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Allegory Essay

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Allegory Essay
When Plato writes of the cave, he speaks of a world that is filled with tyranny and supremacy; the prisoners minds are fed false information to be controlled and without any power. Plato’s hyperbole can also be translated to the physical world. A pristine example of Allegory of the Cave is North Korea and its citizens. The government oppresses its citizens and hides the truth, just like the prisoners of the cave.
North Korea is identical to the story of the cave, with its citizens as the prisoners ruled over by the dictating government. Just like in the allegory the citizens are not being told the truth, in a sense that they are hidden in the cave and are chained to never see past “the shadows” shown to them. “Here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them being prevented by the chain.” (Socrates, page 1). North Korea’s ability to filter what their people can inquire about enables them to stay in control. Since there is a lack of natural wonder by the people the government is able to basically brainwash their citizens to whatever the government told them and because of their unenlightenment it becomes their reality. The reason why North Korea will not let these people leave the cave is that if they find the truth and reality it will spread throughout the citizens igniting imagination giving their government less power over the people.
The Allegory of the Cave also relates to other contemporary situations. Syria, has currently been in the midsts of a civil war between the government and its people. Once again, the people are the prisoners and the government are the chains. In 2011 people started protesting for the fall of their president, and the government responded back by bombing neighborhoods and having snipers patrol to disperse the protesters. This is related to the allegory in a way that the government is trying to prevent the people from
leaving

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