Rhetoric of Allegory of the Cave

Rhetoric of Allegory of the Cave

  • Submitted By: HLuigi02
  • Date Submitted: 11/09/2011 9:58 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 781
  • Page: 4
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Good Perspective Equals Good Knowledge

Rhetorical devices are like the final, graceful details of a painting; even though they are just subtle embellishments, they can put one argument above the rest. Rhetoric has been so useful, that it has lasted since the time of the ancient Greeks. Great philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, used it to craft their thoughts into ideas easily accepted by many. One of Plato’s most famous examples of philosophy is “The Allegory of the Cave”. In this allegory, Plato creates an incredible representation of one perspective on the world and what someone sees as being real. He makes this analogy seem even more true through rhetorical devices. It is through these rhetorical devices that Plato’s philosophy become so much more persuasive.
Hyperboles, although exaggerative, can turn simple sentences into convincing focal points. When Plato is describing one of the prisoners being freed, he uses the light as an exaggeration. He says that when a former prisoner enters the light, “he will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything.” He then goes on to talk about how it will take several days for him to adjust to the light. Now, even though the prisoners have been in the darkness, their eyes in the biological sense would be able to adjust within the same day. The prisoner would not be able to see well, but they wouldn’t be entirely blind. Although this statement is hyperbolic in a literal sense, it emphasizes the metaphorical sense. By representing the new world with blindness, realities are seen as being complex and overwhelming. Because Plato uses exaggerations with this “blinding light,” a sharper contrast is created between the light and dark. Not only does Plato use figurative descriptions to explain his philosophy, but he also uses metaphors and similes to better describe it.[1]
The metaphors that Plato specifically use are unique in the fact that they relate the reader to the allegory itself. He talks about how we,...

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