Read Plato's Allegory of the Cave - Essay Example

Plato's Allegory and Opening My Eyes to Reality Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" talks about how people are generally not willing to learn new things. They become comfortable knowing the world the way they do even if this idea isn't correct. Plato gives us a picture of what he means by putting all the people in a dark cave, chained to their seats so that they cannot look around. In front of them is a large screen and behind the screen is a fire. Between the screen and the fire, people walk by holding objects and their silhouettes are seen by the chained people watching the screen.

Because it's all they've ever known, they think these shapes are the reality, but Plato says it's important to try to get these people to come out of the cave to see the true reality by the light of the sun. They will struggle and not want to admit the truth, but if they stay in the sun long enough, they will finally begin to understand. It was difficult for me to think of a time when I was fooled into believing something was true instead of what was real. There are many times when this happens in life, but we rarely want to admit it.

One thing really stands out in my mind, though. This is my belief in the United States President George W. Bush. I really didn't pay much attention to politics growing up and thought it was natural to support the President when he called for us to go to war in Iraq to save us from the weapons of mass destruction he knew were there. I didn't think there was any reason for me to question him since he had access to so much inside information. Even after the fall of Bagdad and the searches we did in that country without finding any WMDs, I still believed the Iraqi's must have hidden them somewhere we just couldn't think to look.

After having friends and relatives deployed to that region and seeing so many soldiers being killed, I started to pay more attention. The more I watched the news and talked with other people, the more I realized that it's likely Bush made up most of why we went to war because he wanted to protect our interest in oil over there. I don't think I will ever be able to have such an innocent view about politics again.