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Allegory Of The Cave

Referring to Plato’s Republic, both the Blade Runner and The Matrix portray that everything is an illusion and once you realize what reality is, you will understand life. These two films depict specific elements of the cave allegory.

In Republic, Plato imagined a cave where people were kept since childhood. “Such men would hold that the truth is nothing other than the shadows of artificial things (515b-d).” When the people looked at the walls surrounding the cave, they saw shadows depicting different objects. A philosopher escaped the cave, and outside that cave he looked around realizing that the real world was nothing but the shadows of the objects created through the flickering light of the fire inside the cave. He eventually adapted and was free from the cave and faced the real world for the first time. Being aware of reality, he felt it was necessary to return to the cave and teach the people what he knew. This is a rare example of how people free themselves from what ‘appears to be’ and what ‘actually is’.

The Matrix relates to Republic in that reality is really nothing but an illusion. Neo was freed from the cave when he was exposed to the ‘real world’. “If they were able to discuss things with one another, don’t you believe they would hold that they are naming these things going by before them…? (515b-d)” Plato believes that the one who first experiences reality must find a way to teach the truth and this is depicted through The Matrix because as Neo slowly came to know the truth, he felt it was his responsibility to save the world from trusting the lies they strongly believed.
“Boy: Don’t try and bend the spoon… Try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Boy: There’s no spoon (The Matrix).” The boy teaches Neo that in order to bend the spoon; he needed to use his mind. The spoon did not exist; it was just an illusion through his perception. He had the power to change reality with his perception.

In the Blade Runner, the...