Analysis Of Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Plato’s allegory of the cave is a story told by Socrates in order to explain the role of education. It depicts a group of people living in a cave with chains all over their body. They therefore could not move or escape from the chain even though the entrance was right behind of them. What’s more, they even considered the life in the cave as uncomfortable because they never experienced or expected any thing else. The only thing they could see was the shadows on the stonewall in front of them when the lights come in from the entrance. Thus, for these people in the cave the reality is the world of shadow. They then gradually develop a whole ideology of shadow—there were authorities that teach them the meaning of the shadows. However, one day an outsider went into the cave. He broke the chains and tried to take these people to the outside world. While most people are afraid and reluctant to go outside, one woman followed the man and went out the cave. For the first time she saw the outside the world, the color. She saw the grass, the tree, mountains and hills, and finally the sun. Immediately she went back to the cave and tried to persuade more people to come out with her. Some of them were excited and willing to followed her but the majority considered she was insane and still wanted to stay in the cave. At last the woman’s effort of getting people out of the cave shook the power of the authorities and were finally killed because of her act. Education, as Socrates said at the