When I was a child, loosing a baby
tooth didn’t just mean I would be left with a gap in my mouth. It meant that the tooth fairy would be coming
that night! Once I lost a tooth, I would
place it beneath my pillow, anticipating for the tooth fairy to pay me a visit
while I was sleeping. But actually, PAY
me a visit. I always knew my lost tooth
would be replaced with a small payment.
As I grew
older, I began to question the idea of the tooth fairy and I became to realize
the reality of the situation; the tooth fairy was not real.
Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is
like being a kid thinking the tooth fairy is real. In his story, Plato’s creates a cave where
prisoners are “in it from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds so that
they are fixed, seeing only in front of them…”
Because of the fire burning behind the prisoners, shadows were casted on
the walls of the cave that the prisoners were facing. The prisoners watched the shadows, and
because this is all they could ever see, they believed that these shadows were
the most real things in the world. Plato
writes that, “such men would hold that the truth is nothing other than the
shadows of artificial things.”
As a child, I was young and ignorant
just like the prisoners. We both believed
in what we always thought were the only things that could be true. I was told about the tooth fairy by my
family, my friends, and everyone around me who also believed in the tooth fairy
and never questioned the reality of it.
Just like the prisoners, the tooth fairy and the shadows were the most
real things to us because no one was telling us otherwise. Just as the understanding of the myth of the
tooth fairy became an absolute truth to me, the shadows on the caves became an
absolute truth to the prisoners.
Later on in the “Allegory of the
Cave,” Plato asks the readers to imagine if one of these prisoners was released
from the chains, and was able to turn around to see what was making the
shadows. Plato explains that after first
experiencing feelings of disbelief and confusion, the prisoner would eventually
realize that what was making the shadows was more real than the shadows he had
believed to be the most real things.
When we become more experienced and
enlightened, we are then able to realize the actual reality. As I grew older, I started to question the
idea of the tooth fairy so I was able to realize that it was not real. When one of the prisoners was released, he
was able to find out that the shadows were not real. Although realizing the reality of these
things came with hard feelings, such as crying to my mom for days that the
tooth fairy never actually flew through my window to give me money, it is part
of our lives.
From 40-50 seconds, watch this child's reaction to the fact that the tooth fairy is "pretend."
Plato’s point of the cave is to
show that sometimes what we believe is the truth is not what the actual truth
is, and realizing the misrepresentation of one’s initial beliefs is hard to
accept. It is the problem of truth and
representation but it is also a part of our lives.
I love the comparison you did with the Plato’s Allegory of the Cave theory, it totally matches up with this. When we grow we believe in certain things because that’s the environment we were put in. That environment just happened to believe in mystical creatures, and people who come along roof tops and place gift under the tree. So you’re right we are just like those prisoners who experience disbelief that something we believed in for so long was just a lie. I remember when I found out that santa clause and the tooth fairy weren’t real I had a fit. I remember crying and asking why would you like this to me! Just as everyone did though I got over it and just started to move on because I know I still had the spirit. I love what you did great job!
ReplyDeleteI think this was a really eye-opening comparison to make as it is a rare instance of a circumstance in which our parents take advantage of our youth and ignorance to fabricate a world for us; in this case one with the Tooth fairy that they believe we will cherish more than the boring reality of what a non-event losing a tooth really is. It complicates Plato's allegory as his theory suggests that when the freed prisoner realizes what the outside world is really like, he must return to the cave and try to teach others what he has learned. It suggests that humans are constantly seeking truth and wish to share their enlightenment, where in this case we as a society choose to maintain this fantasy. Even as we age and are able to see past the facade of the tooth fairy, we do not spoil it for future generations. Just as parents enjoy playing the part of these fictional characters like the tooth fairy or Santa Claus, the children enjoy the thrill of believing in and witnessing magic. This suggests that a clear perception of reality is not always our desired outcome, I guess in some ways we enjoy the warm isolation of the cave. Great job on your post, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSuch a wonderful comparison! This is so close to my real life story about the tooth fairy. I was extremely ignorant in thinking the tooth fairy was real, and like you, I was crushed when I found out that it was not. I think the experience of shock and sadness comes with many cases of breaking ignorance today. I believe many people chose to live in ignorance, like those in the cave, because it is easier to live in one's own version of reality. You then may question, is it easier to let people live in ignorance if they are happy and ignorant of the fact they are indeed being ignorant? Why shatter their notions of happy reality?
ReplyDeleteWell, I would argue in order to truly better one's life, one must become enlightened, even if the truth is hard to handle. If one is not able to face the reality of a situation, he or she ends up looking extremely dumb to society as whole, unless, society is ignorant as well. Take the tooth fairy example you used, if I was 20 years old and still believing in the tooth fairy, I may be happy, but society would think I was a fool, and I would most likely be less respected. However, if society as a whole were ignorant, it would be much harder to become enlightened. Say I was the only one who discovered that the tooth fairy wasn’t real, I would most likely question my discovery if no one believed the same. It is important for us to come out of the cave, and face our ignorances as hard as they may be, otherwise we will continue to be lost in them.
As I read through this post it made me think about the comparison between our childhood and Plato's "cave". Although this cave is not permanent for children, I think this is the first instance in which we are kept from learning the real truth. The ignorance and innocence we have as children is universal. Throughout the world, children are kept from the truths about Santa Clause, the tooth fairy (as you pointed out), sex, violence, and death. While reading this post, I began to think about all the generic explanations given to children about subjects that are deemed too explicit for them. For example the classic story of the stork delivering babies is one such "G-rated" explanations. Also, was anyone else told that their dog was going away to a farm forever when they were younger? I don't think there is really a hotel for fish down your toilet. I guess I always ignored the childish examples that I have presented, but I never understood why they were necessary. Could children not just as easily be told the truth? I guess that seems a little harsh, but the boy in the video didn't seem to upset when he found out the truth. I honestly I would have cared if someone told me Santa wasn't real, as long as I still got my presents. Is it human nature to keep children in the "cave"? Or is that simply a cultural aspect?
ReplyDeleteNicole-
ReplyDeleteThe tooth fairy isn’t real? Just kidding. But seriously, it got me thinking about children finding out the fallacy of the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and even Santa Claus and moreover, my personal experience with finding out that Santa Claus was not real. Right before I entered my first week of the third grade, I found out, through intense investigation that Santa Claus was indeed, fake. That being said in the early days of that school year was 9/11/2001. The school announced that there would be an announcement in the gym and that all classrooms had to ma their way there. Being immature and boisterous as a child, I went around the classroom announcing that I knew what was going to be announced without telling the other kids what, thinking that the they would tell everyone that Santa Claus was not real. Anyway, while the fact that 9/11 happened is in no way funny, this story brings up the point that keeping children unaware of the truth behind these fictional characters can be destructive in the same way that Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” describes man as disillusioned by the chains of society. While the existence of these characters is entertaining and a staple in every child’s upbringing, we must recognize the illusion that it creates and the message it send that withholding the truth is an option in society.
Thanks for the read!
-Brennan
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent comparison between children finding out that the tooth fairy isn't real and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". When I found out the that Santa Claus wasn't real when I was a little kid, I actually thought it was a scheme between parents to try and make their kids behave better throughout the year. I found your comparison interesting, for example I also saw that it could be explained in terms of an anomaly with a need for any suitable explanation (whether it is true or not). For the dwellers of Plato's cave the utterance of sounds by the men passing is a good example of such an anomaly - it is asked if when "one of the men passing by happened to utter a sound, do you suppose they would believe that anything other than the passing shadow was uttering the sound?" The answer is no - since the cave dwellers "hold that the truth is nothing other than the shadows of artificial things", they have no other explanation for the sounds other than that the shadows are making them. In the case of children, when they find money under their pillow, they cling to the one suitable explanation they can come up with; that the tooth fairy put that money there. They are similar in that they hold the tooth fairy to be the truth because that is all they've ever known - when in fact the reality of it actually being their parents is a little more mundane.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog idea to write about! I feel like Plato’s allegory of the cave was a pretty popular reading and discussion in class, and the way you connected it to the tooth fairy was entertaining to read. I found myself agreeing with what you were saying about us being “young and ignorant just like the prisoners.” I also liked how you circulated Plato’s allegory within your blog and not just dedicated one paragraph to it. By doing this, there’s a clearer correlation between the allegory of the cave and the tooth fairy.
Fortunately for us, we’re not chained in a cave. But during our childhood, we’re sheltered by our parents and have a minimal perception of the world. Gullibility and sheer innocence is also to blame for many of us thinking the tooth fairy is real. We thought Santa somehow delivered gifts to all children around the world in a time span of, like, nine hours. A lot of things are deceiving in life, and it’s great that people can attain knowledge in so many forms since we’re not stuck in a cave. We can go out in the world and enlighten ourselves. A lot of us were mind-blown finding out that the tooth fairy isn’t real, but as we get older, we can distinguish the difference between perception and reality. I can now be more forgiving to my parents about lying about the tooth fairy and Santa when I relate these things to Plato’s allegory. It’s not a cruel joke anymore! Great read!