Humor In John Steinbeck's Allegory Of The Cave

The Allegory of the Cave presents a juxtaposition appropriate to this: what is the truth and what is The Truth, or what is fact and what is opinion, or what is reality and what is fiction? The former all have in common the innate desire of man (humankind) to want to make sense of things, to put something in context, to relate it to something they already know and understand. This then goes back to Socrates desire for individuals to think for themselves and not blindly follow the herd. Most people, however, prefer the comfort of the known compared to the dark, shadowy figures in the cave of the unknown that make them uncomfortable, anxious, unable to sit still and focus. They would rather the shackle round their necks if only to know that routine,

John Steinbeck wrote the book, Of Mice and Men, and incorporated detailed and descriptive settings, dreams, and character appearances for the book to be turned into a major motion picture like the one that was created in 1992. I think the book was written this way because the reader is taken to the place being described or sees the character being described. Steinbeck makes it easy for the reader to be put in George’s or Lennie’s shoes by using imagery and figurative language, such as similes and metaphors. “Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled

The metaphor behind Plato's "allegory of the cave" is simple: comfort causes ignorance. In the story, the prisoners have been held captive in the cave their entire lives. In only being able to view the shadows made by the puppeteers, the prisons have accepted this as reality. They have found comfort in this "reality" and refuse to accept the outside world causing ignorance. The allegory and the metaphor behind it can be found in all aspects of our lives. When we leave high school and head off to college or begin our lives, we must move away from relying on others or be left behind in the state of kidulthood. History also speaks on this metaphor in the case of Galileo. Galileo found evidence that contrary to popular belief the earth is not

The whole point of the allegory is to represent to journey to enlightenment. The prisoners represent either the unenlightened that have not had enough experience to gain great wisdom or the uneducated that have not learned enough to gain great intelligence. And being thrown out of the cave into the outside world represents the process of becoming enlightened. Once enlightened they would of course not want to leave and to make them go back into the Cave would be cruel, as is noted by Glaucon. But as is explained they must be made to descend again among the prisoners in the den, and partake of their labors and honors, whether they are worth having or not” (873). Plato claims that these enlightened have a moral responsibility to bring their wisdom to the common people in order to help them learn more so everyone can benefit from the knowledge of an individual. This is certainly an agreeable prospect and one that is not seen enough in the real world. Once

“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head.” In the book, “ Of Mice and Men ,” by John Steinbeck (13), the author uses so many symbols in his characters and in the background throughout the story. In the book, everything represents symbolism whether it is the characters or the setting of the time and place they are in. The time period in “ OF Mice and Men “ is around the 1930s during the Great Depression. The men and women in the story aren’t very educated by how they talk and pronounce words. The setting is in Salinas Valley, California which is located in Northern California just south of San Francisco.

Without emotion, a novel is merely words on paper; to bring a story to life, the author must create a tone and a mood. Tone refers to an “author’s attitude towards the subjects, characters, or reader,” (Burke 385). In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the tone is sympathetic. Steinbeck shows sympathy towards his characters throughout the novella. Early on, when George wouldn’t allow him to keep a mouse, Lennie “sat down on the ground and hung his head dejectedly,” (Of Mice and Men 9). Steinbeck's word choice tells the reader he has compassion for Lennie. Later on, when Curley’s wife warned Crooks that she could have the stable hand killed, Steinbeck wrote “Crooks had reduced himself to nothing… his voice was toneless,” (Of Mice and Men 81).

In the book Of Mice and Men by author John Steinbeck, he creates a story about a group of people who work on a ranch. He story may seem like one thing but it truly has another meaning. Different things represent different meanings, such as the rabbits, the mice, and the puppies. They may seem like just animals at first but when really thought about they convey a different message.

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.

It is quite ironic how Lennie loves animals but keeps unintentionally killing them throughout the story.The irony in this matter is that nothing can resist the love Lennie has to give. He shows his way of love by being rough, and nothing will stop him from doing so. This shows how childish Lennie is and how dependent he is on George. It is not only said that Lennie loves animals, but he is also characterized to also act the same way as them. It is almost as if Lennie might belong in the “animal world” in certain ways. An example shows his similarities to an animal,“He drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse."

The "Allegory of The Cave" is a story that describes life and how the physical world we live in is not the reflection of the real world. It suggests that life is similar to being chained up in a cave forced to watch shadows on a stone wall behind you. You cannot turn around and all you can do is spectate the shadows on the wall which are representative of things in the real world, that of which you have no knowledge of.

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.

People must look past what they are being taught or what they think they know, to actually comprehend and grasp the truth. In the allegory, the prisoner who is free comes back to the cave and tries to convince the other prisoners of the truth, however, the other prisoners ignore and mock the freed man. The chained up men come to the conclusion that it was better to not leave

“The Allegory of the Cave” is a philosophical writing presented by a Greek philosopher named Plato. The story lead us to explore about the truth of nature and how people perceive the truth. Plato likens us and the world around us to the prisoners in the cave. By using symbols of characters, set and actions, he tries to disclose his allegorical meaning. As story goes on, Pluto reveals his belief on existence of absolute truth and develops themes of ‘truth’ and ‘reality’.

In this allegory the cave represents opinion. The chains represented prejudice. The fire represented the sun. The shadows represent physical objects. The staircase represented philosophy. The outside of the cave represented the transcendental world. The moment of

The Allegory of the Cave or also known as, Myth of the Cave, is a good example of explaining the feature of the way people think. It is a concept that demonstrates how humans are fearful of change and what they don’t know. Plato says that men are living in an underground cave and it is a situation. The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. Plato talks about being free, everyday life, knowledge, and essentially what he wrote to be true. I think that he was very unique with his writings because there are so many ways to look at the world and his way was just one. He was educated highly and is recognized as a philosopher to this day.