitude to the men who have seen the light. Nevertheless, these men who have gained that knowledge through philosophical reasoning must try and save those in the darkness, no matter the lack of appreciativeness.
SOLVING PROBLEMS As Bradbury describes the citizens “like gray animals peering from electric caves,” (139) He makes an allusion to Plato 's Allegory of the Cave, found in Book VII of "The Republic" where Plato states “Life is like being chained up in a cave forced to watch shadows flitting across a stone wall.” The purpose of Bradbury’s allusion is to make the readers take notice of the citizen’s live styles- absorbed within their tv walls in ignorance of the ongoings and status of the world they live in. Moreover, Bradbury warns readers not to get sidetracked or so obsessed with entertainment to become oblivious to the ongoings of the world around them, and the problems within their society. “ I 'm afraid of children my own age.
In both works, the cave prisoners and Neo are portrayed as ignorant but questioning of the world they cannot see but can sense, as represented by the cave and the matrix. In “Allegory of the Cave”, the prisoners have been chained up since birth, and only know of the world inside the cave. The prisoners have always had curiosity about the outside world, but they are content with their inside world. Socrates even claims that “to [the prisoners], the truth would literally be nothing but the shadows of the images” (Plato 29). Socrates is saying that because all the prisoners know is the shadows, that is all they believe.
#2 Plato’s Allegory In Modern Day Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is about the human perspective and enlightenment. In todays society Plato’s allegory is still relevant and is deeply rooted in education. College students are a perfect analogy for the “Allegory of the Cave”. We are told from the very beginning that we need to have an education to be successful in life.
Republic: The Allegory of the Cave Plato is one of the greatest and most influential philosophers of all time. He was a student of Socrates and was a great influence to Aristotle whom he taught. He is a very key figure in higher learning as he founded the first institution of higher education in Athens and had written a lot of works that have shaped the field of philosophy. He represented his work mostly in letters and dialogues that created the basics of philosophy.
The Allegory of the Cave is a brilliant writing by Plato that really puts into perspective how we are living as a part of a materialistic and consumer society. The darn thing was written almost 2,500 years ago, and considering the fact that the allegory is still relevant today, Plato’s allegory is surprisingly very close to what contemporary society is like. His arguments are undoubtedly strong since he patches all his arguments well to lower any possibilities of counter arguments, but there is still room for doubt. Also, even with those weaknesses, the prisoners in the allegory are still indisputably similar to the people of today, and the cave doubtlessly like the modern society. In this essay, I will discuss some of Plato’s strength and weaknesses in his arguments as well as how the allegory still applies to the current people and society.
In addition, the virtue of Plato’s view on the worldly existence is that it is very optimistic. He stresses the importance of education (of the soul), which is a good thing. Also, he wants people to live in harmony with each other. Nevertheless, I’m afraid that people aren’t capable of having so much solidarity by sharing their knowledge with others, after they have escaped the cave. I think that it would result in a group of elite, who have more knowledge than others, and instead of sharing their knowledge, they would keep it to themselves, and inequality will
The state of most human beings is depicted in this myth of the cave and the tale of a thrilling exit from the cave is the source of true understanding. Plato has portrayed the concept of reality and illusion through the allegory of the cave. One of Socrates' and also of Plato's, chief ideas was that of forms, which explains that the world is made up of reflections of more perfect and ideal forms. In the Cave
