Le

Michael Le

Professor Dubuclet

Rhetoric 1301-003

26 November 2003

Blackcave

It is dark in the cave, really dark. There is a man sitting in the corner chained at the neck and wrist. Images fly by on the wall so fast that he can barely make out what they mean. Suddenly, someone grabs him by the neck and drags him up the stairs. The caveman screams and refuses to go. The cave is his home and he does not want to go outside of this comfortable place. The cave is the world to this man. Even with all his effort, he eventually gives in and follows the man out of the cave. The sun blinds him subconsciously at first sight; the caveman slowly regains his sight and sees the world for what it is. Outside of the cave is true knowledge (Plato 107). This caveman is now enlightened. Similar to this caveman in Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” the character John Preston in the movie Equilibrium takes the same path to enlightenment. Equilibrium in many ways supports Plato’s argument for the necessity of enlightenment and resembles the allegory in many ways; although the outcomes are different, it proves that even though there are many drawbacks, in the end, the rewards, of truth and freedom, are worth every bit of the effort.

“The Allegory of the Cave” describes a man’s journey to obtain true knowledge—enlightenment. The allegory depicts a cave which holds prisoners, chained to the wall. These prisoners cannot turn to talk to their neighbors or see anything other than what is in front of them. At the back of the cave is a fire, the only source of light. It is through this fire that the puppeteers, the influential powers, cast shadows on the wall containing illusions that the prisoners believe to be real. One day, a man appears in the cave, free of chains.  He releases a prisoner and drags him kicking and screaming out of the cave, into the light of the sun. The light is so radiant that the newly released prisoner cannot see.  He believes he has gone blind but slowly begins to regain his sight. Once his eyes are accustomed to the light, he sees things for what they really are and he understands that he is in a better place. He is now enlightened. He understands that the world is not the images that he saw on the wall in the cave. The world is a wonderful place full of life. He rushes back into the cave to free the trapped inmates, but even with all of his efforts to explain, they do not believe him. They make fun of him and believe he has gone blind. These people refuse to believe the truth and stay in the cave along with their fabricated reality. Plato’s allegory shows that the path to enlightenment, although hard and dangerous, is essential in order to better ourselves and understand true knowledge (Plato 104-108).

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Directed by Kurt Wimmer, Equilibrium describes the story of a man’s struggle to attain enlightenment. Society in the land of Libria has rebuilt itself after the devastating Third World War, and to prevent any future major conflict, a drug called Prozium that inhibit emotions supplements the citizens’ diets. These citizens are prisoners trap inside the city of Libria, which is very similar to Plato’s cave. Anyone caught laughing, crying, falling in love, or coming across banned artwork or music is executed. These are the rules set forth to limits and control emotions, enlightenment. The influential members that control the prisoners and ...

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