"Allegory of the Cave" Intro

Plato’s, “Allegory of the Cave” is a thought provoking extended metaphor. He uses prisoners to symbolize today’s hoi polloi, and shackles to represent ignorance. We find so much comfort in being set in our ways that it restricts us from seeing what is really out there. To the prisoners the shadows on the wall are their real world but when a prisoner is let free he sees the world through new eyes. If we educate ourselves and try things we aren’t used to or that isn’t normal, we will be unchained and enlightened like the escaped prisoner.