A cave, where prisoners are kept, and have been chained together since childhood, having never left the cave. The prisoners’ legs are bound together by chains and their bodies are immobilized in such a way that their necks are fixed forcing them to look at the wall directly ahead of them. Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised wall, behind which men, puppeteers, walk and carry shapes of different animals, plants, and other things. These shapes create shadows on the wall. In addition to the shadows, sometimes the puppeteers would make noises as they walk by creating an echo against the wall leading the prisoners to believe that the words are coming from the shadows. Presuming the images are real and not just shadows and this being the only reality they know, the prisoners begin to engage in a “name that shape” game.…show more content… At first sight, he experiences pain and confusion, unable to see, his eyes blinded by the glimmer of the fire, his mind confused as he tries to make out the shapes over the wall, which appear less obvious than the shadows of his reality. He is then dragged up out of the cave and he is not able to see anything because of the sunlight. At first, he sees shadows but eventually as his eyes adjust to the daylight and he will see objects more clearly.
In the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates explains to the student how we are blinded by what we are only allowed to see (shadows in the cave). If we were to see the truth (sunlight outside of the cave), then we would tell others, but they would not believe you.
The world inside the cave is an analogy for the human mind, specifically education, even more specific, lack of education. The world outside and above the cave is the area where knowledge and reasoning is
