ipl-logo

Comparing Plato's Cave And The Movie

756 Words4 Pages

The Matrix- Plato’s Cave What are the restrictions and boundaries of our own actions and thoughts? One could say that the world we live in today is a prison for our minds. This prison mediates our senses, and blocks us from divine truth and knowledge. For one thing is true, knowledge is power and power is freedom. Plato’s allegory of the cave paints us a picture of this prison. I will be discussing the similarities between Plato’s cave and The Matrix, the movie. Although we may feel content with our lives and feel a sense of completion, seeing the world as it truly is by breaking from this prison brings us to a whole new level of plenitude. Plato describes the cave as a dark cavern that houses prisoners. These prisoners are chained in such a way that they can only see what is in front of them. Being able to move or look around is not an option. Behind them …show more content…

For example, Plato’s cave describes the prisoners as being blinded from reality. Much like these prisoners, Neo was also blinded from the real world. The matrix controlled him and kept him in his comfort zone. The matrix was the chains binding Neo to the only home and social environment he knew. Another element that is common to both Plato’s cave and The Matrix is the liberator. The liberator in Plato’s cave already knows the truth and is on a mission. He must effectively remove a prisoner from his comfort zone and expose him to reality. Once the prisoner is aware of the truth and accepts the truth, the liberator repeats his mission or the freed slave becomes the new liberator. The Matrix also has a liberator, Morpheus. Morpheus is sent into the matrix to save Neo. Many other elements like the struggle of the prisoners before they see the truth and the rescuer being a hero are shared between The Matrix and the allegory. The Matrix does an excellent job in painting us the elements of the allegory and helps us understand Plato’s theory of

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Plato's Allegory Of The Cave And Las Meninas

    876 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato breaks the story into four main scenes to demonstrate the path to enlightenment for the unenlightened reader. He uses a story of a man trapped in a cave,

    Read More

  • The Matrix: Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    922 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the movie there were several scenes that made direct but subtle allusions to the claims and ideas of famous philosophers concerning the nature of reality and the human condition. One of these claims that is referenced is that of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave which is in one of his famous writings, The Republic. In the

    Read More

  • The Matrix, Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    1897 Words  | 8 Pages

    An individual’s life journey is linked to the process of enlightenment, which can be achieved when one realizes the world they have been dwelling in is an illusion and is not under their own control. The science-fiction movie The Matrix, Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, and Golden-Globe award winning film The Truman Show all have the same underlying theme of escaping an artificial reality. “The Allegory of the Cave” is a dialogue that criticizes human perception. In the dialogue, prisoners draw a parallel between the dwellers in the cave who believe the shadows on the walls are real to humans who believe in perceptions based on empirical knowledge.

    Read More

  • Elements Of Plato In The Allegory Of The Cave

    650 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Plato’s allegory of the cave, it also suggests an alternate world, a world that isn’t recognizably like, in " Allegory of the Cave “and in "The Machine Stops" they both throughout the story

    Read More

  • The Matrix And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Plato’s analogy, some prisoners were kept in a dark cave with their neck and legs chained to the wall. They remain chained for a long time, and all they can see was shadows of objects. The shadow was made possible because of the fire behind the prisoners and the people who held the objects while hiding behind a walkway. The shadow on the wall was the only reality for the prisoners, but when one freed prisoner finally got to see the ‘real’ reality. Both of the stories have a person who sees this ‘genuine’ reality.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Matrix And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    1232 Words  | 5 Pages

    “An unexamined life is a life not worth living” - Socrates. Both ‘The Matrix’ and Plato’s allegory of ‘The Cave’ develops a question of reality and how the world is perceived. This can be closely connected to one of the great Greek philosopher’s sayings where an “unexamined life is a life not worth living”. Socrates states this due to the increasing number of citizens who lived their lives without questioning the world around them. ‘The Matrix’ and Plato’s allegory explore how when the world is properly examined the outcome is a new understanding and perception of life.

    Read More

  • The Matrix Counter Argumentative Essay

    1141 Words  | 5 Pages

    The matrix is a computer simulated dream world the aliens have put the humans in to keep them under control in order to change a human into a battery. All of the humans in this computer generated dream world have no idea that they are actually in the Matrix except the people that have been released from the dream world. The life of Neo and Trinity inside the Matrix is different from the lives of the other people living inside because they are aware of the real world and just how bad things are outside of the Matrix. All of the other people in the Matrix are unaware of the fact they are in a computer simulated dream world, and they are living a normal life just like us. This is comparable to Plato’s Cave because the people in the cave are made to believe

    Read More

  • The Matrix: Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    417 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the movie “The Matrix” by Joel Silver, there are major philosophical idealistic views integrated into the plot that give a deeper meaning to the storyline. Since the release of the “The Matrix” in 1999, there has been major controversy over the hidden messages that lie between the viewers eyes when watching. There are endless conspiracies about the message that is being portrayed, most of which being biblical and philosophical references. What stood out to me the most while watching was Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Plato invests in the idea that the real world is in fact an illusion.

    Read More

  • Death And Rebirth In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    968 Words  | 4 Pages

    Plato’s Allegory of the cave represents life/death/rebirth. Life/death/rebirth is a popular archetype that most authors use in fictional books. Plato’s Allegory of the cave begins with people that are locked in chains inside of a cave. The people inside the cave see shadows on the wall of animals and creatures that they think represents their life. This cave is an illusion of life that the people are experiencing.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Plato's 'The Allegory Of The Cave'

    773 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Human Nature In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    1159 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave the people think that their entire reality is the shadows that they see on the walls of the cave. Plato explores the truth and criticizes that humanity does not question what is real. Plato explores that the human understanding and accepting of what is real is difficult and

    Read More

  • Allegory Of The Cave

    742 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Allegory of the Cave illustrates Plato’s and Socrates’ belief that the onerous processes of obtaining, possessing, and sharing knowledge are reserved for the robust and wise members of society: philosophers who possess the strength and motivation to bear the burden associated with truth. The three prisoners in chains know their world only through small reflections from the outside because they have never “seen anything of themselves and one another other than the shadows cast by the fire on the side of the

    Read More

  • Compare The Truman Show And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    687 Words  | 3 Pages

    But, when adjusted to the sun, the prisoner can see the world as it truly is, not just as the shadows in the cave. Plato begins to explain that if the prisoner returned to the cave to explain what he saw to the other prisoners, they would simply not believe him. Truman, lives in

    Read More

  • The Allegory Of The Cave

    485 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thousands of years ago Greek philosopher Plato wrote the “Allegory of the Cave”, a story that reflected his time and relayed a message and lesson about human perception. Plato’s analysis showed how our perceptions are controlled by our biases and results in us not willing to accept truth. The story carries an everlasting message about society, the acceptance of truth, and the journey there. The film The Matrix relays Plato’s message in a more modern futuristic point of view, while still relating to present day society and providing another medium of analyzing the difference between reality and illusion. Society has dramatically changed over the past two thousand years, but Plato’s message still relates today.

    Read More

  • The Nature Of Reality In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    728 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about Comparing Plato's Cave And The Movie

Open Document