People Are Trapped in Ignorance

Picture this going through life without the ability to read or write. Without these abilities, it is impossible for a person to be a functioning member of society. In addition, imagine that someone is purposely limiting your knowledge to keep a leash on your independence. Not only is an American slave raised without skills in literacy, he cannot be taught to read unless someone breaks the law. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the reader is given a detailed explanation of why slave masters keep their slaves ignorant and the effects such a strategy has on the slaves’ lives. In his autobiography, Douglass describes how the knowledge he obtains has substantial positive and negative effects on his psyche. He is given renewed passion and hope for freedom while struggling with the burden of enlightenment of his situation. Ultimately, however, education shapes his fate, and he achieves freedom and prominence as an advocate for abolition.

Plato’s work in the Allegory of the Cave emphasizes the actualization of reality and truth. Fredrick Douglass’ life, which is portrayed in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, is similar to Plato’s philosophical idea presented in “The Allegory of the Cave.” Plato, a Greek philosopher introduces the significant meaning of reality and truth through his philosophical text. He illustrates the difference between illusion and the real world, which represents reality. In comparison, Frederick Douglass was an African American who had limited rights since he was a slave. Douglass decided to escape the darkness and get educated to become

At first the prisoner who was released was doubting but with the time everything was making more sense to him and while he explored more his mind started to open and give him more knowledge on the real world outside the cave. When he went back into the cave other prisoners did not believed what he was saying and threatened to kill him if he tried to set them free. In order for someone to acquire knowledge they would have to go outside the cave and experience with their own eyes. They would also have to convince themselves that in order to get the concept of something you have to think about it and not only observe it giving it a name like “book” which refers to something that any of them has ever seen

    In the seventh chapter of Frederick Douglass's, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an american slave, the expression “Freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness” is used to portray ignorance as bliss. By acquiring a small knowledge of reading and getting a small sliver of freedom, Douglass

The process of apprehending true knowledge is a task unfit for those who cannot overcome the concepts that the truth is associated with. This task of discovering knowledge tests an individual and their dedication to the process. However, this process is grueling and does not always yield the expected or desired result. According to philosophers, such as Socrates and Plato, humans are born with innate knowledge that becomes accessible through reasoning and life experiences. Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave describes of a group of people, in a cave, that have been shielded from society for their entire lives and were given an alternate and limited education. One man is forced out of the cave and into the light of the real world, where he

Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” examines the quest, responsibility, and cost of intellectual enlightenment. The story is of a man, being held prisoner since birth, being freed and learning that his perception of reality was inaccurate. He shared his discovery, which was met with contention and anger from the people in his society when he tried to relieve them of their ignorance. The group were all born prisoners in a cave where they could not see behind them, and only could hear the echoes, and see the shadows cast of people and items moving behind them. One day, the man was released and was forced to embark out of the dwelling to see that it was actual people and inanimate objects being reflected in front of them. After having difficulty

After being “gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, …gained from [his] master,” Douglass retrieves greater sight of his situation and is “set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read” (32). Realizing that educating himself is the path to freedom, Douglass is inspired “with a desire and determination to learn” for the purpose of gaining his individual freedom (33). This determination coming from a slave like Douglass extends onto the idea that knowledge truly is power, and can lead to freedom even when situated into the life of a slave. But having taken away his mentor, Douglass must now resort to his own determination to accomplish his goals.

Education is a life-altering event that involves becoming more open- minded. When one’s horizons are expanded they begin to understand and view more. The process of becoming knowledgeable through education can differ from the individual or situation. The overall experience as well can change the perception. Two passages, “Learning to Read” by Malcom X and “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato both contain an individual who goes through the path of gaining wisdom. Although both passages contain similarities involving one going through an experience resulting in the enlightenment of education, there are several differences in how the acknowledgement is approached and the type of predicament the individual is in.

Douglass’ text, on the other hand, is about the time when Douglass had no privileges because he was a slave. At first, his mistress “was, as [he] [has] said, a kind and tender-hearted woman” (Douglass 428). However, she stopped doing that when her husband demanded her to treat Douglass with no reverence; she did not allow Douglass to read after that. This shows captivity because Douglass was restricted from reading and writing and was confined in only his master’s house. In addition, another similarity is the idea of truth about reality. In detail, in Plato’s piece, Socrates, Plato’s teacher, said this: If a prisoner were to escape out of the cave, then the prisoner would find out the actuality of the outside world and how there is more to the truth than just a wall with shadows. Douglass’ text, on the other hand, talks about how Douglass has “this bread [he] used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give [him] that more valuable bread of knowledge” (Douglass, 429). Later on, Douglass came into a consciousness that we would escape after learning to write, and he eventually learned how to write. Douglass learned the truth of the external world when he learned how to read and write because reading and writing led him to be

The speaker in the parable says that when the other prisoners discussed of the enlightened man they “would laugh at him and say that he had gone up only to come back with his sight ruined.” The prisoners believe they are the ones filled with the accurate knowledge and refuse to accept others. Sometimes, because they are considered ‘geniuses,’ intelligent people may put themselves on a high pedestal and believe they are superior to everyone else. This is the problem in society; many people are socially incompetent because of their scholarly knowledge. They would only discuss issues logically, which could be perceived in a hurtful manner because of their lack of emotion. Additionally, pure ignorance is to believe that we are the ones who have the light, meaning everyone believes the light is in them. Thus, one cannot know for certain what is correct or incorrect. Like Plato says in the “Allegory of the Cave”: “A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways.” A truly knowledgeable person would accept other perspectives and understand that people will always have different views, instead of insisting that his own are the

Fredrick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write”, gives readers insight into the struggles of being a slave with intelligence, but more importantly into his experience. In his essay, Douglass shows how he fought to obtain knowledge; however, a reading of his story will reveal that what he learned changed him for the better. Michael Scott, a former EOF student read the story and believed that Douglass’s intelligence was a destructive and to a certain degree pointless. Contrary to Scott’s statement, Douglass’s knowledge wasn’t more of a curse than a blessing. Being a slave was everyone’s curse. Douglass went into depression because he hadn’t had the same experience as other slaves and finally felt what it was really like to be a slave when he was punished for his knowledge. However just because his knowledge is what got him into trouble doesn’t necessarily make him, being an intelligent slave; a curse nor does it mean that he had absolutely no alternatives to his condition. In fact, he above most other slaves had the upper hand when it came to creating his own alternative. Douglass’s intelligence helped him become autodidactic, manipulate situations to benefit him, and develop an ambition to become free.

While knowledge can be perceived as a curse, in Fredrick Douglass’s case, it was a blessing. In discordance with Michael Scott, an EOF student, he states that knowledge was more of a curse for the said former slave. After reading the text, learning to Read and Write, Fredrick Douglass recounts his times as a slave to Master Hughs. In secret his mistress led him on the path of learning to read and write, only to turn her back on him out in fear of the opinionated society. Reading and learning only made him feel defeated once he figured out that his freedom came at the cost of death. Yet beneficially knowledge is not just about knowing facts and being afraid of what’s out there. Fredrick gained the skills necessary to take what his master inflicted

The cave allegory also proves that the role of education is not to teach in the sense of feeding people information they do not have, but rather to shed light on things they already know. Education "isn't the craft of putting sight into the soul. Education takes for granted that sight is there but that it isn't turned the right way or looking where it ought to look, and it tries to redirect it properly." (2)

Plato once said that, “Ignorance [is] the root and stem of all evil”. Ignorance is the cause of everything that is wrong and bad in the world since people are unable to see the truth. If people start breaking free from ignorance, mankind will become happier and more transparent. In the short story, “Allegory of The Cave” by Plato and The Matrix by the Wachowskis, they portray the idea that in order to gain enlightenment, one must break free from ignorance; which opens himself to knowledge; this new truth must then be shared with others for the good of mankind.

This was quite the main perception to their teachings to their slaves as being incapable of learning, fear kept the slaveholders from educating their slaves about the truth they consciously new. Douglass became convinced that the only way men can be enslaved is by remaining ignorant. This idea would pave the pathway to one of the greatest slave escapes of all time.