For the first time he saw the real world and knew that what he was seeing far beyond the shadows from the cave. Later, he returns to his fellow prisoners in the cave to tell them about the real world. To his astonishment, the prisoners did not believe him and instead, became angry. They believed that the shadows were reality and that the escaped prisoner is crazy for saying otherwise. According to Plato, the outside world represents the world of forms.
Once they have adjusted he see's the world of the forms, he tells the other prisoners but they dont believe him and simply think he is crazy. The prisoner gets killed, just like Socrates did.
Plato’s Cave Plato believed in the idea of a cave where prisoners were kept and shown images on a wall by fire and people holding up objects. The images that were projected was the only thing the prisoners knew existed. The people holding up the objects control what the prisoners see and what they know. This is the same in the movie Dear Frankie. Frankie is the prisoner being showed the images and his mother is the person holding the objects.
Behind the prisoners is a low wall, a walkway and a large fire that lights up the cave. Every once in a while, people walk across the walkway carrying objects and because the walkway is in front of the fire, it causes shadows to be cast against the wall in front of the prisoners – just like shadow puppets. They associate the sounds made by the people casting the shadows against the wall of the cave with the shadow itself because they know nothing better. This is the only reality they have ever known. The prisoners represent ignorant, less educated people who have not yet opened their minds to the philosophical truth – the intelligible realm.
They cannot turn their heads around; they can only look forward at the wall of the cave. A light comes to them from a fire burning some distance behind them. Between the fire and the chained men is a raised platform on which a low wall has been built. Behind the wall are people, like puppeteers, who carry all sorts of articles like statues of men and other living things which they hold above the wall. Some of the bearers speak and others are silent, as you might expect.” “I see,” said Glaucon [Socrates’ student].
One of the most important allegories written by Plato was, “Allegory of the Cave”. In his writing “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato effectively describes his beliefs of the way in which he views the world by comparing the world through a strange cave (FYR: 5, FYR: 6). The philosophical writing “Allegory of the Cave” is a fictional dialogue between Plato's teacher Socrates and Glaucon (FYR: 5). Plato begins his writing by giving us readers a description of the cave in the cave world. We are introduced to” human beings” who have been in this dark underground den since their “early childhood”, and have had their “legs and necks chained” ever since, preventing them from any kind of movement at all (FYR: 6).
At first, there was a sense of culture shock, but it wasn’t long before that changed. The first few times the ‘prisoners’ were pulled out of their cells and into the hall for inspection and head counts, a couple of the prisoners didn’t take the experiment very seriously and could be seen laughing to one another; they quickly changed their tune when they were put in solitary confinement. They actually fell so in line that when one inmate is thrown in the hole for creating a disturbance, one of the guards offers to let him out in exchange for their blankets; all refused. The prisoners didn’t want it to seem they were associated with the prisoner in the hole. I couldn’t believe how quickly they had changed their tune and accepted their given roles.
According Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" The chained man was suddenly released from his bondage and let out into the world. He continues to describe how some people would immediately be frightened and would want to return to the cave and its familiarity. Others would look at the sun and finally begin to see the world as it truly is. Freedom often scares those that have been chained for so long. Their reality has become distorted and they often cling
Behind the prisoners there is a fire and the shadows were cast on the wall, which are the only thing the prisoners could see. As a result, they imagine the reality by the shadows and become their beliefs. Then one prisoner gets out the cave, and walks outside to the real world. The bright light from the sun shocked him initially, but later on he learns about the concept of the world, and finally recognizes the sun is the ultimate truth. I believe there are similarities to our learning process, for instance, when I studied chemistry at the high school, many chemical formula and equations which I found very difficult to understand.
This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of images. But a prisoner was released and forced to stand up and turn around. At that moment his eyes was blinded by the sunlight coming into the cave from its entrance, and the shapes passing by appeared less real than their shadows. The last object he saw was the sun, which, in time, he would learn to see that the sun provides the seasons and years, which controls everything in the visible world. Once enlightened, the freed prisoner didn’t want to return to the cave to free his other prisoners but would be forced to do so.