The Allegory of the Cave

In this picture, Prisoners are close inside the cave, unable to turn their head. They must sit there and watch the shadow that cast on the wall. Behind them burns a fire, where the puppeteers perform the puppets that cast shadow on the wall, without them knowing.The prisoner are unable to see the real object. Shadows and echoes cast by the object is all the prisoner can see and hear about it.

The prisoners will make mistake about the appearance of reality.Those shadow define their perception of life. They think that those stuff (shadow) they seen on the wall are real, they know nothing else but shadow on the wall. 

So when the prisoner talk to each other, they will told them what is the object that a cast on the wall. For example, prisoner A told prisoner B that the shadow on the wall is a vase. So prisoner B will assume that it a vase without having doubt. But actually it just a shadow that they are talking.

Actually it also define that the prisoner is common human like us, who does not know what is reality, we listen what other said and assume that it is how reality is or because they think that reality is what we can see(shadow) which is totally different.

The cave represent society. This is because we born in the cave, live in the cave only believing what is the shadow it, without changing our belief or thoughts. Without going out to experience. But when we (the prisoner) were release out to the world, some of them got frighten by the reality and wanted to return tho the cave because it already familiar to us. 

The shadow represent the perception of reality. Prisoner believe that those shadow are real. But the truth actually is behind them (outside the cave). 

They are some prisoner (us) who leave the cave. This represent the truth being reveal. People who got out from the cave to embrace the sun have a better understanding about truth. They leave all the other old idea about life in the cave. These people represent philosopher. They also wanted to get back to the cave and tell those people who refuse acknowledge the real truth to believe that outside is the real world.