Plato described a cave where men are chained so that they would not move and what they would see are only shadows. The shadows are cast by puppeteers from a wall; the prisoners seeing only the shadows all their lives believe that the shadows againts the wall are what they supposed to believe. The shadows are casts against a fire from the wall. At one point, one of the prisoners escapes and discovers what is real and what is not. Upon returning to the cave, the prisoner share what he has seen; but the other prisoners did not believe him.Being a prisoner who has been trapped in the cave for as long as he can remember, would not believe a person who comes and shatters what he has believed for so long. The prisoner however has the right to search for the truth of what lies outside the cave. This allegory of Plato represents Socrates and the people of Athens. The people of Athens did not believe what Socrates’ beliefs and worst he angered many important people, most of them are Sophists.
Sometimes we are trapped in caves, and are being prevented from reaching what lies outside the cave. There are times when we wanted so much to struggle free from the grasps of the puppeteers, but their grip is just too tight. Take for example our parents; they have expectations that we would follow what they want. Some children are so unfortunate that their parents wanted them to fulfill their parents dream. Some children become rebel because of this. They were not allowed to express themselves and fulfill their own dreams.
Trying to break free from the expectations of others is a hard, even for me. I know my family expects me to become. I know they never approved of the course I took but they have no choice. I think that they are thinking that its better to let me take the course I like than see me rebel. Still they are hinting that I take maybe another course than what I am taking up.
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