The Mask Behind the Man: A Comparison Between Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Watchmen During the times of Ancient Greece, Plato used his title as a philosopher in order to rationalize things that had previously been explainable only with the use of mythical deities. On of his better-known teachings was called the Allegory of the Cave, in which he described the phenomenon of people understanding the world in different ways. More than two thousand years later, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created the world-renowned graphic novel Watchmen. Within the story of Watchmen, multiple characters experience what Plato philosophized in the Allegory of the Cave. In order to understand how Plato’s allegory is used in context of Watchmen, one must first learn how Plato intended his philosophy to be interpreted. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a fictional narrative that revolves around the life of a prisoner in an unusual circumstance. This prisoner along with others have been locked underground since childhood. All of their legs …show more content…
In the first page of the first chapter of this novel, Rorschach exclaimed “all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘save us!’…and I’ll look down and answer ‘no’” (Moore 1.1). This quote set up Rorschach’s view on the cave as he thinks that he has been able to escape it. As the novel progressed, Rorschach’s character showed that he had no pity left for the unfortunate “prisoners” who were still in the cave. Plato’s allegory was an open-ended question that could be answered in multiple ways and Moore and Gibbons answered in an incredibly unique way through Rorschach. He believed that he was above the others because he saw the true filth in humanity and was frustrated with his colleagues who were still in trapped in the cave and could not see the world the same as Rorschach could see
1. One of the headlines is "Who needs Europe?" and how that consists in the control of Truman is it makes Europe seem like a nuisance and they say that so he never wants to leave Seahaven because if he does the show will no longer exist. Another headline is "Crack down on Homeless" this represents when the "dad" tries to come back into the picture and he looks like a homeless guy and Truman takes interest in him so other extras drag him out because they're afraid he'll tell Truman he's been on a television show his whole life and it'll make Truman want to leave and discover the real truth. The other headline was "Seahaven the best place on earth" that is basically just trying to get him not to leave and also discover the truth.
Throughout the last five weeks, I have read three of Plato’s dialogues: the cave allegory, Euthyphro, and the Apology. While reading them, I was able to see Plato’s view of a philosophical life. To live philosophically is to question appearances and look at an issue/object from a new perspective. In this essay, I will explain Plato’s cave allegory, Socrates’ discussion with Euthyphro, and the oracle story in the Apology.
“The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, and A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt all have in common a person that is challenged by a group of people on their beliefs, ideas, as well as knowledge. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, one person is challenged based on his knowledge about the world outside the cave. Next, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, Dr. Thomas Stockmann is challenged by the people of his town on his belies of the water being contaminated that later is proven to be true because he sends a sample to be tested. Lastly, A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, Thomas More is challenged by King Henry and his followers on his idea of divorce because he is dedicated to the Catholic Church which doesn’t approve of King Henry divorce. Furthermore, I believe Dr. Thomas Stockmann is a greater hero than Thomas More.
In Plato’s allegory of the cave, it also suggests an alternate world, a world that isn’t recognizably like, in " Allegory of the Cave “and in "The Machine Stops" they both throughout the story
“Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exist in the soul already;” (Plato). Spoken by Socrates in reference to the philosophy of life, this quote depicts the meaning of broadening our horizons in order to gain knowledge and escape the shackles that confine us in the form of deceit. This quote is portrayed in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” as the prisoners detained in the cave are deluded by their perception of reality, and the prisoner that escapes loses that distorted world and becomes enlightened. The cave is a representation of the hidden lies in which the prisoners are provided as the premises of their knowledge and are restrained from the truth to remain ignorant. Ultimately, one of the prisoners discovers that the world in actuality is
In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato’s idea of the human who escaped the cave, but came back to tell about his learnings but the other people in the cave did not want to listen to him since they believed that the cave was the real truth and did not want to be educated about the outside
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and The Truman Show Midterm Movie Paper The “Allegory of the Cave” and “The Truman Show” is a representation of humans believing what they see in front of them is the only truth that they know. The Allegory of the Cave is an ancient knowledgeable philosophical work made by the Greek philosopher, Plato. He emphasizes the significance of humans achieving wisdom, intellectual insight, knowledge and education as a metaphor in his story (Plato, 246-249).
First off, one rhetoric that " The Allegory of the Cave" has is a metaphor. A metaphor is comparing two unlike things. The focal thought is, a few detainees were bolted into a give in and the couldn't escape. It speaks to that how much freedom is worth. In the event that you never had an opportunity to see the outside world, you just can envision what it resembles.
The allegory of the cave contains a very poignant message about learning and new experiences but it’s not real. It’s written as Socrates telling a story in order to illustrate his point. The first man is forcibly removed from the cave and shown the light, creating a painful experience. Douglass’ story is autobiographical and it shows a true need for knowledge in order to be free from the bondage of slavery.
Ray Bradbury born in 1920 to a middle class family. Bradbury went on to write and publish over five hundred pieces of literature. One of the novels he wrote was Fahrenheit 451, where he attempted to predict what the United States of America would look like in the future. The novel illustrates the idea of a totalitarian government and society burning books to stop the spread of knowledge, by following the development of the main character Guy Montag. Furthermore, the novel bring up the idea of Plato’s cave, in which Montag attempts to overcome the ideas of the society he grew up around.
Plato tells us that the prisoners are confused on their emergence from the cave and that the prisoners’ will be blinded once they had been freed from the cave. After a period of time they will adjust their eyesight and begin to understand the true reality that the world poses. The stubbornness to develop a different perspective is seen in much of today’s society. The allegory of the cave is an understanding of what the true world is and how many people never see it because of their views of the society they are raised in.
1) In the allegory of the cave, Plato’s main goal is to illustrate his view of knowledge. A group of prisoners have been chained in a cave their whole lives and all they have ever been exposed to were shadows on the wall and voices of people walking by. The prisoners in the cave represent humans who only pay attention to the physical aspects of the world (sight and sound). Once one of them escapes and sees the blinding light, all he wants is to retreat back to the cave and return to his prior way of living. This shows that Plato believes enlightenment and education are painful, but the pain is necessary for enlightenment and it is worth it.
Plato’s short story the Allegory of the Cave, Plato portrays a scene in a cave to the reader that analyzes human actions. The story is about a group of men that are chained for their entire life. The only thing they are exposed to are shadows on the wall of a fire burning by people behind them. The people exposing these men are hiding the truth of the outside world. Plato reveals that humans are easily fooled into believing what they see.
Socrates’s allegory of the cave in Plato’s Republic Book VII is an accurate depiction of how people can be blinded by what they are only allowed to see. The allegory does have relevance to our modern world. In fact, all of us as a species are still in the “cave” no matter how intelligent or enlightened we think we have become. In Plato’s Republic Book VII, Socrates depicts the scenario in a cave where there are prisoners who are fixed only being able to look at the shadows on the wall which are projections of things passing between them and the light source.
#2 Plato’s Allegory In Modern Day Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is about the human perspective and enlightenment. In todays society Plato’s allegory is still relevant and is deeply rooted in education. College students are a perfect analogy for the “Allegory of the Cave”. We are told from the very beginning that we need to have an education to be successful in life.