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Comparing Plato's Allegory Of The Cave And Stranger Than Fiction

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Allegory of the Cave, a short story by renowned philosopher Plato, describes the life of prisoners chained inside of a cave where all the knowledge they receive is given by unknown strangers behind them. It continues to elaborate on their transition from a lackluster world where they were truly in the dark to one that completely surpasses all expectations. Likewise, Stranger Than Fiction, a movie written by Zach Helm, illustrates an IRS auditor, Harold Crick, that is shackled by his mundane lifestyle and also has an embodied voice that seems to be controlling his life. The movie goes on to describe his arduous journey toward finding the woman behind the voice, which ultimately gives him a new perspective on life. Zach Helm’s screenplay Stranger Than Fiction and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave both describe the experience of a person escaping limited perspective darkness and discovering a more complex world than they had previously thought existed. Just like the prisoner of the Cave, Harold Crick breaks free from his chains of naivety and widens his vision to become truly enlightened. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave the prisoners are described as being “chained so they cannot move, and can only see before them” (Plato 1). These chains are notable not only because they are the restriction that keeps the people …show more content…

They both have chains that at first hinder them from movement, and also people apart from themselves that influence their actions and ideas in some way. In addition, the evidence of a taxing journey on the person who has just been released of their chains ties the two works together. The two men of each story experience all of these things to reach an insight that completely contradicts everything they had once known. Essentially, when analyzed through the lens of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Stranger Than Fiction can be viewed in a more exciting and significant

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