AESTHETICS OF VISUAL ART: The Allegory of the Cave in Plato and The Matrix

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The Allegory of the Cave in Plato and The Matrix

At the beginning of the VII Book of the Republic Plato narrates the famous allegory of the Cave. The story begins by describing an underground cave where some people sit chained with their back towards the entrance. Being stuck in that position, everything men and women can see is just the wall in front of them. Their conception of reality is based on this partial view, which is an imperfect copy of the real world.

In the cave, in addition to the chained people, there are others, Plato calls them the “puppeteers.” They are the ones holding the others captive. It is critical to understand that the people do not know about their chained-in truth, they don’t even know to be captive, since that existence is the only one they experienced, all they can know.

The puppeteers are behind the people, handling several objects. A fire burning at the entrance of the cave illuminates objects and persons with a flickering light: people can see themselves and objects as distorted and flickering shadows projected on the wall of the cavern in front of them.

The prisoners, unable to turn back, can’t see the objects or the puppeteers.

“…here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.”[1]

It is obvious how the prisoners in this metaphor represent the majority of humanity, which the philosopher gives a substantial inability to know and understand the reality in its true essence.

In the continuation of the story one of the prisoners managed to break free from the chains and rise to the surface. The sunlight is blinding and painful for his eyes addicted to darkness, to the point that he tries to return to its former condition. Slowly though, the eyes fit and after much suffering the man can finally perceive reality in its authentic essence.

Reality may turn out to be so sharp and shocking compared to the ideas accumulated over a lifetime of sensory myopia, to arouse disgust in the one who captures the awareness.

The movie Matrix can be considered a modern reread of the allegory of the cave. Like the people in the cave, humans, trapped in the Matrix, see only what the machines (puppeteers) want them to see. They are deceived into believing that what they hear and see is the only reality that exists, and accept the erroneous illusions of their senses as the only criterion of truth. But Neo, the main character, is forced to face the painful truth, when it pulled out of the capsule that kept him prisoner of the virtual reality of the Matrix. Neo suddenly discovers that what was before his life, were only shadows, reflections of reality.

As we just said in the allegory of the cave, Plato presents the hypothesis that one of the prisoners is to be released or manage to escape from the cave, this prisoner is considered by Plato the philosopher or the intellectual. Plato writes that the free prisoner is confused by what he sees, he suffers from acute pain:

“…he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision”.[2]

 Neo experiences the same pain: he looks at the real world and doesn’t believe it to be the real one. As indicated in the allegory of the cave, the man freed first comes to think that what you see now is an illusion, and that the shadows on the wall are much more real.  What comes back to my mind is the character of Cypher in the Matrix, the traitor. He is so oppressed by the false reality of the Matrix to strive to be repacked and sent back in his convenient ignorance of the virtual world.

The Platonic tale comes to conclusion when the man- recalling the other prisoners still chained in the cave- goes back to the cave with the intention of freeing the rest of humanity. He tells them that the truth is different from what is their limited point of view in the dark underground of the cave, and induces them to think. The prisoners refuse to believe his words, and even end up judging him crazy, assaulting and killing him when he tries to free them.

Here as well the metaphor is clear. The common man/woman would do anything rather than questioning the cultural cornerstones on which he/she founded all certainty.

It is quite interesting how Plato develops the idea that the chains blocking the prisoners are more physical than mental. In other words, if you really want to escape from the cave, it is sufficient to have the willpower to get up and go outside. Morpheus warns Neo about it, humans that are still connected (or trapped) in the world of the Matrix:

“You have to understand that most of these people are not ready to be unplugged and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.”[3]

Trinity, the female main character tells Neo that the Matrix cannot tell you who you are, you just have to be brave enough to take the red pill, unchain yourself and walk out the cave, make the first step toward your own independence, just as Neo and the man freed by Plato.