Plato's Allegory of the Cave — A Storyteller's Guide to Using Allegory

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave was written over 2,000 years ago — so why are we still talking about it today? As part of his larger work, The Republic, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a simple story with a complex message. And in this video, we’re going to descend deep into the cave and emerge enlightened. We’ll break down Plato's cave allegory, the various interpretations, the films that were directly inspired by it, and what writers today can take away from it.

Allegory of the Cave Summary

Plato’s allegory can be summed up as a conversation between two characters, Socrates and Glaucon. To illustrate a point he is making about the role of philosophy in government, Socrates offers up this allegory.

A group of prisoners is chained inside a cave their entire lives. On the wall in front of them, shadows are projected — because this is all they know, these shadows are their reality. Then one of these prisoners is set free and turns around to see the truth. The shadows are created by men carrying statues and shapes of things in front of a fire.

The freed prisoner then ascends the rest of the way out of the cave. In the open sunlight, his eyes are temporarily blinded. But as his vision adjusts, he begins to see this new reality — instead of the shadow of a tree, he sees an actual tree. With this newfound knowledge and enlightenment, the prisoners descend back into the cave to share their findings with the rest of the prisoners. But his eyes are now adjusted to the light, and he is essentially blind once again in the dark. The other prisoners see this as madness and actually threaten the freed prisoner if he attempts to put them through the same experience.

The Allegory of the Cave Analysis

In writing The Republic, one of the purposes was to discuss how a utopian society could be formed. Platos Allegory of the Cave was part of a larger point that this proposed society would be ruled by those who have “seen the light.” But there are many other ways to interpret the allegory. Allegories, by definition, use symbolism to present themes that might otherwise be too complicated or controversial without it. And the very nature of symbolism allows room for interpretation.

We’ve seen movies take direct inspiration from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (The Matrix, The Truman Show, Us) but what writers and screenwriters can also takeaway from this is how to use allegories to tell their stories.