The Matrix And The Allegory Of The Cave

Thesis: There are many similarities in the Matrix ( Wachowski, Andy, and Lana Wachowski 1999 ), The Allegory of the Cave ( Plato ) and Meditation I of The Things of Which We May Doubt ( Decartes, 1641 ). It appears as you take a close look at the Matrix that it is a retelling of “The Allegory of the Cave” with elements of “Meditation I of the Things of Which We May Doubt” in it as well.

In Plato's Cave, the prisoners are tied down with chains, hand, and foot under bondage. In fact they have been there since their childhood, which much like matrix people are seen as in reality being bound within a pad whereby they are feed images/illusions which keep them in a dreamlike state and they have been in this bondage by virtue of the virtual reality pads in the fields since their youth and like the allegory of the Cave they are completely unaware of such a predicament since in regards to the Cave they have become conditioned to the shadows that dance upon the wall and do not see the true forms of which the shadow is a mere non-substantial pattern of. In the Matrix, within the person of the virtual world, it is a non-substantial pattern of the world, it is reflective of the real world, it is a shadow in its form and nature being a simulation of the world at a particular point in history. Like the prisoners in the cave, those who are prisoners in the system of a matrix are held in their calm state by reason of the illusion that stimulates them and tricks them into remaining asleep or rather into being ignorant of the fact that they are prisoners in pads so the machines can feed on their bio-energy. The shadows on the wall which are reflective is to keep the prisoners on the Cave unaware of the fact that they are prisoners, that they are under bondage and have never truly seen life outside of the Cave. The shadows on the walls are by puppets, perchance puppeteers. They could be seen as the agents, whom within the Matrix being programs are to maintain that the humans asleep in the matrix remain in their comatose state, they are to support the illusion, by keeping man actively ignorant of what is truly happening, so they never wake up. The puppeteers of the puppets which are seen on the wall to keep the mind of the prisoners stimulated so they never realize that they are chained, and only have a vision that is straightforward, which is basically saying their minds are only subjected to a single perspective and they are blind to the degree of seeing within other perspectives, broader perspectives and this in and of itself is a limitation.

The one prisoner that Plato refers to reflects Neo in The Matrix when he is being released from his pod that the machines have created. Once the prisoner of the cave has broken free he can now look all around him and see the objects as they really are. While in the movie The Matrix, Neo is using is own eyes for the first time and sees that he is actually living in a human factory. In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," he states that the freed prisoner would be shocked and not used to the outside world. The prisoner would try to think that what he saw and experienced before was truer than what is he sees now.

Unable to know any better, people’s blindness to the truth about their existence throughout the ages has been relative to the questioning of reality. We search but are unable to the see the truth through the illusion that the world before us has portrayed. One might ask, how do we know what is real and what is simply illusion brought by our subjective view of the world? But when attempting to understand the nature of our existence, about why we are here, the complexities of life often make it difficult to interpret this subject. The film The Matrix centers on this same concept that the known world is an illusion. The movies core theme of reality and illusion is definite to the humans understanding of what the true meaning of life is. Ones

This is comparison to the essay when Plato quotes “ Will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away?” (Plato 285). This is simply a comparison of words. When the prisoners from the cave come out and experience a new world, their eyes will hurt because they have never seen outside the shadows on the wall. Neo experiences a new world and his eyes hurt because he's never used them before. Many quotes from “The Allegory of the Cave” were used in the movie The Matrix. This is one of the many comparisons between “The Allegory of the Cave” and The

The similarities between The Cave and The Matrix are too uncanny. The description of the cave above, which is discussed in the first paragraph of Plato’s seventh book, can be portrayed similarly in

Having read the synopsis from The Matrix, the excerpt from Plato, The Republic, Book VII, 514A1-518D8 “The Allegory Of The Cave”, and the excerpt from Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, 1641 “Meditation I Of The Things Of Which We May Doubt”, I am able to conclude that there are similarities as well as differences among these readings. Each question the state of reality in which we live. Is our reality a true state of reality or is it a state of mind we have allowed ourselves to exist in?

In “The Allegory of the Cave”, the focus is based on prisoners who are chained up in a cave and can only see the shadows of the real world. In this story one prisoner is released into the “real world” and tries to enlighten the other prisoners. In The Matrix, the main character Neo is living in a world controlled by a computer program and he does not know. He is brought into the real world by people that have been enlightened and he plans to help the other people. Even though The Matrix and “The Allegory of the Cave are set in different points in time and show some different points of view , they also have comparable plots, characters, and symbols.

In the movie The Matrix we find a character by the name of Neo and his struggle adapting to the truth...to reality. This story is closely similar to an ancient Greek text written by Plato called "The Allegory of the Cave." Now both stories are different but the ideas are basically the same. Both Stories have key points that can be analyzed and related to one another almost exactly. There is no doubt that The Matrix was based off Greek philosophy. The idea of freeing your mind or soul as even stated in "The Allegory of the Cave" is a well known idea connecting to Greek philosophy. The Matrix is more futuristic and scientific than "The Cave" but it's the same Idea. Neo is

While interpreting Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave’’ in which is a representation that described a narrative of the society of people in before Christ years. I realized how there was a major comparison of people in today’s society that reflected the same prisoner traits as the prisoners that were described in the dialogue. According to the Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” It described conditions of people chained at birth unable to function as independent individuals that were locked in a protracted dark cave. They were allowed to rotate their necks but could not stand up unless told to or leave the cave. Within this cave they could only watch a wall showing flash images and objects as if the prisoners were watching a play or movies at a theater. They believed that the pictures shown on the wall were factual in which they were just shadows of objects that were behind them. The objects reflected forms and puppet that were placed up by puppeteers to create shadows on the wall. The prisoners were unable to see the puppeteers and seemed as if they were watching a puppet show in the dark.

“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

Neo is a software technician by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his computer, getting a message someone he doesn’t know, he then sees the symbol and meets a women named Trinity who sent the message to him, after the encounter she then proceeds on to introduce him to, Morpheus who reveals the truth about the ‘reality’ he lives in and the role to help overthrow the Matrix.

In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato also stated that eventually one of the prisoners, who Plato would say was the philosopher or intellectual, would break free from the cave and into the outside world. The one prisoner that Plato refers to, would also reflect Neo in “The Matrix” when he in being released from his pod that the machines have created. Once the prisoner of the cave has broken free he can now look all around him, and see the objects as they really are and the people carrying them as well. While in the movie “The Matrix”, Neo is using is own eyes for the first time and sees that he is actually living in a human factory. In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” he states that the freed prisoner would be shocked by the outside world, he would not be able to see the realities that he was used to deep in the shadows of the cave. The prisoner would try to think that what he saw and experienced before was truer than what is he sees now. When Neo is revived from being detached from the pod, Morpheus tells him what state the world is in now and Neo is in a state of disarray and denial. This new knowledge of the truth, overwhelmed Neo so much that he vomited and passed out. The released prisoner in “The Allegory of the Cave” might feel that what he is seeing was the illusion and shadows on the wall

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.

What is real? A thought in both The Matrix and Allegory of the Cave. The Matrix, written by Lana Wachowski illustrates many questions throughout. The main character, Neo, tries finding Morpheus in need of an answer to his question. What is the Matrix? Considering, Morpheus is the most dangerous man alive, he does all that he can to find him. Neo is approached by Trinity and led to the underworld to meet Morpheus. They soon realize that Neo is “The One” who can defeat the Matrix. Similarly,The Allegory of the Cave,which took place in ancient time, humans were living in an underground den with their necks and legs chained only seeing their shadows in front of them. The people trapped in the den are like the people in the matrix, not knowing