Marionette Players In Plato's Allegory Of A Cave

The marionette players in “Allegory of a Cave” were the dominating figures in the cave that had mentally and physically presided over the shackled prisoners, leading for a visually impaired sense of truth and understanding. The marionette players had restricted their knowledge by only showing them shadowy figures of real things “made from wood and stone and various materials.” The marionette players use the figured and place them in front of the fire to manipulate the prisoner’s teachings. Plato uses symbolism to discuss how easily we can be manipulated again by an upper force and how it truly makes our character. Tied to the government and officials, they have a strong lead in front of us due to their full understanding of truth and capability

Plato, when they listen to the voices of the puppeteers and shadows argues that, “The truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of images.” This follows a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ effect, where what the see is what they believe, which is a strict asset to the prisoner’s character. The effect is displayed in the allegory to represent us as in the conversation it is proposed, “You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoner. Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads.” In fault of the government, and how they ‘chain’ us with only the images they desire to see, we become forced to only see and believe in their shadows, which slowly develop through age to become our sense of truth. In a quick summarization, it is that what we see is what we become. By using symbolism, he uses a relatable tone of voice to appeal to us on an emotional level. Plato begins to question our self identity with how our self-interest, emotions and mindset is tainted by the everyday, displaying biased advertisements and slim forms of truth, eventually leading for us to become narrow minded with