Kimberly Torres

English 2150

Book 7 Response:

There is a famous metaphor presented in the beginning of this book; “the allegory of the cave”. This metapohor is defined to explain what role and effects education has on people. The book begins with a group of men stuck in a cave since birth. All of them have no knowledge of the outside world  and can only grasp a glimpse of it from the shadows developed by the statues beside them. These men use imagination to depict what could be outside of the cave. They discuss about men, women and horses as if they saw them in real life, but imagination could run wild as far as one is concern. One of the prisoners are freed and dragged outside of the cave. He is baffled on how bright the sun is and how everything around him is actually real. This example explained that education shouldn’t be taken as a way to only gain knowledge but a way to recognize your sight in reality. If a person only depended on their imagination of a object or place, they will be viewed as foolish and ignorant because they weren’t put into a situation in which teaches them how to react properly to it. By recognizing what’s real, a person can understand the difference between good and bad and have a more understanding in the form of good. Courage also plays a part in understand how education effects the human soul. If one isn’t brave enough to look beyond the position they are in, he won’t adapt to a different sight of reality and know the form of good.