Cathedral: Allegory of the Cave and Narrator

“Choosing a Map for Life,” by M. Scott Peck, “The Allegory of the Cave,” by Plato, “The Truman Show” and “Salvation” by Langston Hughes describe the views and perspective of the reality in our world. We have to get out, discover the world around and revise it. By setting up a map or goal and revising it in the world, will make us to control our perceptions and draw close to the reality.

Imagine yourself sitting inside a dark, damp, cave where the only thing you can see are moving shadows on the cave wall in front of you. You can’t move anywhere or see anything besides the shadows, and these are the only things you’ve seen for your entire life, so these moving dark images are the most real things you’ve ever known. At some point in our childhood we were mentally in this state of darkness, we didn’t know anything about the world or have any complex thoughts. How then, were we brought out of our caves of darkness and misunderstanding? The Allegory of the Cave is a well known section of Plato’s

In the Allegory of the Cave there are chained prisoners in cave who can only stare at the cave wall in front of them. At the back there is a long entrance with a staircase the width of the cave and a fire burning in the distance. They see only shadows projected in front of them from a raised platform and hear an echo that they attribute to what they observe. They talk about and name the shadows of objects they see before them. To them the truth are the shadows. Then one day one of the prisoners is released. He is told that what he saw before was an illusion. Once he is outside it takes a while for his eyes to adjust to the sun. First he observed the shadows of thing then their reflection and finally the actual object. Remembering his previous state he goes back to the cave and tries to explain that everything is an illusion but they laugh at him and think he’s crazy. They believe it best not to ascend and they choose to remain as they are. The cave represented opinion. The shadows that are cast on to the wall represented physical objects. The prisoners represented the common people (Welles).

I had an experience that each represents the symbol towards the Allegory of the Cave. My childhood was mostly in Jamaica where I lived with my father for two to three years. I can relate to the symbols from the "Allegory of the Cave".

Has someone ever looked at you and immediately disregard you for you are just because of your ethnicity? Have you ever done it someone? Racism is a huge culture issue that we have not only in America, but in other parts of the world, but it does not matter the color of one’s. What really matters is the character they have withheld inside but are not given a chance to express because someone didn’t even bother to give them a chance. This is idea comes from the book written by Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave” where in the book Socrates speaks of man being in a dark cave all their lives not realizing the truth until once they reach the end of the cave to see that the light is the truth. The truth is the reality of life.

In the short story, Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, the author uses imagery, symbolism and narrates the story in first person point of view. The Cathedral’s main theme is being able to identify the difference between being able to look and/or see and it is portrayed through the main characters role in the story. Carver uses a unique style of writing which gives the short story a simple way for the reader to understand the story’s theme.

The protagonist realizes the blind man is not a thing, he is a human, even though he lacks eyesight. In addition, being comprehensive allows the narrator to come out of his narrow-mindedness. For instance, the narrator says, “the blind man got down from the sofa and sat next to me on the carpet.”(88) Furthermore, “He ran his fingers over the paper. He found my hand,….He closed his hand over my hand. “Go ahead, bub, draw, “he said “draw… you’ll see. Draw,” ” (88). ““Take a look. What do you think?” But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to do. “Well?’’ he said. “Are you looking?’’ My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. “It’s really something,’’ I said.” (89) Because of the narrator’s acceptance and appreciation as a human, the protagonist opens himself. Also, the experience of drawing a “Cathedral” together, and having his eyes close demonstrates that. Moreover, illustrating cathedral jointly allows the protagonist to be compassionate about Robert and enable him to change his

"Cathedral" is a short story ultimately about enlightment, finding something more meaningful and deeper with in one self. Although from an observing point of view nothing more in the story happens then a blind man assisting the narrator in drawing a cathedral. Although as known, the narrator's experience radically differs from what is actually "observed". He is enlightened and opened up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience will have a life long effect on him. The reason for this strong and positive effect is not so much the relationship made between the blind man and the narrator or even the actual events leading up to this experience, but rather it is mostly due to what was drawn by the narrator.

First what is perception and ignorance? Let us define perception as one’s view of life through rationalization of the external world and ignorance as an assumption without proof and contemplation. In the “Allegory of The Cave”, Plato uses Socrates to explain different types of people, one who sees the physical realm accepting ideas as they form and one who lives in knowledge realm by questioning those ideas. People of the knowledge realm are obligated to helps those in the physical realm by removing what Socrates refer to as ignorance through questioning. This is shown as prisoners of the cave look to the walls as their perception of their world which relates to people’s limited perception of the world such as people who grown up religious deny anything outside of God, in addition, people in higher state of perception are obligated to help those in lower states; this relates to real world as people seek mentors for advice.

Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” and Carver’s Cathedral provide insight into parallel words. The protagonists in each story are trapped in a world of ignorance because each is comfortable in the dark, and fearful of what knowledge a light might bring. They are reluctant to venture into unfamiliar territory. Fortunately the narrator in the Cathedral is forced by circumstances to take a risk. This risk leads him into new world of insight and understanding.

When I first read the prompt attached to essay 2, one topic in specific came to mind. My main choice for a topic at the moment is LGBT+ rights. I do understand that I would have to keep myself from directly stating that the community should indeed have their rights since this is an argumentative paper, not a personal opinion essay. Instead, I would be attempting to build a strong case as to why it is our country’s duty to allow all individuals in America to practice the rights that they deserve. If I am unable to write about this topic, I am also interested in discussing the need for better funding in school’s artistic electives such as band and art. Girl’s dress codes in public schools, women rights, and immigrant rights are also in my list of potential topics. However, I do mainly want to write about LGBT+ rights, and I thoroughly hope that I am able to work around the guidelines of the paper and make this topic work for me.

“Allegory of the Cave”, written by Plato, is story that contrasts the differences between what is real and what is perceived. He opens with Glaucon talking to Socrates. He has Glaucon imagine what it would be like to be chained down in a cave, not able to see anything other than what is in front of him. He tells a story of men that were trapped in a cave and were prisoners to the truth. These prisoners have only seen shadows. But because of their ignorance, these slaves to the cave believe that the shadows are real. The story goes on to say that one of the men has been dragged out of the cave. He is not happy to see the real world, yet upset because he is being taken

The short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver follows the transformation of a young man, the speaker, who is naïve and thoughtless to a more appreciative and open hearted individual. This great change is brought about following the acquaintance of his wife’s friend Robert, who is physically blind though in touch with his surroundings and inner self. Robert and the speaker are opposing parallels, both blind but in differing ways. The theme of blindness and transformation is most prevalent and explored in the speaker as he changes following the meeting with Robert.

I agree with allegory presupposes that there is distinction between appearances and reality because people never trying to know reality. Most people have their two sides, one side to show and another side who they are in reality. Sometime people get conclusion by seeing people outer look without knowing who is he or she. Sometimes people do not want to accept the truth because truth is always bitter. In the “The Allegory of the Cave” it explain that how prisoners thought about outside world. If they know the truth about outside world, they will never able to believe it because they are staying inside cave and just able to see their shadow.

Similar to The Symposium, the cave allegory also has a reference to a Form. At the last stage of the prisoner's climb to the top of the cave, he sees the sun and observes the Form of Good. Since he was recently unaware of the Form of Good, he has reached a higher understanding, just like the boy from The Symposium.