Thinking Outside The Box...

In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", he takes the symbolism and metaphors from the men shackled in a cave to represent the need for the search of knowledge. As the men become more comfortable in their chains, they come to think that what they see in the fire's shadows are the reality of life. One prisoner is finally let out into the light to discover what they don't know, which is actually the real world itself. Even though the light of the sun (otherwise known as the truth in life) is bright at first, he soon adapts and goes back to tell everyone about his new discovery. They reject him due to their ignorance in the matter and unfortunately, the one prisoner is killed. Every aspect in the writing is a symbol to relate to our lives as searching humans. The shackles show the restraint we have thrown upon us in our environment of learning, whether it be school or influential people. The cave is the reality we adopt to our senses. It is the world in which we see what we want to see and block everything else out that doesn't matter to us. It resembles the ignorance towards knowledge we have in our own perspectives. Being outside the cave represent the world of ideas. This world is a place to get lost in and can be overwhelming at first glance. But it is the realm of knowledge that needs to be questioned and discovered in order to truly understand reality for what it is. Plato wrote this story to show that the search of knowledge may be a difficult journey, but it is worth looking for in the whole picture.

Sartre's "No Exit", on the other hand, discusses the lack of knowledge in humans is due to the reliance of other people. He uses his characters' circumstances to portray an isolation of the world and having to rely on what people say. Being in their "hell" is not the typical version of this place; it is the psychological prison we are put in if we don't expand our social horizons. Depending on the same people all the time results in a vicious cycle that can never be left. Sartre wanted to use his story to show people to be open-minded in new situations involving people they had never seen or known before. It demonstrates how being in one state of mind with the same surroundings can cause an ignorance in itself. "Hell is other people," is just his way of saying don't get sucked into the cliche swing of things. Be opportunistic and discover the other side of the spectrum of knowledge. Taking risks and being open to new ideas from different people is just apart of the intellectual journey.

Although both authors use their narratives to reveal the constraints in the journey of knowledge, they have different approaches in emotions and reasons. Plato takes the savage look on the issue by putting "prisoners" in a cave and bounding them in shackles. They have no way out because they are locked up in this rock shelter. The prisoners themselves really have no reasoning to how they got there; it's just the norm for them. They also aren't miserable as their minds decay just sitting there. Sartre traps his characters in a room with specific details that all represent the hatred of the characters. They are stuck in this hellish room with each other and determine pretty quickly that it's only horrible because they are forced to be with one another. Their differences mirror the evil that lurks in their souls and brings out the true sinners they are. For Plato, the search for discovery depends on questioning and wondering beyond the environment you are currently in. Sartre, on the other hand, believes depending on others is the death of a dream for seeing true reality. They both stress, though, that finding out everything there is to know about the world is important to survival in the world beyond what we think we know.