Blog 2: The Allegory of the Cave

The truth can be appalling in various ways. This is probably the most common reason by which people avoid it or refuse to accept it. Some of them even live in an illusion pretending that everything is well but the reality is the total opposite. Several families nowadays pretend to be entirely great when in real life they are in situations that involve unsolved issues. Probably they do this because what people would say concern them, mostly towards parents that are famous or publicly involved. This stated, Plato’s allegory of the cave from the Excerpt of the Republic comes to mind.

Allegory is the representation of something else utilizing symbolic figures. In the passage’s case, Plato uses the cave as a symbol that represents when people refuse to acknowledge or face the truth in different situations. In human history, there can be numerous events involving the fact that people preferred to evade reality or pretend like nothing was going on. This is why the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurrence in which Rosa Parks was drawn in is a clever example to consider.

Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist who was later known as “the mother of the freedom movement”. The Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred in 1955 when Parks boarded the Cleveland bus after a day at work at the Montgomery Fair department store. The front seats were reserved for the white passengers and the back seats were reserved for the blacks. She already paid her fare when she sat in an empty seat in the “colored” section next to three African American passengers. Several white customers later boarded and so all of the reserved white passenger seats were already taken. This is when the bus driver ordered Mrs. Parks and the other three African American passengers to vacate their seats for the white passengers that boarded. The three passengers moved, but Parks refused to do so and stated she wasn’t in a seat reserved for whites. This is when the bus driver called the police and had her arrested.

The racial laws of Montgomery, Alabama were definitely unfair for the African American people living there. The illusion in this case was the fact that even though some African Americans thought or believed this was unfair; they preferred to just evade it. For instance, the passengers sitting next to Mrs. Parks clearly represent this idea, as when the driver asked them to move they simply did so, knowing the situation was unjust. They were practically living in the cave, until Parks decided to face reality and fight for justice even though it cost her getting arrested. Parks proved immense courage throughout this situation. Her act of denial transformed into an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement and she became an international idol of resistance to racial segregation.   

Reality is a powerful factor that society avoids in order to remain safe and comfortable in their illusion. People prefer to evade certainty so that they don’t have to deal with confronting complex situations. However, Rosa Parks proved to do the opposite and faced the truth and even fought it during the Montgomery Bus Boycott without assuming the consequences. Parks was an inspiration later due to her actions; and was honored even after her death being known as one of the women “who helped make the nation as a whole great.”

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/rosa-parks/

Blog 1: The Cave and I (Revised)

Nowadays, almost everything is based on a decision. People make choices every day. That involves, waking up and either go to work or not go to work, getting to a certain place on time or just get there late, going to the right or going left, etc. As we can see, selections involve pros and cons; and that’s probably what affects the people when they make a choice. Sometimes we are put to so many circumstances in which either selection won’t really be as beneficial as we really hoped for. When parents try to take care of their kids sometimes they can be a little overprotected, and cause them to not realize how things are really. And that’s when the Excerpt from the Republic comes to mind, leading us to the question upon the cave; what position would be best? To live ignorant of the truth but safe in this cave’s comfort or to confront the blinding truth and indifference and rejection by the society including the people you are familiar with?

The best position, in my case, would be to just face the horrible truth even though it involves the indifference and rejection of the society because as sad as it seems it is the truth. On the other hand, imagine being in a cave where you might feel comfortable and even safe, but you don’t know what is going on out there and you’re just ignorant of what is currently occurring. In other words, you’re living a lie. Being in that cave for a long, long time and suddenly going out of it would be of extreme shock for anyone that’s been inside avoiding the truth. That’s what we can see in one of the excerpt’s paragraphs where it says: “when any of them is liberated to stand up and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glair will distress him and he will be unable to see the realities…” This shows us how that person will feel if he/she was put somewhere that they never saw because they were blinded by that cave that they were so used to.

As I stated in the introduction, parents and their overprotected children can be a perfect example of this excerpt. Overprotected children have much more trouble dealing with situations later in life, than children that were just independent from the beginning. This is due to the fact that parents solve their children’s issues rather than give them a chance to overcome the problem themselves. Likewise, when too much control or order is imposed in children they are bound to being unable to cope with challenging situations as well as discomfort. When linking over parenting to the passage, the example is evident when Glaucon says: “how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?”  

Dealing with the truth can be tough as well as having to make a decision. These are some of the factors humans deal with in their daily lives. That’s why when being blocked from reality, problems that come along in life can be harsher to overcome. However, facing it can lead to deception for anyone but at least you know what’s currently going on. This idea can be associated to overprotected children as well because they are blocked by their parents throughout their early lives to avoid them from certain issues. This turns out worse for the children as they grow older as it’s even tougher for them to be able to overcome quandaries in their lives. In other words, the truth can be a definite breakdown for anyone but mostly for those who were ignorant about it for a vast amount of time as in the situation from the Excerpt from the Republic.

Blog 1: The Cave and I

Nowadays, almost everything is based on a decision. People make choices every day. That involves, waking up and either go to work or not go to work, getting to a certain place on time or just get there late, going to the right or going left, etc. As we can see, selections involve pros and cons; and that’s probably what affects the people when they make a choice. Sometimes we are put to so many circumstances in which either selection won’t really be as beneficial as we really hoped for. When parents try to take care of their kids sometimes they can be a little overprotected, and cause them to not realize how things are really. And that’s when the Excerpt from the Republic comes to mind, leading us to the question upon the cave; what position would be best? To live ignorant of the truth but safe in this cave’s comfort or to confront the blinding truth and indifference and rejection by the society including the people you are familiar with?

            The best position, in my case, would be to just face the horrible truth even though it involves the indifference and rejection of the society because as sad as it seems it is the truth. On the other hand, imagine being in a cave where you might feel comfortable and even safe, but you don’t know what is going on out there and you’re just ignorant of what is currently occurring. In other words, you’re living a lie. Being in that cave for a long, long time and suddenly going out of it would be of extreme shock for anyone that’s been inside avoiding the truth. That’s what we can see in one of the excerpt’s paragraphs where it says: “when any of them is liberated to stand up and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glair will distress him and he will be unable to see the realities…” This shows us how that person will feel if he/she was put somewhere that they never saw because they were blinded by that cave that they were so used to. As I stated in the introduction, parents and their overprotected children can be a perfect example of this Excerpt. Overprotected children have much more trouble dealing with situations in life more than people that were just independent from the beginning. 

My 1st Blog Ever!

Hey guys! Just so you know, I'm particularly new at this. It's not that I don't know how to write; but I've never had a blog before. I'm a student at LGCC struggling cause nothing pops into my mind for this blog; but i'll just tell you a little about myself. I was born in New York but moved to Ecuador at the age of 8. I studied & graduated at the American School of Gye. It was hard for me to adapt to the country at first as the cultures & poeple were different. Being the "new kid" at the school totally sucked: wierd looks, murmurs, intentional mocking, etc. I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. But all that faded away the next year, thank God. After graduating at the American School in the year 2009, I came back to New York to pursue my dream which is to become an actress; and so, that's the reason for which I am currently at LGCC.


My personality? Friendly & sincere. I am also respectful to everyone. Interests? Videogames (Heavy Rain is awesome), reading, exercise & sports, art, music, theatre, TV, & probably I said this like 10 times during classes but yes, I love movies! I love to go out & have fun.