Allegory Of The Cave

An allegory is defined as a symbolic story, Plato's Allegory of the Cave is just that. The Allegory of the Cave is an extended metaphor for human ignorance and search for knowledge, the men are shackled in a cave kept from outside knowledge and it's not until their captors release a prisoners shackles is he able to explore what is real and discover the greater good. Of course when he tells the other prisoners what he's discovered he is shunned. Ignorance at its finnest. Plato uses figurative language to extend the metaphor even further, symbols such as the shackles are used, and the allegory is told through a conversation which extends the metaphor of learning.