Alex Madarang

Lecturer Sager

RWS 280 Section 30

19 March 2014

[TITLE]

Greek philosopher Plato’s excerpt, The Allegory of the Cave, from his book, The

Republic, has proven itself to be a timeless text through it’s 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 Plato’s 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 viewer’s 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

today’s 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. Plato’s purpose is to promote the necessity of education in society in order to

create opportunities for scholars to become political

Crash précis

Similar to the way Plato begins his allegory describing a prisoner’s 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 Bullock’s 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”, Bullock’s 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 Newton’s 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 wasn’t until Matt Dillon’s

character, Officer Ryan, persisted on assisting Christine that she realized he wasn’t

entirely the man that she thought he was.

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