The Cave And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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“Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable.” Albert Camus explains how most people only see the world with what is presented to them. To seek is to go against common beliefs and attempt to discover new information. Plato and Percy Shelley are two individuals who sought for truth and transcendence to bring forth to others. Plato presented the world with a very unique theory called Allegory of the Cave. The theory described “prisoners” living inside of a cave, only seeing what was placed directly in front of them; shadows. The shadows are the closest things that the prisoners get to seeing reality. Essentially, one prisoner escapes and discovers the outside world. He brings back his discoveries to tell the other prisoners, but they are too skeptical to believe that what he saw was the truth. Plato’s cave theory develops the thought that humans are susceptible to believing what is presented to them, rather than searching further for different ideas than what is typically shown. He …show more content…
Shelley references life as a painted veil, as in that everything in life has been planned and created specifically for humans to be picture perfect. The piece identifies how society is afraid to seek due to the many possible outcomes of their actions, “But found them not, alas!” (9). She describes one who went to seek, but was unable to see the world as the same ever again. The man ultimately sees true colors, but stands alone. Shelley’s final line, “For truth, and like the Preacher found it not” (14), describes Shelley’s beliefs towards the afterlife and spirituality. The author’s non-religious beliefs shine through. Percy is a seeker due to her ability to look for truth, which is looking past common beliefs in God and spirituality. Shelley describes how seeking can be risky, but may overall be worth it due to knowing the harsh