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Essay On The Allegory Of The Cave

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Essay On The Allegory Of The Cave
Breaking Free of the Cave

“The Republic”, Plato’s longest work, has many views about philosophy and characters within and there is one character that truly stands out and entices you to read on until the very end; that was Socrates. Socrates was a mentor and a friend of Plato’s and in Plato’s eyes, he was a great and wise Philosopher that was a martyr for philosophy. Within “The Republic”, Plato has written a symbolic account about one of Socrates’ teachings of education or the enlightenment of the mind and soul; “The Allegory of the Cave”. In this, Socrates describes how education is important so that the mind and soul are enlightened and not forever dwelling within the shadows.

As Socrates begins the allegory, there is a cave with an opening but no natural lighting reaching far enough into the cave. And within that cave, there are people or slaves--that some would call--that are chained by their necks and legs that forces them to sit and not be able to turn their heads and stare at the …show more content…
The symbolic representation of the cave, the slaves, the sun and so forth were quite difficult to understand at first, but after dissecting it and placing the pieces of the puzzle in the right places, the whole picture came together. Socrates explains that everyone shouldn’t live in ignorance of the world that settles for mediocre; he wants us to desire the light--the truth--that the world can offer if we look for our silver lining. Education plays a huge role in my life because I desired to achieve the sun’s truth and I love to learn. We have to go to a higher degree and, at times, we are forced to do it by peers and teachers that supports you to keep going. You will be deceived by the shadows and the illusions of the world at times, but we need to keep going to find the light of truth and happiness in bliss
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