If one of these prisoners in the parable were to be released, and compelled to turn his head and walk toward the light which had previously been behind him (Plato, 1901), he would undoubtedly suffer pain as a result of sensitive eyes meeting the glare (Plato, 1901), and be in a somewhat bewildered state (Scruton, 1995). That prisoner may prefer to be chained and facing the wall once more, as the pain that comes with this new found sight may be too much to bear (Scruton, 1995). This was very much the case for Cypher, a member of Morpheus' crew who had been freed (Warner bros., 1999) from the Matrix. This character decided that “ignorance is bliss” (Miller, 2002), and that life in the Matrix is far preferable to life outside of it, despite the fact that he possessed the knowledge he would be exploited – used as an energy source – upon his return to this constructed reality (Miller, 2002). Much like the pain that the prisoner must undergo when they initially face the fire in the cave (Scruton, 1995), characters in the film must also undergo some hardship prior to reaching enlightenment.
The parable continues to describe that only few people would dare walk toward the light once they had been freed despite the pain (Scruton, 1995), and it is these people that would discover the truth – that the shadows across the wall had been cast by the puppets. Ultimately it is also these people that would begin “their journey of liberation” (Scruton, 1995) and continue on this course toward enlightenment where it is believed they will find the 'real world', leaving the cave and its darkness (metaphoric for a lack of knowledge) behind (Scruton, 1995).
The characters in The Matrix follow a similar path. Morpheus and his crew have been freed from the computer program that is the Matrix; empowered by the knowledge that the program has been created to subliminally exploit man kind (Miller, 2002). Since they were freed from the Matrix – and headed toward the light – essentially knowledge and truth in the movie – the crew made it their mission to see that the rest of man kind was freed from the program also (Miller, 2002). Both the parable and the film strongly attribute the possession of knowledge to liberation (Scruton, 1995).
It is also worth noting a couple of key differences between The Matrix and Plato's parable. The protagonist in the film, Neo, quickly accepts that the reality within the Matrix is not true or real because he had previously known that there were flaws with that reality when he existed as part of it (Miller, 2002). He is almost dubious of the reality of the Matrix from the beginning (Miller, 2002). Furthermore, Neo has other characters to guide him through this new reality. This is in direct contrast to the parable. The prisoners in the cave assume that their reality is authentic, and when they are able to leave the cave, they acclimate and do so independently.
The parable of the cave is applicable to The Matrix in that like the prisoners from the cave, the characters in the film are forced to question what is real and what defines real, and gain an understanding of the fact that reality can span beyond what one's senses may consider to be authentic (Miller, 2002). The parable suggests that we too could be prisoners, that all we consider to be 'reality' may not be so – our reality could merely be comprised of various props that have been placed strategically to divert our attention from what is actually the truth (Scruton, 1995). Similarly, Neo, Morpheus and their crew also questioned what they thought to be reality and realised the truth – that they were prisoners within the Matrix (Miller, 2002). Both the prisoners and the film characters also undergo a change in the perception of reality, whether that is the transition from the cave to the outside world, or the Matrix to the real world.
The Matrix movie undoubtedly mirrors many of the concepts reflected in Plato's parable of the cave. Both mediums cause us to question if what we believe to be 'real' is actually not, and focus on a change in one's perception of 'reality'. More importantly, both the film and the parable allude to knowledge being a significant source and ally in the ultimate quest for liberation.