The following is an interpretation of the Allegory and the symbolisms within it, for those of you in need of help with it’s complex meanings. I hope to add all of this to the site in the near future, but for the meantime I will do my best to explain.
The story itself is pretty simple once explained in simplistic terms. It is hard to read and interpret I believe, because of its dialogue format.
Our first scene is of prisoners in a cave. They are chained down and wear blinders on their eyes so they are forced to only look straight forward. Straight forward there is a screen or a wall. Within the cave, behind the prisoners, there is a fire and there shadow casters that hold up puppets of images from the real world. The fire casts these images on the screen or wall in front of the prisoners. Since they have been imprisoned since birth they no nothing else of life but these images.
One day, one of the prisoners breaks free from his chains. Looking around for the first time, he notices a patch of light coming from the opening of the cave. He travels toward this light. He travels past the fire, and past the shadow casters, who conceal themselves from the prisoners view. The prisoner makes his way out of the cave into the light. Because he is entering the light for the first time in his life, out of complete darkness his eyes hurt and are blinded by the brightness of the light. He finds that he is more used to the darkness of night, as it is dark like the cave he came from. In this new world he associates best with shadows, cast by the sun, as they are more familiar to him than the rest of the surroundings in this new world. Soon his eyes adjust to the light and he begins to explore the world around him. He sees trees, flowers, clouds, and his reflection in a mirror pool. He sees the beauty of the world. He then decides to return to the cave and tell the other prisoners about the wonders he has seen. When he returns into the cave he finds that his eyes are no longer used to the darkness, it is once again hard for him to see. He also has trouble seeing the shadows cast on the wall, the ones he at one time identified with. When he tells the prisoners of what he has seen they do not believe him, for all they know are the images cast upon the wall before them. This is there life and only understanding of the world. They call the returning prisoner a liar, they think that his stories are crazy and they threaten to kill him.
The symbolism of this Allegory can be interpreted in many forms but the simplest are what follows, I will allow you to draw further conclusions on your own:
The darkness and everything that lies within the cave is equivalent to deception, lies, ignorance, etc.
The shadows are illusions to reality, they too are lies.
The shadow casters are of a higher power, compared to that of the prisoners. They can control what the prisoners view. Even though they are of higher power/rank they are still ignorant because they are also within the darkness of the cave. Because they too are in the cave they are also ignorant. This is a case of ignorance leading the ignorant or when the oppressed gain power, they become the oppressed oppressors. The blind leading the blind.
Beyond the cave, the light outside, is truth, reality, enlightenment, knowledge, etc. The escaped prisoner leaves the darkness of ignorance, and becomes enlightened by the light of truth.
Truth however, is often times painful to see at first, which is why his eyes were panged by the light outside the cave when he first exited the cave. This pain of truth is also why many times we avoid learning the truth, as we fear the pain of it.
Also in contrast the darkness to those who have been enlightened also is hard to see, as it is hard for us as adults, say, to understand the thoughts and fantasies of children. This to is why the philosopher (returning prisoner) had trouble seeing when he returned to the cave.
The prisoner is a philosopher, much like Socrates and Plato, and like Socrates and Plato, he seeks to liberate/teach the other prisoners. So he returns to the cave (the returning prisoner) to enlighten those who are unenlightened.
The Cave and the Allegory can symbolize many things. It can be simply the journey from ignorance into enlightenment. It can be the process of learning. It can be birth, from the darkness of the womb into the light of life. It too could be death, in death we are the returning prisoner to the cave of darkness, which may be why we fear it so. It can also be society and how myths and social signs, such as how advertising and the government oppress or deceive us by their campaigns and gimmicks. Thus we are prisoners in the cave, deceived by the shadow casters i.e. the government and media. It is only when we see the light and return to the cave of darkness that we realize the myths behind such shadows. We realize the difference between the truths and the social lies.
By liberating the prisoners, the returning prisoner or philosopher “questions” the others about the realities of their cave. Making them in turn ask questions about their lives and the shadows they see. In doing so they may figure out that these images are lies and that there may truly be more to life than they currently thought. They may then chose to rebel against the shadow casters and escape from the cave the lies as well, to find the light or truths beyond.
I hope this outline helps everyone a little. It’s such a simple Allegory with such a very complex mixture of meanings. It can be interpreted in many ways. I hope this foundation will help everyone to explore its meanings a bit further. Success in your journeys towards enlightenment.
-Platonia
==Question all truths. Question always what you see before you, for the truth of the light only exists beyond the deception of the shadows.
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