With many students today viewing Plato as a distant figure of yesterday's literature, how can we use his writings to shed light onto today's contemporary writings? Such a classic writer has provided us with many works of art that seem to be obsolete and aged when viewed with the naked eye. However, a deeper look shows quite the contrary. One particular example of such enlightening ideas that can be used in many areas of literature is his four levels of "Allegory." The first level represents images. The second represents the actual objects, while the first is the likeness of the object. The third is when "the mind uses as images those actual things which themselves has images in the visible world; and it is compelled to pursue its inquiry by starting from assumptions and traveling, not up to a principle, but down to a conclusion" (Plato, 50).
[...] Chance lives a happy life with the responsibilities of the garden and watching the television. However, this quickly changes with the death of the Old Man. Because he is unable to prove to the lawyers that he has been living with the Old Man since he was a child, Chance is now forced to venture out into the city and find a new life. His complete isolation is shown obvious within the first few seconds of being on the streets. [...]
[...] A conversation between two political figures shows the pure lack of knowledge there is surrounding Chance: proved impossible to determine in any way whatsoever his ethnic background or to ascribe his accent to any single community in the entire United States! . Moreover, it may interest you to know that Gardiner [Chance] appears to be emotionally one of the most well-adjusted American public figures to have emerged in recent years” (Kosinski, 127). Plato would compare these people with those he describes in his “Allegory of the Cave.” Like those trapped in the cave, these political figures, as well as the general public, “would recognize as reality nothing but the shadows of those artificial objects” (Plato, 52). [...]
[...] Something that is so simple and basic, being his prior history and complete means of existence, is now something that makes its way into two famous speeches within two days: one by the President of the United States, and one by the Soviet Ambassador to the United Nations. Such an example serves two purposes: showing the simple-mindedness of Chance, as well as introducing the satirical aspect of the novel. Dictionaries state that satire is literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn” (Marian-Webster Dictionary). [...]
[...] This is shown when EE Rand attempts to engage Chance into sexual relations. Rather than doing the obvious, he replies, like to watch (Kosinski, 114). Kosinski elaborates: He wanted to tell her how much he preferred to look at her, that only by watching could he memorize her and take her and possess (Kosinski, 113). This very much relates to our culture's relation with television, more specifically, our culture's obsession with reality television. With so many successful reality shows, one must question themselves whether such an obsession is [...]
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