In The Allegory of the Cave, Plato discusses a group of prisoners that are chained so that they can not move. There is a fire behind the prisoners and others pass images in front of the fire which project shadows on to the wall in front of the prisoners. All the prisoners can see are the shadows in front of them. These objects are just outlines, but to the prisoners they are truth. These shapes are all that the prisoners have ever known. They believe that they are truth. However, something that is true may not be reality. If someone lies to me and I believe them and then I tell someone else I am still telling the truth. If I believe something is true, then to me it is. The prisoners really believe that the shapes in front of them are real, so to them they are truth. However, the shadows are not what is really true. At that moment, those shapes are also their reality. They are all the prisoners have ever known.
When a prisoner is released, he or she would be uncomfortable. Plato uses the analogy of being in a dark room for a very long time and then entering a room filled with light. At first the prisoner would be uncomfortable. He would want to return to the dark, what was comfortable and familiar and what he thought was truth and reality. When his teacher asked him what certain things were he would not know. Eventually, though, he would become use to the light. The prisoner's reality would change. His reality would become that of the outside world.
It seems that Plato is trying to say that our reality is always changing. What we know and are comfortable with now may change over time. However, real truth, not just what we believe is true, will always stay the same. The shadows were always just shapes. Although the prisoners may have thought that they were the truth, they never really were. When they leave the cave their reality will change. Although, since everything is constantly changing can we ever really say that something is truth or reality? Truth and reality are heard to define and some people do not always want accept them. Sometimes the truth or reality may be to difficult to accept.
