Plato, The Republic. Allegory of the Cave.

I think I would rather write in English than Korean to respond and rephrase what I want to say and how I feel after seeing the whole truth because it makes more sense to me or anyone else. 

It is difficult to explain its positions and what each part means, but if you once know them, it turns out everything this concept would be fascinating.

 

This is about what I read during the Humanity class where I took 2 years ago. I've taken two Humanity classes which were really amazing among the others I took before. This theory intrigued me as the more I learned. Therefore, I felt I wanted to learn more about this even though it was tough and hard for a person who doesn't speak the mother-tongue language which is English. Despite the language obstacle, I was captivated by its all materials and I got a lot of inspiration because it made my eyes open, and my perspective, thinking, and mindset broader(it was kind of a wake-up call.)  Also, it gives me a big life lesson; it tells you to knowing the truth is not only easy but also painful. 

 

According to “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato’s dialogue said, “Such persons would certainly believe there were no realities except those shadows of handmade things”(Plato). We usually do not doubt what we look, feel, touch, and hear all kinds of tangible things because people believe in their senses by obvious and palpable subjects and trust in our own sense and experience, however, Plato says knowing the truth is not easy by sense or experience, and that's not enough to say, "know".

 

Let’s imagine. What if someone comes to you and says, “Everything you have believed so far is totally fake and untrue”.

Then, what would you do?

 

Plato also says, accepting the truth is the most painful and arduous thing part in our lives, so people need to be brave, bold, and encouraged when people are faced with reality.

There are three stories which are Iliad, Oedipus, and The movie, Matrix that has similarities and gets inspired by the concept of the allegory of the cave. The truth is very tragic in all three stories, but what they do after finding the truth is different.

 

In the story of Oedipus, even though he tries very hard to run away from his destiny, in the end, the prophecy gets fulfilled. The truth that he was the killer of his father, then, he married his mother is not what he expected at all and he tries to not get involved in his destiny, however, the prophecy eventually comes true.

 

Oedipus also is known for William Shakespeare's play but actually, it is an ancient Greek story.

 

I had to watch this play several times due to submitting the prompt essay. It was a big challenge for me because it was really tedious and boring when I watched it lol but ended up enjoying watching this play and realizing that its play was really amazing. and I dunno why their masks look very creepy and why they made them like that.

 

You guys also can watch this play too; it is also on Youtube. You can watch it with English subtitle.

 

 

 

In the Matrix movie, the reality is very gloomy. The machines take control the humans from a long time ago, so all of being humans are just made for the power source of machines, and the machines want to keep them in the Matrix because human is the most efficient resource among others. The machine makes them sleep and dream inside of a carrier where the machine completely controls. People sleep in there without any movement, thinking, or eating, but they are alive and live in the Matrix. In reality, all human beings just become to be more inefficient. Oh, by the way, the plot is really similar to The Giver and Equilibrium!!!!!! 

 

Morpheus finds out that Neo is the protagonist in the movie. He is "The One", which means, he is the man who makes all humans wake up. Morpheus asks him which pills Neo wants to take between Red and Blue. The red color pill is knowing the truth, and Neo chooses the red one. 

 

 

 

In an Allegory of the Cave, Plato says that life is like being chained up in a cave and forced to watch shadows flittering across the cave's wall. Plato gives a simple situation. According to his quote, a group of prisoners has been confined in a cave since they were born with no knowledge outside of the world. They also have not been taught about anything, and their lives surrounding has been very limited. Their bodies are chained, their heads are facing the wall without being able to turn their heads. They just can see its subject when it passes by the fire with a slight light and their sights also have a limit. Accordingly, they do not know the real subject, and all things they can do is just classify things by the subject's illusion from a cast shadow on the wall.

Eventually, all of the prisoners are freed to go outside from the cave and see the actual light of the sun for the first time in their lives. He hurts his eye by the sun's light, and all real objects make them disorienting. They start to do not believe real things ( I mean, it can be expressed by the truth) and they fight and argue each other. 

 

Likewise, when Oedipus finds out the truth, he ends up blinding himself because his wife who is his mother kills herself because of knowing the truth. Instead of fighting against the gods, he chooses to run away by making blind himself and leaving. In contrast, Neo chooses to see the truth by taking the red pill and fighting and protesting against the machines. In Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners who escaped from the cave, at first, can’t see anything because their eyes are not used to sunlight. That means, it is tough and painful to accept what the truth and reality are. It also needs a lot of time to go through to get used to it and throw the lesson that knowing the truth is not an evitable thing. 

 

However, the story of Republic explains that one of the prisoners gets used to seeing the real world, he learns the truth that things he sees under the sun are real and what he saw in the cave were just shadows.

Then he takes the next step. He decides to go back to the cave with other prisoners who still believe what they see is not real. The other prisoners might hurt him who totally getting know the truth because they think he is lying and denying the entire world they have known. (Basically, they argue about that then fight because of the conflict about what they believe). I think I should READ the Plato book. Seriously. Can't tell [ I know ] until I read the whole thing and understand them exactly.

Anyway, I love all of the connections between Allegory of the Cave, Matrix, and Oedipus stories. We can go back to the past. Once I get to know the truth, it is impossible to go back the time ever. You or I can't go back to where we have not known anything. However, accepting the truth, whether it is hurtful, painful, or not is definitely requires so much patience, tear, and time. I won't say the truth will change you as a monster. I don't know. It could be concluded as a sad ending, bad ending, or happy ending. But here is a lesson.

 

Learning something. Seeing new things you have never known, heard, seen, touched, or felt. It is not easy. It might be heavy, challenging, and demanding. Whether you want or not. It is not a simple thing or a happy thing.   

So, I need to step back and see myself. Through myself-awareness, I should accept my truth. My reality. Let's shake my body slightly, and take a deep breath.