Evidently Plato intended the components of the cave story to have allegorical meanings; however it is possible to interpret it in many different ways. To some extent it is used as an explanation for Plato’s theory of the forms, in which Plato suggests a separate world containing ideal forms of everything that exists in our ever-changing “world of appearances”. This material world is based on the reality of the forms, we are able to recognise concepts such as beauty and justice through the way in which they correspond to the form of beauty or justice. Plato believed the world of the forms to be of greater importance than the world of appearances, which is flawed and unreliable. The darkness of the cave is symbolic of the world we live in, in which it is difficult to see clearly. This world is merely illusory, the prisoners only see shadows of the statues just as we are only able to see shadows of the forms, and these shadows are misleading and imperfect. Therefore Plato likens these prisoners to people who are concerned only with the physical world which they live in, and are unable to visualize the true forms. He sees these people as “imprisoned” by their naivety. The people who carry the statues on their heads could be seen as being in the same position as the prisoners, the statues themselves are only imitations of the true forms. They lead the prisoners into believing that what they see is reality as they are equally ignorant. In Plato’s Republic he is critical of people such as politicians, who shape the views of the population despite being unaware of the truth about the forms.
When the prisoner is set free he is described as reluctant to escape the cave; he is confused by what he sees and would rather return to his previous carefree state of ignorance. The world outside is representative of the world of the forms. By this it is implied that people are content in their lack of true knowledge, and are unwilling to accept the forms as reality; they need to be forced into seeing the truth. One analysis suggests that it is due to the culture and tradition that is imposed on us that we are reluctant to change our views. Hence the prisoner is “dragged” up to the sunlight. Eventually the escaped prisoner begins to see clearly and consider the role of the sun. The sun is often seen as symbolic of what Plato considered to be the most significant form- the form of the good. The form of the good is the source of all other forms, just as the sun is the source of the natural world that the prisoner sees. The form of the good gives value and purpose, providing the basis for morality. The sun enables the prisoner to see clearly as oppose to the darkness in the cave, just as Plato believed that without knowledge of the form of the good it was impossible to see clearly, resulting in immoral behaviour. For Plato, all immoral behaviour was a result of ignorance of what is good.
The analogy also raises questions as to who is the most suitable to rule society. The escaped prisoner feels it is his duty to inform the other prisoners of his new-found knowledge. The escaped prisoner could be seen as the philosopher who tries to educate others about his insight, however the other prisoners reject his discoveries as they would prefer to live in the darkness, with concern only for the physical world that they can see and touch. The philosopher is seen as an outcast, reflecting the way in which Greek society often viewed philosophers as strange. The analogy states that the prisoners would kill anyone else who escapes to this new world, which is possibly a hint at the unjust of the death of Socrates, who was put to death for challenging traditional views. Plato was a student of Socrates therefore his death had a great effect on him. According to Plato, there were major flaws in the current political system in the separation of politics from philosophy; the best possible political system would be ruled by philosophers, as they have the greatest insight.
