The Three Prisoners

The story starts out but having us imagine that there are three prisoners in a cave. These prisoners are tied to rocks so they cannot look at anything besides the cave wall that is directly in front of them. These three prisoners have been stuck in this cave since birth and have never seen or experienced anything outside of the cave. Behind the prisoners there is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a walkway. People that pass this walkway usually carry things on their head that range from wood to animals. Next, we are to imagine being one of the prisoners, who cannot look at anything besides the wall right in front of them. These prisoners see the shadows of the different objects that are being carried by the people crossing
In the reading, it says “Then in every way such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects.” (pg.748). Next, we are to imagine that one of the prisoners was to escape from the cave. This prisoner is surprised at what he discovers outside the cave and cannot possible believe that it is real. To help describe this process, it states “Then there would be need of habituation, I take it, to enable him to see the things higher up.” (pg.748). Slowly this prisoner becomes more aware of his surroundings and realized that his previous perception of reality was wrong. He soon begins to have a greater understanding of this new world around him. The prisoner goes on a journey where is truly able to realize and uncover all the beauty and meaning in life. He now understands that the former life he lived as a prisoner in the cave was useless and incompetent. The prisoner soon after returned to the cave to let the other prisoners know of what the outside world was
But we need to understand what each of the things in this story mean and stand for. So first let’s analyze the cave. I believe that the cave is a representation of people who think that their knowledge comes from the things that we hear and see. The cave shows that those trapped in a ‘cave’ have a misunderstanding of what is real because they have no evidence or truth to back up their ideas. Another thing of importance in the story is the shadows. I believe that these shadows are a representation of false knowledge, and the idea that we think we know something with no true evidence to back it up. In other words, if you think just by seeing something that it is the truth than you are mistaken and just seeing the shadows of what is true. Another thing that I believe has meaning in this story is the game that is played between the prisoners. I think that in the real world we believe that there are people who serve as a master or leader of something just because they have ‘knowledge’ on it. However, sometimes we mistake people for masters or leaders when they have no knowledge on the real truth. Next, I want to touch on the topic of the escape. I think when Plato was talking about the prisoner who escaped he was referring to someone in a real world who wants to step out of their own false reality and seek knowledge of truth. It represents one’s journey to find wisdom and truth in the world. Lastly, we have the return of the prisoner