DUE THUR, 3/15 Similie of the Cave Reading Questions

1Q) Compare and contrast what Socrates says in “The Simile of the Cave” with Fahrenheit 451. How are characters like Mildred similar to characters in “Simile of the Cave”?

1A) Well, they are exactly what Socrates speaks of. Those prisoners who are just chained up and don't question anything. They believe whatever is shown to them is real, and don't dare or don't care enough to really think about what is behind them. In F451, the society was controlled socially by the government, and brainwashed into believing that whatever the government said was real, and there was no need to question it because there wasn't any room for it to be wrong. They are prisoners who choose to be imprisoned. If you make a decision to be ignorant, like Mildred and many people used to do, then you are solidifying your belief that everything you are given by the governing body or belief is true, whether you really believe it or not. Its a conscious decision being made to not question anything, and often times, that is the sign of a weak mind. A mind that does not question will never discover anything of use. Those "drones", those "prisoners", they are the ones who make up the basis of any society, and that is what is the important similarity between F451 and "The Simile of the Cave". In both, there are far more "prisoners" than those who unshackle themselves and see the light, and truly find that higher knowledge. That is what links them, and in both cases, confines them.