“Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exist in the soul already;” (Plato 4). Spoken by Socrates in reference to the philosophy of life, this quote depicts the meaning of broadening our horizons in order to gain knowledge and escape the shackles that confine us in the form of deceit. This quote is portrayed in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” as the prisoners detained in the cave are deluded by their perception of reality, and the prisoner that escapes loses that distorted world and becomes enlightened. The cave is a representation of the hidden lies in which the prisoners are provided at the premises of their knowledge and are restrained from the truth to remain ignorant. Ultimately, one of the prisoners discovers that the world in …show more content…
actuality is far from his previous misconceptions, proving that one’s judgment can often be false and humans always have the capacity of altering their perspective upon new knowledge. I too, am in a cave, where the space that confines me are the expectations that come with being of Oriental descent, the entity that keeps me benighted is my determination to be perfect, with my main objective as establishing my own character that does not conform to my family’s constraints. Comparable to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", my personal variant of the cave are my ancestral principles, the chains are represented by my endeavour to abide by the unreasonable standards that were forced onto me in aspiration of satisfying others, and my escape being my intent to defy those standards through self-discovery and fulfillment.
My cave is defined as the foundation of my character, which is shaped by every moral and standard that has been inherited in my family through the centuries. Similarly to my circumstance, the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” have been trapped in the cave since the start of their lives. This means that their lives have been constructed for them, as their perspectives on their surroundings, specifically the world as it exists outside of the cave, are rooted entirely from what they have been presented since birth. Since birth, they are forced to watch shadows on the walls, the product of fire illuminating images of objects from the outside. When they are not provided with any other source of information on the world and how it operates, they are forced to infer from what they are able to witness and thus accept assumptions from the shadows as the truth. This is synonymous to blindness, as what they cannot
see they are unable to anticipate as other possibilities. As a prisoner in my own cave, I am trapped by the expectations placed on me since I was born. I was a blank slate for my family to build upon; to raise the perfect daughter who abides by the norms that they are familiar with. Those norms include how I should behave, my mannerisms, and the goals that I must attain throughout my life. Shielded in my household and not allowed to interact with the environment around me at a young age, I was oblivious as to how I could disobey my parents since I was only aware of what happens at home. For most of my childhood, I played on my own and meticulously respected all of their orders, especially ones that followed our Vietnamese culture’s tradition. I was expected to obey my parents at all times, but was also taught to avoid socializing with the Black children at school by a family member. This is prejudiced and racist behaviour, but is deemed acceptable in Vietnam so they attempted to raise me with this narrow mindset. Discrimination is not a construct that one is born with, but is an attribute that must be assimilated from a figure of authority. Furthermore, my family is exceptionally protective of me because I am the only child, and so they do everything in their power to limit my influences to merely the things they teach me. This is why I would classify my family as the fire that casts the image of the perfect girl they want me to be, and every standard that they set for me to be the shadows that I devote my life to imitate as the fire is what ignites those standards, or shadows. When I learn one general or broad ideology, it becomes the sole purpose that I live for and becomes the object that hinders my perspective on life. Nonetheless, I strove to satisfy my family and garner their praise.
The reason I remain chained in my cave is that I continue to perpetuate the standards that are imposed on me in order to make my family happy, and due to my ignorance of how I can establish my own identity. Likewise, the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” are situated to view only one side of a wall, which represents the limited perspectives of a human being. A typical room is built with four walls, proportional to the numerous angles of looking at every situation in life, but if provided with one certain outlook, our frame of reference is consistently deficient and opportunities are lost. When oblivious of every aspect that exists outside of our cave, our mind depicts everything we are able to understand as the truth and perceives it as fact. I grew up conforming to rules that taught me to be a decent person, but I simultaneously conformed to outrageous standards set by my ancestors and the society of my heritage. I am pressured to confine to the beauty standards of an Asian female body being thin and frail, accompanied with the pressure to maintain my pale complexion in order to classify as beautiful. I am disciplined to be kind to every person I encounter and treat them with respect, but also taught to be eagerly compliant, as girls must maintain a gentle image and never be assertive. Education was established as my main priority and I am to perform exceptionally well, pressured to achieve the highest marks in all of my classes. I study rigorously and never falter to make my family proud. My career ambitions were also determined for me at a young age, as I was appointed the goal of studying hard in order to become a doctor or a lawyer. Having my future devised for me at every stage of my life leaves no option for me to make my own decisions and I am inclined to act upon the only guidance I was given. I was deprived of freedom and desire to discover the other opportunities that are available to me, specifically the way I maintain my own body, my attitude and behaviour, and the career choices I am to consider. Fortunately, I was able to escape from my cave and unveil the world that awaited me.
My journey to self-discovery involved interaction with my surroundings. Similarly, one of the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” fled from the cave by stepping outside once his shackles were released, and truly escaped, both physically and mentally, when he explored the world in front of him. He came to the realization that his previous knowledge of reality was fabricated, and that they were all shadows of real objects. In order to change perspectives, one must be willing to accept new ideas and keep an open mind to welcome supplementary information. In my situation, I associated with peers at school who all had distinct characteristics and personalities from one another despite coming from the same ancestral descent, as well as accessed social media outlets of the Western world that displays thousands of people who physically resemble me, but pursue various professions that do not correspond to the expectations that I was taught. Through the desire to choose my own ambitions, I gained a new prospect and adopted a sense of liberty through my own research by delving into social justice articles on the internet that constantly addresses the issue of Asian prejudices. I learned about my own identity by observing others, approaching the realization that it is okay to be different and not live by others’ expectations of me. I discovered what it means to be comfortable in my own skin; that I do not have to be skinny or fragile to be beautiful, excel in mathematics to be smart, or docile to be respected by others. I am not a doll that can be easily manipulated, and I am not a stereotype for others to misidentify me.
In conclusion, my own version of the cave from Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” are my heritage’s traditional values, the chains that bind me are my ambitions to gratify my family, and awakening is represented by my period of introspection. I have established that my own area of captivity is composed of every norm that accompanies my cultural background, I am chained by my constant struggle of exceeding all of my family’s expectations of me, and my liberation was achieved by self-discovery of my own potential and identity. Referring to the quote that I had mentioned earlier, I have come to the realization that everyone was truly created with the capacity and power to learn. The gift of learning should be utilized at all times, as there is no specific extent to knowledge, but often the greatest form of knowledge voids something we were already aware of. There is a possibility for our perspective to be false, and so we must never deduce a situation as fact if we have yet to foresee every point of view. Overall, a lesson that I have deducted from Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is to refrain from forming conclusions from mere conjectures.