The Allegory of the Cave

Do you recall the Allegory of the Cave by Plato?  This is a depiction of reality showing one’s experience from a narrow perspective to a much broader view of life.  Here is a story that can help describe the tale.

A story about the ‘Allegory of the Cave by Plato’

It was inside a cave, with all the normal sounds a cave would make, except this cave had travelers that came in and out through a walkway.  A bridge that connected a walkway through going into two corridors was lit by a torch light that gave light for the travelers who passed by.  Travelers walked through the cave.  A merchant with a cart full of selling goods went along passing by a lady carrying a child who held on a doll by its hair.  Others would walk along as well.

Also inside the cave was a series of people tied to chairs.  The chairs were a bit of a device that held the people to look at the wall.  With the torch light lit for the travelers, the brightness made shadows that were projected along the cave walls.  Upon the rocks just over a small gap of a chasm, an image of a figure moves along the face of a wall.  The figure appeared as a shadowy silhouette dipping in and out across the rocky surface.

The people on the chairs were alive, but just looking at the walls of figures moving about.  They were tied from head to toe in some kind of apparatus that held them in place forcing them to view the lit cave wall screen.  They would make grunts and gestures, but not in a struggle.  It was in a way that it was accepted.  It turns out that these people were living all there lives inside of a cave.  It was dark, but the light is at one direction faced at the wall.  They were taken care of by the apparatus, fed and given water, but were forced to look only at the wall.

One day, a persons ropes began to loosen and the contraption open and unlocked, thus freeing the person.  Just out of the chair, the person went upon the knees and got up to investigate the new sights.  The grounds were hard with a rough surface and rocks and pebbles throughout the floor.  The cave was dark, and thus followed the light up toward the bridge.  It was a little slow walking due to the fragility of walking on the legs really for the first time.  A figure much different from before came out and walked on the bridge and continued to the other side.  The escaped person followed the sounds of the figure moving inside the corridor.

The light grew intensely and it became and much more bright.  Everything was completely white.  A warmth began to encompass the person.  Suddenly the ground felt soft and the air was clean and fresh.  A breeze of wind pressed along the body of the person.  Rather than the sounds inside the cave, the person heard new sounds of chirping.  It was much lighter sounds.  Colors began to appear and lead to shapes and forms.  It was all new to describe, though it was phenomenal.  There was a bright light of a circle, forms included the sun and trees, and even the grass touching the feet.

The person came back, with a new kind of energy and remembered the friends still inside the cave.  Now coming back, the cave was dark, but this time the person had well adjusted to the light and darkness with the experience and exposure.  Returning to the chairs with the people tied up, there was a need to free them.  The people didn’t understand what freedom was.  They thought that the returned friend was not making sense.

As we read this story from the beginning to how it unfolded we know that reality for the cave dwellers were false.  It was only mere images on a screen.  Reality is met once experiencing the true.



The Allegory of the Cave stories a view on life that there is a much broader reality.  In a brief summary, a person imprisoned in a cave and subjected to view see flickering shadows of real shapes and forms.  There head barred to face toward the illusion, the reality is a limited.  Released from captivity, a much broader view of life and reality unfolded just outside of the cave.  Thus, a need to share, the person returns to free the other captives.

The Allegory of the Cave shows of what reality is and reveals that there is something much greater than our own.

What is an allegory?

It is a story, poem, or writing that describes a hidden meaning that shares a lesson or moral.

What does the Allegory of the Cave describe?

The story of the cave represents in a nutshell, the journey toward truth.  People bounded to only be fixed to one view separate from reality. The opportunity to be able to not just to see shadows dancing upon walls, though to truly see the real.

Plato is a famous Philosopher during the Greek era and presented the Allegory of the Cave within the Republic.  The Republic is a Socratic dialogues written around 380 BC describing justice, order, and the just as well as the way of becoming virtuous shaping our character in accordance to a greater good.  It also describes the theory of forms and immortality of the soul.  Sharing wisdom along the lines of courage, moderation, love, and good, The Republic shares a walk toward mystery and the truth of life and nature.

The Allegory of the Cave describes what we are faced in modern society in today’s world.  For example, an advertisement may say one things, but only to deter from the truth what it really is.  We could be paying more compared to the true value of what it may be.  Many media with commercials, news, and variety could be just another advertisement to distract us from the greater truth.

Plato is remarkable as he is a philosopher of life explaining about wisdom within nature.  The Allegory of the Cave is one of many great pieces of representing truth about life and nature.  There are many great sources about the Allegory of the Cave, reading this article may help convey a perspective of the Allegory of the Cave.

Thank you!

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s