Malik Hansbury


Truman show vs Allegory of the cave


The Truman show and “The Allegory of the Cave” is an example of what human’s sees is the only truth they know. They portray that humans assumed that wherever they find themselves is the real world regardless of their lives only being as it presents to them. Here humans are pictured in an alternate reality presented to them.In Plato's Republic, the ancient Greek philosopher raises many questions pertaining to the basis of human existence. Centuries later, The Truman Show raised similar concerns, picturing Jim Carrey, the film's protagonist, in an alternate reality. In this paper, I will analyze and decipher the connections between the philosophical arguments brought forth in The Truman Show and the Allegory of The Cave. There are many similarities between both the twentieth century film and Plato's philosophical writing, especially dealing with physical and psychological reality as well as the need for intuition and understanding, philosophical facets highlighted at the conclusion of The Truman Show.The allegory of the cave is an enlightening philosophical work made by Greek Philosopher, Plato. The allegory portrays people as sponges and that they only know as much as they are told, whether it is true or not and it compares the effect of education and the lack of it in human nature. Plato’s allegory of the cave is highly comparable to the movie called “The Truman Show”, which antagonist may argue is a modern adaptation that is more relatable today. It shares some of the main themes of the allegory, for example the seven symbols of the cave: the light/fire, the shadows, the breaking of the chains, the prisoners, the free prisoner, the cave, and the real objects. The allegory of the cave is a very disputable idea which understanding is still elusive to many today.Plato’s main concept of the cave is that people see reality as the visible world when reality is more than just the visible world. It begins with the assumption that if a group of prisoners had their necks and hands chained down in a cave; they would be unable to see behind themselves. With a fire behind them, they would be more capable of seeing shadows of images as they passed by the fire. As time passed, the prisoners began to identify the shadows and issued the different shadow’s names. However, if one of the prisoners was to climb out of the mouth of the cave, he would not be able to see anything at first because the light would be so blinding. But as his eyes gradually began to focus to the light, he would begin to see images more clearly. The light enables the prisoner to see the true image and not just the shadow of the image. If this prisoner was to go back to the cave, he would find that it would be impossible to conform back to his old world. This may signify the assumed victory of knowledge over ignorance. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a symbol for the contrasts between ideas and what humans perceive as reality. For example, Plato would argue that ideas go beyond the physical world. Think of a cup. That cup could fall on the ground, it could crack, and even break… Eventually it would not physically exist anymore. However, the idea of the cup will go on forever. The idea, once thought of, cannot be undone. It cannot be broken or tainted. Plato also argues that humans are the prisoners in the cave. Humans live in a world of shadows, where they do not see the reality of ideas. Humans see the cup that can be broken, the shadows of ourselves. However, it is possible to climb out of the cave, to be released from the chains, but the process is painful. When the prisoners climb from the cave (perceive and understand ideas), they see the world for how it should be. Humans see that ideas are eternal and perfect, even though the physical world crumbles.The movie reflects Plato’s philosophy because Truman was a prisoner in the cave, he only knew what he was being fed to believe, and when he tried to look for the truth, or rather look past what they were telling him, they would throw him curveballs to keep him from knowing the truth, and from doing what he wants to do. The question that Plato is trying to answer the question is: “is there change and if so, what is change?” he was trying to answer this age old philosophical question brought on by Heraclitus and Parmenides. Plato has an idea that there are two worlds: the empirical world, or world of shadows, which is the world that we live in and the world of forms and ideas which he defines as reality, or rather the real world. In the movie, Truman starts off as a prisoner in the cave, which is represented by the town Seaheaven, but as the movie progresses, it is shown that he is afraid of water because it is shown that his father was killed in a boating accident, so that acted as a chain, which stopped him from exploring the world, but he broke the chain when he took the boat, and he became the free prisoner, or philosopher. The people were mere shadows of the real world and he believed that they were real, until he saw the girl whom represented the real objects in Plato’s allegory, he fell in love with her and she started telling him that is was not real and it sparked a curiosity in Truman, especially when she was taken away, he spends the rest of the movie trying to find her, allowing for him to break the chains. The director of the series was the light/God because he decides what Truman was going to see and do. Throughout the movie, they try to deter him from leaving the town every chance they got for example he said he wanted to be an explorer so his teacher told him that everything to be explored has already been explored, they set up a guard dog to prevent him from going onto a boat, and the major thing they did which chained him for the rest of the movie was create a massive storm when he was on the boat with his father, and there was a freak accident in which Truman’s father died and that traumatized Truman and made him afraid of water, which is evident when he could not drive over the bridge, he went into a shock state.From both the allegory of the cave and the Truman's show one can say that there are more than 1 realities, if not an infinity of different realities. The one we are born into is most likely the one we shall see. The perspectives on what we take reality now and what it is in the future all depends on our everyday life experiences. This is what we hear, see, and act upon and could very well alter our reality as it is now. Just like the people in the cave. One reality; the shadows on the wall. Until one of the people were able to see another reality; the fire and objects creating the shadows on the wall. Adapting and changing as a human. But I think in all stages of life our version of reality changes. We see life one way, and then something changes our perspective on life, and another reality takes shape Plato’s allegory of the cave is a very impressive piece especially if one were to take into account the time in which he came up with these astonishing ideas. His ideas are very timeless in that, even today humans only know what they are told for example a student in school is being taught something that could very well be incorrect, but unless the student’s curiosity makes them want to find the truth for themselves, they really will not know. This is exactly the case with Truman, he only knew what he was being taught and he never questioned anything because he was satisfied, but once he was no longer satisfied with what he was being feed to believe, he started to push himself and he broke the chains in order for him to find out the real truth. The Truman show is a very accurate representation of Plato’s allegory of the cave in the modern times, so it could easily be understood by the people of today, while there are still some things that people do not understand, it was the same thing with Plato when he explained the allegory to the people. The thing about Plato’s allegory of the cave is that he is definitely a great mind who though outside of the box, and his enlightening works will continue to enlighten the minds of people for years to come. "We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented". This Quote from Chrisof (the creator of the Truman Show) sums up everything perfectly. This tells us that we choose to believe that the reality presented to us is the only reality. It is a choice whether consciously or subconsciously made. This affects our everyday thought and defines our reality.(For example, a child born in an Islamic world sees that as the only religion until he moves through that door). We make a choice, whether we are influenced or not to make those choices, they are made. We choose to believe that the reality presented to us is the only one. We choose to believe the social media, we choose to believe that what we hear, see, touch, and smell are all true. So did Truman and the prisoners. He believed everything was real, that little bubble world was his reality and this is ours. It’s all about choices. I think we can make the choice to break from our chains, open that door, and seek truth, seek our own reality. Isn’t it worth knowing? Or is fear holding us back? Just like the ocean was holding Truman back? I consciously choose to sail that ocean and break through my wall of reality and seek truth.Christof was on target when he said that there is no more truth in the real world than there is in Seahaven, - if and only if you believe that truth is relative and subjective. In that case, had they surrounded Truman with Muppets all his life and made him believe that the entire planet was populated by Muppets except for Truman because Truman was an alien wizard; then that would be the truth too. We may not accept that. On the other hand, if you believe otherwise, then Christof was wrong and was just desperately trying to keep his show in business and his star/slave from quitting. It is worth noting that his argument for there being no more truth outside than inside was: "Same lies. Same deceit. But in my world, you have nothing to fear." That seems dubious and weak, so even if the statement had been true (and Christof really believed it), you could argue that Christof was not right since his belief was not justified (a.k.a. he believed it for the wrong reasons). "The world out there is a sick place, Seaheaven is the way the world should be". In some ways, life in Seahaven is appealing. It is safe, heavily protected from outside influences: Like the conservative right-wing American dream town. It has no crime because there is no real socio-economic disparity. There are very few people of color, and the few look a lot like the Cosby family. There is no cultural diversity, just a walled city preventing any undesirables from upsetting this created upper-middle class W.A.S.P. nest. This may make for a perfect world which can only be assumed to a real world (reality). However, there may actually be no difference from this world of deceit as proposed by Chrisof to our presumed real world today which is blinded by deceit offering us reality in different forms eg the media, religion etc. Completely unrelated to Christof, however, there would still be people who believe that that the truth inside is true inside and the truth outside is true outside; and that both are valid truths. I can't believe that the Muppets could be a truth, and by extension I can't believe that there can be multiple truths. Similarly, I can only think of two famous proponents of this, like Gandhi: "It is not given to man to know the whole Truth. His duty lies in living up to the truth as he sees it, and in doing so, to resort to the purest means, i.e., to non-violence. God alone knows absolute truth. Therefore, I have often said, Truth is God. It follows that man, a finite being, cannot know absolute truth. Nobody in this world possesses absolute truth. This is God's attribute alone. Relative truth is all we know. Therefore, we can only follow the truth as we see it. Such pursuit of truth cannot lead anyone astray." "What is true for you is true for you, and what is true for me is true for me." The symbolic representation of the Allegory of the Cave has endured since Plato's first illustrations in 400 B.C.E. While The Truman Show may not have been explicitly based off of Plato's Allegory, it nonetheless raises the same pertinent questions of human existence and alternate realities that the philosopher once did as well. While we can never fully understand the full context of our realities, philosophers such as Plato architecturally illustrate that knowledge and questioning can lead a person to a more understood, or better, life, just as that of Truman in the The Truman Show.