Alex Madarang

Lecturer Sager
RWS 280 Section 30
19 March 2014
[TITLE]
Greek philosopher Platos excerpt, The Allegory of the Cave, from his book, The
Republic, has proven itself to be a timeless text through its countless representations and
references seen or heard via song, text, or film. In this essay, I will consider the different
strategies used by Plato when Socrates illustrates the Cave and explains its significance to
his student, Glaucon, while connecting this text and its strategies to modern day society.
In specific, Paul Haggis film, Crash (2004), can be seen as more than just a form of
entertainment when connected to Platos allegory. I will explain Haggis use of the
characters as shadows, or interpretations of the racial prejudices and stereotypes that
American society may have towards a certain ethnic group and how the viewers are
slowly forced to look past these preconceptions and see people in their true form rather
than the image society has created for them. Furthermore, I will elaborate on the
importance of using texts, such as The Allegory of the Cave, to find further meaning in
todays media besides only seeing it as a form of entertainment.
In The Allegory of the Cave, translated by Theologian Benjamin Jowett, Plato
argues that through proper education a person can, in a sense, unshackle themselves
from the views and beliefs placed upon them by society and gain a true understanding of
what is real and what is simply an illusion. With a scholarly tone used throughout the
text, Plato solidifies his argument through his appeal to ethos by creating a dialogue
between Socrates and Glaucon as teacher and student, logos by breaking down and
providing detailed visuals and explanations of the ascension from the cave, and pathos as
he makes the audience pity the prisoners in the cave for their one-sided view towards
society. Platos purpose is to promote the necessity of education in society in order to
create opportunities for scholars to become political

Crash prcis

Similar to the way Plato begins his allegory describing a prisoners inability to
perceive reality differently than the way it has been presented before them (Plato 446),
Paul Haggis initially presents his viewers with his own version of a prisoner in a cave,
Officer Ryan. This character, played by Matt Dillon, had exhibited his hatred towards
black people in various ways throughout the film.
the characters in his film, Crash, as everyday people from different stratus of
society colliding as a result of their prejudices towards each other and certain racial
groups. A good example in the film that represents this type of interaction would be the
scene after Sandra Bullocks character and her husband were held at gunpoint and robbed
of their car. As a result of the incident, they had hired a locksmith to change the locks on
their front door. With the locksmith being a tattooed, bald Mexican with his pants
around his ass, Bullocks character immediately made judgments about the locksmith
based solely on his appearance calling him a gangbanger and making the assumption
that he was going to go sell their keys to his gangbanger friends. Throughout the
duration of the scene, the director makes an appeal to ethos by giving the audience an
opportunity to relate to the situations presented in the film and consider how they might
personally misjudge people in similar situations before knowing them. As the viewers are
now left feeling guilty for their presumptions towards people they come into contact with,
they might begin to question the validity of their prejudices towards certain racial groups
similar to how Plato leaves his readers questioning their misjudgments of reality once
they have seen an object or idea in its true form (447).
There are many moments throughout the film when the characters experience this
same revelation, including the scene where Thandie Newtons character, Christine, was
refusing to let Officer Ryan help her escape from her car after she realized he was the
same police officer that molested her the night before. It wasnt until Matt Dillons
character, Officer Ryan, persisted on assisting Christine that she realized he wasnt
entirely the man that she thought he was.
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