Comparing the Similarities and Differences in the Settings, Situations, and Meanings in the Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix
The Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix are very different stories with very similar meanings. In the Allegory people are chained up facing a cave wall, only seeing shadows cast upon the wall their whole lives. These shadows are all they know so these are their reality, the Matrix is a created world where humans are grown instead of born and their lives are being controlled by computers. People go through their lives not knowing that they are not living in reality. Although they have different settings, both describe a situation in which people believe in a reality that is not quite real at all and in each one person is chosen to have a sort of awakening in which they see the truth. People in The Allegory are manipulated by others from birth and see only shadows of the truth.
They are chained up when they are born facing the wall of the cave. Behind them is light and people hold up figures in front of the light, which casts shadows on the wall. Those chained up only know those shadows and have never known any different. They believe that those are the truth because that is what they have been shown their whole life. This represents how many of us in life don‘t question what is presented to us. We go through the world believing what is told to us because we don’t know any better, After knowing what a dog is your whole life, if you were told it was anything different you would not believe what you were being told because that is what you have known your whole life. The Allegory represents how although there is absolute truths, we each perceive them differently.
In The Matrix, humans are grown by robots instead of born and are implanted into an artificial world They go through life being unknowingly manipulated by computers In no way is the life they live reality, but to them it is real because they do not know any different. Even when some were set free from the Matrix by Morpheus and his crew they did not want to be free and wanted to be back in their false world. To me this represents people‘s complacency in their own beliefs and ideas Some get so stuck in their ways, even if they are completely wrong, that they believe they are right and if told any different will deny what they are being told. No one appreciates being told that everything they know is a complete lie. To be told that you do not live in reality is to destroy everything you know and undermine your life and all that defines it. In both The Matrix and The Allegory one person is chosen to have an awakening.
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In The Allegory one person out of all who were chained up was released from his chainst He got to look around the cave and realizes that the images he has seen his whole life are but shadows of the true images, The person looked at the light and had never seen it before, If he were to be told about it before seeing it he probably would not have believed in its existence, but once being shown the truth it was inevitable He has believed in something false his whole life and has finally been shown the reality of things. In The Matrix, Neo is saved by Morpheus and the others and they show him what the matrix really is He finds out that his whole life has been artificial and is controlled by computers. Neo sees that the Matrix really is just coding in a computer, but is also so advanced that a whole civilization is controlled under it Both of these situations represent realizations in our life These can take many forms, one of them being a religious awakening, or rebirth, in which someone finds the truth of life through a god or higher force.
It may also be a philosophical awakening in which someone comes to a realization as to why something happens the way it does. In general an awakening, or realization, would be a coming to the truth or reality. The Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix take place in very different settings and situations. One is more of a primitive setting in a cave with figures being reflected onto the wall by light, the other takes place in high-tech computer software where human lives are controlled by computers. Although these do not appear alike, they have many similarities in their meaning. In both, there is a deception for the people where they believe in a false reality because that is all they know and have been told. Also, they both have an awakening for one person in which they find out the truth and realize what the true reality is. These meanings represent real life situations, such as, when people just believe what they are told and do not question anything and realizations of truth in people’s lives.
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Comparing the Similarities and Differences in the Settings, Situations, and Meanings in the Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix. (2023, Mar 14). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/comparing-the-similarities-and-differences-in-the-settings-situations-and-meanings-in-the-allegory-of-the-cave-and-the-matrix/
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