Out Of The Darknes
...a great impact on the Western world. Using a unique dialogue of questions and answers, Plato portrays his point of view of how a person approaches and realizes truth. To depict this, the Greek philosopher uses the figurative journey of a prisoner locked in a dark cave who finally recognizes the light of the sun above him and realizes the true world around him. The prisoner approaches the light initially with great apprehension and pain, then slow realization and adjustment, and finally a complete and clear understanding of the world around him. This three part idea of Plato that a person cannot immediately be taken out of darkness and plunged into the light is revealed metaphorically in his story.
The prisoner in the story originally approaches the light of the sun in fear and pain. He has never seen the sun’s light; so naturally, the light burns his eyes and causes him great physical pain. The prisoner then cannot grasp the truth that the light reveals. Since he has never seen anything but mere shadows before, he does not immediately believe all the vivid colors and images before him. Plato was trying to say something dramatic with this story. The dark cave represents the darkness so many live in as they are prisoners of their false realities, and the shadows on the wall are only what these people perceive as real. Just as shadows simply expose the outline of an object, these people only understand a small part of reality. The prisoner had been chained down in that cave his entire life, like many people whom live life without ever realizing there is something more to be found. When the prisoner is thrown into the light, which represents truth, it hurts and causes much pain. Plato includes this metaphor to exhibit how learning the truth about something you always believed was different initially hurts and causes great pain. When one hears such news...
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