Literature asks us to be philosophical, to think about our place in the world. When we read, one could say we are working toward enlightenment.
What does that word mean to you? Enlightenment. Authentic self?
We will begin this journey with a piece from the 4th century, Plato’s Allegory of a Cave. As you read along with me, think about what you see, both literally and symbolically.
Directions: Please read and study the following from Plato’s Republic, titled, Allegory of a Cave. Next, in this blog space:
Directions: Please read and study the following from Plato’s Republic, titled, Allegory of a Cave. Next, in this blog space:
1) Discuss a personal experience where you experienced liberation from the cave.
2) Describe a character who went through the stages using one of the summer reading selections.
Engage with each other. Use the text. Be genuine and authentic. Think about the value of words by being concise. Think about your audience. Also, revisit the blog. Read and respond to your fellow classmates. Get a dialogue going. Challenge each other. Be bold. Be brilliant.
" And now, I said (Plato), let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: --Behold! human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; 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.
- I see (Glaucon).
And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.
- You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?
- True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?
And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows?
- Yes, he said.
And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?
- Very true.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
- No question, he replied.
To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.
- That is certain.
And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, 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, -what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them, will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
- Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
- That is true.
And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he 's forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.
- Not all in a moment, he said.
He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
- Certainly.
Last of he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
- Certainly.
He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?
Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him. And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?
- Certainly, he would.
And if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer, Better to be the poor servant of a poor master, and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner?
- Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
Imagine once more, I said, such a one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?
- To be sure, he said.
And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the cave, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
- No question, he said.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
(4th c. B.C.)
(From Plato's Republic, Book 7)
- I see (Glaucon).
And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.
- You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?
- True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?
And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows?
- Yes, he said.
And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?
- Very true.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
- No question, he replied.
To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.
- That is certain.
And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, 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, -what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them, will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
- Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
- That is true.
And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he 's forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.
- Not all in a moment, he said.
He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
- Certainly.
Last of he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
- Certainly.
He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?
Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him. And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?
- Certainly, he would.
And if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer, Better to be the poor servant of a poor master, and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner?
- Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
Imagine once more, I said, such a one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?
- To be sure, he said.
And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the cave, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
- No question, he said.
ReplyDeleteI read the book Unbroken. The main character was a prisoner of war when he was let free he got married but soon after he was huated by his dreams of war. He became a alcoholic and a abusive father and husband. Then he when to a prechers survace and he remembered a time when he was in the war when he promised god if he survived he would surve him. Then he spent the rest of his life doing good things and working with troubled kids and that was his story of enlitiment.
Drew Wachtel
DeleteI read Unbroken as well Louis was such a good guy after he got enlightened by the preacher if he didn't do that he would not be known as well as he is know.
Frankie Huntress
ReplyDeleteOne time i was enligtend was when i was in the seventh grade and my older brother did rowing and i thought it was the worst sport ever. I knew no one else who played crew so i thought it was very unpopular. Then in the spring i was forced to do rowing and i ended up loving it.”When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities”. Now i do rowing every day after school and i am on the varsity team. That is how i was enlighted
Drew Wachtel
ReplyDelete1) A personal experience where I felt enlightened was when I first learned how to read and write. My teacher in kindergarten had a electronic reading device that had all of the books on it. Learning to write was enlightening to me because I could write to people and express myself a different way. I also remember my first real books that I read which was the magic treehouse series, I read every book.
2) A character that went through the stages was Louis Zamperini. When he got home from the war he had trouble with drinking because that's how he would part ways with his stress from the war. His wife made him go to a preacher about christianity and he got enlightened by the thoughts and belives of the religion. After that event Louis changed his life around he did good things in the community and he even tried to meet the person that beat him so many times.
In your first paragraph when you first learned how to read, realizing there's more to find out in life, reminds me of when Plato says, "When he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision". This reminds me of first learning how to read. You know feel like you know more and are now able to see a clearer view.
DeletePeyton Levental ^^^^^
DeleteDavis Blanch
ReplyDeleteOne time that I have been liberated from the cave was when I stopped believing in santa. I was believing that santa was real because that is what I had been being told my whole life without a doubt. It would be like the people in the cave seeing an object on the wall and thinking that is the real thing. Then when I was liberated I did not think that what I had learned was true then I understood that I was being fed lies since the beginning. Like when Plato said “will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?”.
A character in the summer reading book that I read about that had been enlightened was Louis Zamperini in the book Unbroken. He was a prisoner of war and once he got freed and the war ended he went back home and got married. Louis became a alcoholic and an abusive husband. He remembered he had prayed to god when he was captured and said “If you will save me, I will serve you forever.” Once Louis remembered this he spent the rest of his days doing good and being a better husband and father.
Leo Blanco
DeleteI had a similar experience with this but instead of Santa it was the tooth fairy. You believe in these false idols your entire life only to realize that they're all just fake, which is extremely disappointing but in then you must move forward in life.
Julia Campbell
ReplyDelete1)
I experienced liberation from the cave when I first learned how to swim. When I was younger and still went to the YMCA, they would have us kids take swimming lessons. I soon came to realize that my father couldn't swim, as he would always say that he wouldn't dare try to because he was frightened by it. My youthful brain decided that if my father wasn’t able to swim then I wouldn’t be able to either, that was like the prisoners seeing an image on the wall and believing it were real. Because of this I refused to swim at the YMCA until one day all of my friends were playing a game in the water and encouraged me to join in. I was a bit nervous to go in at first but it wasn't like there was anything better to do, so I asked my counselor and she agreed that I should. I plunged into the water and became enlightened by my newfound feeling of serenity. I feel like I shared the same experience of enlightenment as the prisoner especially in this sentence,
“When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.”. Just like the prisoner I knew that I wouldn’t be able to return to the reality that swimming just wasn't for me, because it most certainly was.
2) (spoiler alert for Everything I never told you)
In my summer reading book, James lee, the father of the Lydia Lee, is a chinese immigrant in the 1950’s. During this time practically everyone in the U.S was racist, so James was always the odd one out in his school even though he passed the expectations for children his age. Through James’ life he experiences many cases of racism, but the one thing that he wishes for is his oldest daughter to not experience that same things as he does. James pushes Lydia to her limits by always making sure that she had friends to the point where she felt like she had to go as far as pretending to have conversations with them everyday. When Lydia (allegedly) commits suicide, her father slowly puts the pieces together that he played a part in it. Just like if the prisoner were to be released, he/she would be in shock trying to figure out their new life, like in this quote,
“while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady...”, the poor sight being James’ idea of what had happened to Lydia and the changing of it would be with truth that James is forced to face.
great story. -Lucy
DeleteLeo Blanco
ReplyDeleteAllegory of a Cave by Plato is all about the idea of enlightenment. Enlightenment is the action of enlightening or the state of being enlightened, which, in other words, means to understand a concept much better than you did before. Enlightenment occurs in everybody's lives, and I know for certain that it has happened in my own. An experience I had was with the Tooth Fairy. All my life I had believed that the Tooth Fairy would come the night I had lost a tooth, and leave a dollar or two under my pillow while I slept. And that’s what I had believed in for the 8 years I had been living, until my dad one day told me that he would leave money under my pillow after I had told him I lost a tooth. At first I was confused and then I slowly began to realize that the tooth fairy truly did not exist.
A character from a previous book I read that has gone through enlightenment is Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Jem at first believes that Maycomb, the town he lives in, is the greatest place to live. He believes that nothing inside of Maycomb is wrong or cruel and that he felt she could stay there forever. At this point in the story, Jem is unenlightened, because later in the story he soon realizes that Maycomb is not the place he thought it was. The turning point for Jem is the Tom Robinson case. After he witnesses the racism and cruelty of Maycomb, his innocence is taken away and he realizes now that Maycomb and the people living there aren’t all as he imagined. As Plato said, “the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the image” which shows that the truth can easily be hidden and something else can replace it’s true meaning.
I had a similar experience with the tooth fairy, my mom accidentally let it slip that she had been the one putting money under my pillow
DeleteJayden C.
DeleteI agree that Jem is enlightened in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, but I also believe that the younger sister Scout is greatly enlightened as well, although doesn't fully understand the entire picture. Scout is almost raised in a non-racist family, and although very young, still understands that racism should be abolished. This fact is hard to understand even for adults, but Scout doesn't seem to have to "see the light and receive the pain from it" Scout is already enlightened and actually helps her brother Jem to be enlightened as well throughout the book.
My mom did the same thing
DeleteI had the same thing happen to me but it was with santa and she said that i couldn't come out of my room until they were finished putting the presents under the tree
DeleteMitch Keamy
DeleteI had a similar experience on christmas eve. My sisters said they were staying downstairs to catch santa. After I had asked to help they said "your to small to carry the presents, uh oh"
The central idea of Plato's Allegory Of A Cave is enlightenment. This concept connects to my life because I was also enlightened when I discovered Santa Clause is not real. At first, like the released prisoners I also thought "the shadows which [I] formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to [me]". So like the prisoners I was reluctant or maybe even scared to let go of the notion I had for so long and switch into the light of the truth, but like those released prisoners I finally accepted the truth for what it is. In addition similarly to the enlightened prisoners, I went back into the cave to try to convince the remaining prisoners to come into the light, but my new found knowledge was not accepted as genuine. As time went on more and more prisoners came into the light that I saw all along.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, the Nightingale by Kristen Hansen Vianne Mauriac the protagonist's sister refuses to resists the Germans, but as the story goes on Vianne soon is shown the horrors the Germans are committing when the Nazi captain staying at her house tells her to hide her friend because the Nazis are arresting Jewish people. At first, Vianne is blinded by the light of the truth and is in disbelief, but soon faces the reality, and hides her friend but when her friend surfaces to the ground to shower a French police officer arrests her. After the arrest of her friend Vianne joins the resistants against the Germans by convincing a local nun to hide Jewish kids in the orphanage and creates foraged documents for the children. Over the course of the novel, Vianne goes from one of the captives to one of enlightenment.
Peyton Levental
ReplyDeleteWhen I was around 7 years old I had that devastating and confusing feeling realizing that the Tooth fairy did not exist. How I found out was because of my mom. When I lost my tooth I woke up in the morning so excited to receive money and have my tooth be gone, but instead I noticed a note. In that note, it said I had to search for my quarters all hidden throughout my room. It was in that moment when I realized it was my moms handwriting. This situation has a relation to when Plato says, “At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, 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”. This relates to my situations because like the people inside the cave just realizing the truth, we both felt pains and confusion and didn't know how to deal with the facts.
In my summer reading book, “Ready Player One”, the main character, wade, is enlightened when he finds out more and more clues to the ongoing egg hunt to seek out the prize. We both experience that confusion and startled feeling when the truth is told. Even though Wades experience is more uplifting when he figures out clues, leading him closer to winning, rather than a little 7 year old girl figuring out the tooth fairy is made up, are both great examples of the relation of enlightenment.
I had the same experience with Santa Clause at first I was in denial of the truth but however I finally came into the light.
DeleteThe first time I experienced liberation is from 6th grade. I did my homework usually, but I sometimes put my homework off to the side. This caused my grade to drop, and one day my teacher called my parents about me slacking off. That is when I knew I cannot put off homework anymore. So from then on, I always did my homework and submitted it on time. My grade went up because of this and I was able to pass 6th grade.
ReplyDeleteIn The Chocolate Touch, John Midas experienced liberation. He was obsessed with candy and he would rather eat it than anything else. His family tried to warn him, but he ignored it. But, one day he found a coin and took it to a candy store. He showed it to a clerk, and the clerk gave John a special ability. Anything he eats will turn into chocolate. At first, John liked his ability but one day when he kissed his mother, she turned into a chocolate statue. John was depressed, and returned to the candy store. He told the clerk that he didn’t want his special ability, and that he wants his mother come back to life. The clerk did as John granted, and John’s mom was no longer a statue. Now John knows that there is a time for sweets, but it’s better to eat healthy than eat junk food.
Evan Brenner
DeleteI had a similar experience like this before. Whenever I got homework on the weekends I used to wait to Sunday night to do it. Homework was always in the back of my mind over the weekend. Now I realized if I do my homework Friday or Saturday morning I have the rest of the weekend to do whatever I want.
Lucy Elerath
ReplyDelete1.) A time I experienced liberation was when I was three. My sister and I would talk to my grandma on our home phone on a regular basis. One night l took apart my home phone because I thought my grandma was inside the phone and I wanted to see her. It made sense to me at the time that taking apart the phone would work and I would get to see her. My logic was since I heard her voice coming from the phone it meant she was inside it. Once I took apart the phone I didn’t understand why I couldn’t find my grandma, my mom came in and asked what I was doing, and she told me that grandma was not there. Once she explained to me I understood, when my dad came home I told him about grandma while he was putting the phone back together. This is a lot like plato’s “allegory of a cave” because the prisoners were shown shadows of 3-d objects so they only saw them as 2-d. When the prisoners saw the objects in 3-d they questioned them and their knowledge of the object. Much like my experience, I only knew my grandma as 3-d and hearing her made me want to see her. I was enlightened and found out what I had been thinking was wrong.
2.) In the book Wonder there is a little boy that plays the main character, August's, best friend. This boy's name is Jack Will. In the beginning of the book Jack Will is friends with a bully and is a bystander while August is bullied for his deformities and not being as normal as the other kids. Jack Will realizes what the bully (Justin) is doing is wrong, so he befriends August and realizes he has more fun with August than he did with Justin and his crew. One day during class he is assigned is a partner project and he chooses Auggie, secretly Justin asks the teacher if he can be partners with Jack Will. Once Jack Will finds out he confronts Justin and asks why he did it and Justin thinks he is doing Jack Will a favor by, “getting him away from that creep.” Jack Will explains that he is Auggie's friend and he should be nicer to him because Auggie is really nice and fun. Jullian is stubborn and afraid and he doesn't change his opinion. Much like Plato’s Allegory of a Cave the newly enlightened prisoner goes back and tells the unenlightened prisoners how things really are. “And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?” Jack Will pitties Julian and wants to show him that his first thought was wrong and he should be Auggies friend. Jack Will is enlightened and liberated from thinking poorly of Auggie and tries to share his new-found knowledge with kids who thought the same as him in the beginning.
Jayden C.
DeleteIn the beginning you refer to the bully as Justin, but I believe it is Julian you are talking about as you say at the end of your paragraph. I also agree that Jack Will was enlightened throughout the book, but I also believe that many other characters in the book were enlightened as well. The only un-enlightened person is stubborn Julian, who feels and "sees the truth in the light", and realizes he is mistaken yet does not dare say he was wrong for he is scared of the shame as well as his parents disproving.
I loved the book Wonder when I read it! I think that was a great moment of enlightenment.
Delete^^^ Sophia Lakos
Delete^^^^I also loved the book wonder, I think it was a great choice for an enlightenment book ~julia CAmpbell
DeleteSophia Lakos
ReplyDeleteA Personal experience of mine where I felt enlightenment is when I found out Santa wasn’t real. Which was really traumatizing for a 7-year-old to find out. When Plato said, “When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.” It seemed too real to be true. I felt as if there was no way I have been tricked into believing this. I really thought someone would sneak into my house and put everything I wanted under a tree. Of course now thinking back on it, it really is too good to be true. Like those men in the cave where tricked into thinking that’s all there was to life, little did they know there was a whole world hidden from them.
In my summer reading book, “The Circle” by Dave Eggers, the main character Mae Holland had a great enlightenment experience. Mae is very intelligent, and her best-friend grants her a job at a powerful company The Circle. This job starts to change her but not in a good way, when it was pointed out she would lash out at people. She gets into trouble with the law and her company has her wear a camera 24 hours a day, which means no privacy. A incident occurs and she is soon brought back to reality. Mae realizes she was hidden from the real world the longer she worked at the company. She stops working there and she is brought back to the real world, and seeing all the things she has missed out on. Her story really stuck out to me as an enlightenment experience.
i was thinking about reading the circle because it seemed like a great story about a dystopian society
ReplyDeleteJayden C.
ReplyDelete1.) A personal experience where I experienced liberation from the cave was when I first learned about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in 7th grade. I first did not believe that we could have evolved from prehistoric ape looking animals, since we were much more civilized and advanced as a human race to be compared to any animals. However, as the class lessons grew on and more strong evidence became evident, I realized that it was easy for me to believe this theory. I then thought of what else I didn’t know that the world hadn’t shown me yet. This connects to when Plato remarks to his student, “... And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them, will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?” It shows us how people who are unenlightened like ourselves would be confused about how the truth could be possibly true, and leads first from anger to questions on what else could be true that I have not learned yet. Enlightenment is not a privilege or some sort of gift, it should be a right to all that want it. However, with today’s society of “fake news” as well as “seeing is believing”, this makes it rather hard to convince and enlighten people who are not enlightened like global warming, racism, severe poverty in some countries, and more.
2.) In the book Mississippi Trial 1955, the main character Hiram is enlightened throughout his time in Greenwood, Mississippi, which was one of the most racist towns still in America. He learns as a bystander by witnessing many discriminatory acts, segregation, racism, and more in the town of Greenwood. I think the key point where Hiram understands and gets enlightened in the book is when a typical southern “friend” of his violently kills a catfish and shoves it up Emmett Till. Emmett Till is a normal African American kid except for the fact that he ignores the facts of racism and does acts any other person does. Hiram is horrified of the actions of his friend, and realizes that everyone in Greenwood do similar actions, whether it is directly acting violently towards African Americans, or either they are correct of this behavior and continue stereotyping African Americans. Like how Plato says, “And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see…” Hiram is looking for the truth in the book, yet he will experience the pain in his eyes with his family and friends betraying their honesty, and he forces himself to look away into the old past yet still know he has to believe in the truth.
Gannon Sylvester
ReplyDelete9/7/18
English ©
A). When I was younger I had been liberated from the reality from which i had known for several years by the knowledge of my parents and other adults whose goal it was to keep the truth from me. I had thought for many years that Santa Claus was a real being who brought joy through presents while eating cookies and milk I left for him every Christmas. Until one day when I had turned 10 and had found out that it was only me mother who bought me the gifts i thought had been given to me for being good. And then i had found out that the one eating the cookies that i had baked for santa himself were being eaten by my father. And that’s when I came to the conclusion that santa was not a real being and was a figure of my imagination that my parents wanted to keep real for as long as possible. In Plato's “Allegory of the Cave” a quote states that the prisoners are being isolated to only the reality that they know, which is being portrayed by the puppets they watch to understand what they think is real. “To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.” When I found out that Santa Claus wasn’t real i was very upset, because what I thought I had know was wrong but I wanted it to be right. And as the prisoners only know what is being portrayed before them, when they find out it isn’t true, they will confused and likely sad because they have been lied to and deceived.
B). The book i read formy summer reading was “Ready Player One” and the main character Wade Watts experiences liberation from something a few times throughout the novel. One time he goes through this is after he unlocks the first gate using the red ringed key. He is then given a clue to find the 2nd key. Then he spends over a year trying to locate it and is eventually told by his best friend H-. after he gains the 2nd key he has realized that he has spent over a year looking for it and much has changed in the world he had already known. For example many more gunters had unlocked the first and second key before he did, and are very close to finding the third. Wade is being liberated because when he went into isolation to find the third key, he had been in the lead, but now he is close to last.
Ben Worthley
ReplyDeleteI never imagined the amount of courage and hard work that it took to build Mt. Rushmore. My family and I traveled across the country. One of our stops along the way was Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. When visiting Mt. Rushmore we saw two things, the monument and a museum. One of the exhibits there is about how they built Mt. Rushmore. The video that we saw said that it took 400 men 14 years to build. The workers risked their lives everyday because the use of TNT was extreme. The workers had no protective gear, and while carving the actual faces of the presidents they were tied to ropes that had the tendency to snap. Learning the details of how it was constructed was enlightening.
In my summer reading book Ready Player one the main character Wade,or Parseval was enlightened by the different challenges that he had to face. In the book he had to recite the entire holy grail movie. He also had to play the old video game joust. He had to enlighten himself and get good at the game to get the key.
Evan Brenner
ReplyDeleteOne time when I experienced enlightenment is when I first entered High School. Thinking about going into a school with so many kids that I didn’t scared me a little bit. I felt enlightenment because there was so much change. I remember in elementary school we all had to walk in lines. In middle school I thought we were so free because we didn’t have to walk in lines and I thought it was such a big step forward. Now looking back it wasn’t that big of a step. I didn’t really know much about High School about the time. I only knew the basic things because my sister goes here as well. Later, after the first day and after a couple days of school I realized it’s not that bad. For example, it says “He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven”. This shows how I would have to see the beginning of everything in High School then move on.
In the book Summer Ball a kid named Danny was going to a basketball camp with all his friends who were bigger than him. He was always the smallest one wherever he went. He thought that he was going to struggle because of his height. Later in the book he felt enlightened because he used to always play with the smaller kids, but now he was playing with the bigger kids. Later on in the championship game of the camp he made a shot a 6 foot defender.
1. One time I experienced liberation from the cave is when I watched my uncle’s dog while he was away. Before, I had been afraid of dogs- I was under the impression that all they wanted to do was bite me and hurt me, just as the prisoners in the cave were under the impression that the dog shadow was what a dog truly was. As I got to know my uncle’s dog, I realized that dogs were much sweeter, happier, and more playful than I had previously thought, and I began to have positive thoughts while thinking about them. In the same way, the liberated prisoner saw the cave in a much different way after being released.
ReplyDelete2. In my summer reading book, Maus, the Nazis, portrayed as cats, attempted to force the Jews, portrayed as mice, back into the cave after they had known freedom. They tried to get the Jews to believe that they were worth nothing and tried to reduce their reality to the concentration camp, or cave, showing them the puppets after they had seen the real things in the real world. In both Maus and the real Holocaust, the Jews stuck in concentration camps were left longing for the days when they had been free, just as an enlightened person would if forced into the cave with the unenlightened prisoners.
This is Lucas Kaufman by the way, I forgot to put my name into the main comment. It's 10:30 PM, don't judge me.
DeleteI also had an irrational fear of dogs. I too was convinced they would bite my finger right off, I was introduced to a large german shepherd named Fenway and he helped me get over my fear of getting bit.
Delete-mitch keamy
james kiladis
ReplyDeleteOne of my personal experiences where i experienced liberation from the cave was when i found out santa wasn't real. I've believed in santa for all my life i only found out he was fake about 1 or 2 years ago. My sister and I had a hunch that santa wasn't real but we believed it so our parents would still get excited (and so “santa” kept bringing us stuff.) personally though when i found out i was a questioning it alot saying that's not possible but over a bit of time i realized my sister may be right.
I tried not to believe my sister but i grew up and realized I knew she was right all this time. I said to my mom is santa actually real or is it just you guys because i have to know sometime in the future, so don't lie about it. They ended up telling me that he was fake and i accepted that we still love celebrating the holiday because it's a family get together event and everything and it's good family bonding.
Mitch Keamy
ReplyDeleteRecently I was riding my dirt bike through a trail in the woods when i took a turn onto a trail i was unfamiliar with. I ended up in an acre of trees with no exit to be found. I rode around for maybe half an hour when my mom called me and asked where I was, instead of admitting my mistake i told her i would be home in ten minutes. Ten minutes later i was on my way back… to my bike after frantically checking google maps. The moment I made it out 30 minutes later was the most freeing feeling ever. I would compare the too my summer reading when the main character finished the game in Ready Player One and was freed from the trap that was the game.
i agree
ReplyDeleteOne of my personal experience was my first basketball game in 7th grade. I didn't know how to play shoot, lay ups or know the rules of the game. Then I started training with my uncle and my coach for extra practice and google the rules of the game. Then I started getting better knowing where the 3 pointers are, baseline, free throw, boxing out, and rebounding. Then in my fifth game I started how I played in practice and have good communication. Once I started playing well I felt proud of myself and got a trophy at the end of the season.
ReplyDeletethis was Abhi Sahrma
Deletesharma
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