In the “Allegory of the Cave” Socrates interprets Plato’s theory. He believes “the cave” that the prisoners have been living in, is an illusion. The “cave” is a reality that only the prisoners know of. They have never left the cave, if they were to leave the cave and experience the reality Socrates lives in, they would feel scared and uncertain. The “Allegory of the Cave” is similar to the Amish people. They both live in an illusion, away from society.
The Amish are a small group of people who are strictly for culture and tradition. They exclude themselves from society and live far away, by a farmland. Amish believed in religion and culture their ancestors followed. They didn’t believe in technology or modern development. In the “Allegory of the Cave “ the prisoners were living in a reality of no modern culture or technology. They never looked beyond the cave walls. They could only see what the puppeteers would cast in the shadows. Amish grew up in the reality that there was no world beyond the Amish society. At the age of eighteen, Amish mothers allowed their children an option of leaving Amish society and exploring the city which was hidden from them all of these years. The prisoners at a certain point were also allowed to explore the world beyond the cave, just like in the Amish society, they had a choice to accept this reality or go back to their own reality.
In the Matrix you also were given a choice. One of the reality’s the man face was a perfect world with no problems. The other was a world of suffering and pain. This world was reality and the perfect world was an illusion. The man in the Matrix was given two pills; each pill would allow him to live in whichever society he chose to stay with. The truth of it was, once he took the pill, he was to never to leave that reality and live in that reality forever. The Amish society gave their children a choice of either staying in the reality they grew up in or to explore more of this new world beyond Amish lands. As in the Matrix's once the Amish decided what reality they were willing to live in, they weren’t allowed to leave it.
I was reading an article online about a young couple in Virginia. They lived in a huge house and a trailer in their backyard. This couple had two children, a little girl and a boy who they trapped in their basement an locked them in a cage. These children have been living in this cage for over years. Their parents barely giving them any food for survival. They were not washed or educated. They lived in a cage deep in their parent’s cellar. Once these children were found by police officials, they were delusional. I read that when the officer ran in the basement to open the door the little boy could not walk. He was confused to what he was to do and collapsed in the officers hands. Later on that day when the children were being treated, the doctors said they were so closed off to society that they developed a language between themselves to communicate. They didn’t choose to live this reality; they were forced to believe that the basement was their realty. The prisoners from the “Allegory of the Cave” believed there was no world beyond the cave. Once they were allowed to enter a new reality they were fearful and scared just liked these children.
In the play “Oedipus”, the young boy tried to escapse reality. Oedipus was given away at birth to a messenger so he could die. His parents were told that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mom. Once his parents found this out they got rid of Oedipus. Oedipus didn’t die; the messenger gave him away instead. Oedipus parents chose to live in a world without their son, but reality is they were living in a world where fate wasn’t to be questioned. Oedipus lived and killed his father; he married his mom not knowing that she was his mother. Oedipus chose his reality once he was told his fate and he chose to become kind and marry the queen. He didn’t choose a different path. He chose to be king.
Not everyone can choose the reality they grew up in. In the “Allegory of the Cave” , The Amish People, the article of the two children and the Matrix’s, each of them there were two reality’s, an each reality was either bad or good. Once you chose a reality, you’re stuck to live in it.
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