“Allegory of the Cave”
In the “Allegory of the Cave” Socrates eludes of a cave with prisoners who are chained up with fire burning in front of them. The shadows cast on the wall in front of them were the only sense of reality that they ever have known. One of the prisoners breaks free and escapes the cave, seeing the world for what it is. After being blinded by the sunlight, he returns to the cave to tell the other prisoners what he witnessed.
I truly believe in Socrates’s quote. It shows how trapped and hopeless the prisoners were during that time. In a symbolic sense, it shows that the rate at which our population is trapped and hopeless, the greater population is living in ignorance and not creating efforts to look outside what they know. For instance today most of the people are controlled by their governments and given a very narrow point of view. And because of this they always follow what their leaders tell them. Socrates was trying to expose the truth to the ignorant, trapped, and hopeless individuals who are scared of difference and change because their governments don’t approve what they believe in.
We have been raised in a society where we already have established rules. Therefore, we tend to learn our realities and truths from different narratives that impart us with the values of life. We, therefore, may not take these narratives seriously and we try living up to the expectations established by our leaders. When we try to inquiry about the reality surrounding us we appear to be conflicting views and values. Therefore, we tend to have different paths with some flowing in the same direction as our society while others keep on pushing for their rights and emerge as people who will lead others out of the darkness.
But It is crucial for me to create awareness to others and to make them understand the deepest mission we were born is to impact the world positively. This helps us to see the truth and break out of our caves and through that, we can see the sun. If today I work towards a world where human dignity is prioritized and respect then I will never live with ignorance or hopelessness. I should be the one to find the light which represents the truth and pursue it although it may be faced with challenges instead of complaining about leadership in my country.