In Class Essay #1

Every person is willing to believe the things he/she sees. In “Allegory of a Cave”, a few prisoners are forced to believe in what they see in the shadows on the wall. This way of life has psychologically shaped their minds into believing only what they see and thus hindering the existence of their creativity. This reinforces the meaning of the work because it tells the audience that the things one see shouldn’t always be the first thing one believes in.

            The men in “Allegory of a Cave” believe only what they see; therefore, the prisoners' minds have been molded to fit the expected mindset of the prison keepers. By showing them images of things, the men have become completely narrow minded and refuse to believe anything else. Their sense of individual creativity has been stolen from them.

            The theme in “Allegory of a Cave” is that every person should be more open-minded towards everything he/she does, and this theme illuminates the meaning of the work. A prisoner gets released into reality, and when he comes back to tell the others about it, the other prisoners don’t believe anything that the man tells them. The rest of the prisoners are too closed off to believe in anything else, especially something they have not seen. The shadows on the walls tell them all they need to know, and the prisoners refuse anything else.

            “Allegory of a Cave” shows an instance where prisoners are psychologically forced to believe in only what they see. Because of this, the characters have become really narrow-minded and closed off from any outside thoughts. Even when introduced to a new idea, the prisoners refuse it because they can’t believe what they do not see. This yields a theme and enhances the meaning of “Allegory of a Cave”.

*I know the "Allegory of a Cave" wasn't on the list, but this is the work of literature I chose to write about.