Fear of Reality Platos piece, The Allegory of the Cave, is a metaphor full of both simplistic and complex meaning.

The first read may seem a bit confusing, however, after critical analysis, the pieces offers both richly complex, and simple concepts. Within the metaphor, a discussion is taking place between Socrates and Glaucon, which engages the reader to the perspective of the happenings in the cave by these two outsiders, instead of the chained prisoners. In reading The Allegory of the Cave, questions surface as to what Plato is trying to convey in the meaning of the allegory, and what can be compared as both sufficient or insufficient in regards to todays realit y. In the world we live in, no one is exempt from being chained to the walls, but after enlightenment, humans are drawn towards the light where they are able to thrive, which can be directly (or indirectly) compared to Platos piece that was written many years ago. In commencement, illustration and perspective of The Allegory of the Cave, is necessary. Plato begins by painting a picture alluding to a dark place filled with prisoners, chained to the walls of the cave. Their only line of sight is what is directly in front of them, as they are unable to move their heads, let alone their bodies to see any other aspects of their surroundings. Behind them lies a fire casting shadows upon the walls of the cave in front of them. Plato uses dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon to insinuate that puppeteers are using materials from within the cave to produce shadows on the wall that depict the only reality the prisoners know to be true, beginning the complexity of the metaphor. An essential point to take away from this part is the fact that the prisoners would have a fundamentally skewed view as to what reality actually is. Foreign figures incessantly cast distorted images of reality; therefore, the prisoners are

blind to actuality and believe these depictions presented to them to be their own reality. An imperative perspective must be acknowledged as our language gives names to objects, but the names of objects we cannot see and only wrestle with only in our minds are how we notably use imagination, something the prisoner first lacked. In the next part of the allegory, the prisoner is released and for the first time able to see the light which is the fire that has burned behind him. Socrates states while it is liberating and compelling for the prisoner to see newfound reality, it becomes increasingly painful for the prisoner to see the falsified world he has grown accustomed and comfortable with. In true human form, the prisoner is much more inclined to go back to the world that is familiar and painless, instead of climbing out of the cave to seek further truth. The metaphor continues to shed light on the prisoner who has fully emerged beyond the cave. At first the prisoner is focused on familiar objects such as reflections and shadows, but soon adjusts and sees both people and objects in an existence that is real, unlike a false interpretation. The once prisoner, now possesses the necessary knowledge to understand the world around him through his own experiences, in turn granting him truth through his own eyes. As Socrates and Glaucon grapple with whether the prisoner would want to return to the cave, they both decide that the prisoner would rather suffer in light then return to darkness. Deep meaning in the climax arises as he looks at his surroundings, and sees that the sun, or light and is finally able to see good in the world, as the light represents truth and goodness. As the metaphore nears the end, the idea of the prisoner returning to the cave comes up once more as a showing of what would occur if he were to return, with the notion of a better life. The released prisoner would be mocked by the bound prisoners

for leaving the cave, because they have yet to seek any truth and experience it on their own. It is now the released prisoners duty to lead the others to the light of actuality, as he was strong enough to do it on his own. He is responsible now to bring goodness and light to the shackled, rather than show contempt for the prisoners who have yet to be enlightened. The only way we can really help people to develop is to let them do it themselves, trying to show them by demonstration, if we can, the things that are really needed (Roosevelt, 70). This quote from Eleanor Roosevelts book, You Learn by Living, identifies similarly with having the duty to advocate for others to develop their full potential by showing them through our behavior, and the positive reality we have seen in or own experiences. The metaphor of the puppeteer casting shadows of reality has similarities to objects in todays world. The puppeteer of our world who controls the lives it reaches is the media. Media plays a significant role in contributing to the perceptions and notions of what is right and wrong, and what is true and false. People quickly adopt these realities to fit in with mainstream society. More than ever women have a skewed sense of their gender role, and how they are to behave and look because of how media negatively objectifies them. Men are not relieved from the stereotypes of what a man is, and spend just as much time as woman wondering how to find light for themselves in the world, while still finding a balance in the perceptions of others. Even more so, the media contributes a significant contribution to fear of failure and being different. While it is viewed as glamorous to have large sums of money at all costs to be happy, it is a terrible representation of actuality. People are so focused fitting in and being accepted that it often comes at the expense of sacrifice. Many choose to go

along to get along instead of being innovative and having strong opinions. They push aside the feeling of hope to get through, and rather live in fear. It is those who abolish fear from their lives that are noteworthy. In Eleanor Roosevelts book, You Learn By Living, she states, Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than to not try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, It cant be done (Roosevelt, 168). The medias standards and high expectation lead us to stray away from thinking on our own. Society makes us think it is easier to take in the knowledge and views of someone else, and fitting in becomes less difficult when we detach our own feelings of reality and present them to the world. The standards by which you live must be your own standards, your own values, your own convictions in regard to what is right and wrong, what is true and false, what is important and what is trivial (Roosevelt, 111). Roosevelt sheds powerful insight to finding meaning to life by living for ones self, so that as humans, we are better able to find truth and value to life for ourselves, without the skewed beliefs of what others think to be true. In regards to the allegory, this quote is a direct fit. The prisoners bound by chains in the cave were not finding meaning to life for themselves, and only seeking knowledge through what was presented in front of them by another person or object. The perception of the puppeteers was not relevant to actuality; therefore the prisoners had no integrity without the ability to have perceptions of their own, as they had never been forced to do so. Gaining integrity for the sole purpose of achieving a meaningful existence is key. Without it, we become less as human beings, as we have surrendered our fullest potential.

The released prisoner who worked to create his personalized existence sought an unlimited amount of good in his life, because he admonished adopting the views of others. In our own lives, we often keep guarded by the fear of what others think. The skewed perceptions of the society in which we live has poisoned much of the ambition we feel to seek out our own existence. As humans we are trained to seek happiness in materialized possessions and how others positively view us. In reality, we are much happier when we find the meaning of life through our own desires and needs. Once fear is thrown out and the initial shock of pain and distress fades, peace can be found in furthering experience and knowledge. A striking argument took place about whether or not the released slave would turn back to the cave by Socrates and Glaucon. This argument can be linked with a pivotal quote by Fredrick Douglass from, The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass. Douglass says, So strong was my desire, that I thought a gratification of it would fully compensate for whatever loss of comforts I should sustain by the exchange. I left without a regret, and with the highest hopes of future happiness (Douglass, 36). While the released prisoner in the allegory experienced significant pain and distress, the light of the unknown was captivating enough to pull him from the darkness. In this day and age, people are so incredibly bound by the fear of the unknown, that they often do not take risks in life that could prove to be beneficial. Often in taking risks and adjusting to change, our existence becomes wrapped in meaningful experiences, enabling us to learn and thrive. We just have to be willing to pursue it. As seen in the allegory, change requires adjustment in order to become successful. Change is inevitable in the learning process. Our minds constantly tack on new

information and synthesize it with existing knowledge in order to make sense of the world. Change is a necessary evil. With it we are able to grow our minds, which enhances our perceptions, decisions, knowledge, and success. To be unable, because of inflexibility, to readjust to changes will result in a kind of sterility, great unhappiness, and sometimes almost a state of shock (Roosevelt, 81). Without adjustment to change we become stagnant much like the prisoners who see the same mundane depictions of what reality and growth is. The prisoners had never experienced change and had no regard for the change in others. Like the prisoners, students also become stagnant. They want instant gratification of good grades, little effort, and fast results to learning, because that is was society has become accustomed to. A key example for students and educators to take note of is from the prisoner who immersed himself in light. If students and teachers focused on growth in learning and development more so than grades, and negative views of what the world expects from future adults, positive change in the education system would be almost immediate, as it would relieve one more binding pressure in our society. While adjusting to the changes takes time an effort, our society would be happier as a whole if the effort was spent wisely. While older literature commonly tossed aside for new and more interesting concepts to learning, I believe Platos, The Allegory of the Cave, can be directly applied to learning not just for this course, but also for us as life-long learners. The allegory had fairly obvious similarities of how we should live our lives not only in order to better ourselves, but gave insight to our responsibilities as enlightened citizens to advocate for others facing adversity. We live in a cruel society that without selfdevelopment of each individual, especially through education, will make for an unstable

world full of confusion. Our job as educators is to first make our own path. This way, we are better suited to help others build a path for themselves and witness the beauty of enlightenment, and hopefully pass it on by positive demonstrations in life. There is great need for positively pursuing goals of finding the good in situations and developing a sense of community while experiencing the world in a magnitude that deepens our perceptions and grows our mind. Just as we have been fortunate to be enlightened, it is a gift necessary to pass along. Our youth of today need to be fearless as they will eventually become our adult leaders, making it ever so important pass on the light.