Major Essay Revision

Truth is elusive. One recognizes truth through communication or self-discovery and the
knowledges distribution is at the discoverers behest. Platos The Allegory of the Cave, W.H.
Audens The Labyrinth, and Stephen Vincent Bents By the Waters of Babylon all evaluate
these different advances to truth. In each, the protagonist journeys to experience an epiphany of
an unexpected truth, which he must scrutinize and give credence to. Throughout the centuries
spanned in the aforementioned texts, the approach to truth has morphed from the shared
enlightenment of Platos time to Anthropos and Johns introspective discoveries, proving
societys changed priorities from the community to the individual.
In Platos parable, a freed prisoners community prompts him to allocate his knowledge
to those around him, even if they are unwilling, which exemplifies his societys nature to spread
knowledge. The parable describes a lengthy hypothetical situation where after showing a freed
prisoner life in daylight as opposed to it in a cave, Socrates articulates, that one who comes
from the contemplation of divine things to the miseries of human life should appear awkward
and ridiculous when, with eyes still dazed and not yet accustomed to the darkness, he is
compelled to dispute about the shadows of justice and to wrangle over the notions of what is
right in the minds of men who have never beheld Justice itself (Plato 52). Divine suggests the
man knows a truth, as it has a god-like connotation that indicates consistent accuracy. That
knowledge is further reinforced as the prisoners eyes are unaccustomed to darkness,
demonstrating he has been living in the light, which is synonymous with enlightenment and
truth. Additionally, darkness illustrates a lack of knowledge, which Socrates connects to
human life, implying humanity lives without knowledge of the truth. Moreover, humanitys
belief in shadows, which symbolize lies or incorrect principles and insinuate deception, acts as
supplementary evidence for knowledges scarcity. That scarcity of truth compelled the man to
dispute ethics, which signifies a disinclination to do so and yet also indicates an obligation to
fulfill that society dictates, as it is the pressure from others to do what the community considers
moral. Also, dispute and wrangle demonstrate an arguments occurrence and infer the freed
prisoners attempt to dispense and convince his adversaries of his ideas of truth. Those men have
never witnessed Justice, which is a proper noun to Socrates, suggesting it is a singular idea.
Therefore justice is open to only one interpretation, identifying it as a truth in the prisoners
community as it is an indisputable concept, which he recognizes and must share with others who
cannot understand it. The prisoners dissemination of truth, as prompted by those around him,
demonstrates Platos societys primary concern consists of sharing and spreading one uniform
truth among the community.
In contrast to Platos hypothetical freed prisoner, Anthropos unearths the truth without
outside intervention after realizing he controls his own perception of it, signifying the importance
of him discovering his own answers. While meandering aimlessly through a maze, he realizes,
The centre that I cannot find
Is known to my unconscious Mind;
I have no reason to despair
Because I am already there.
Im only lost until I see
Im lost because I want to be. (Auden 37-44)
Searching for the mazes centre implies the journey for a destination, which corresponds to
finding an answer as mazes middle is its answer. The centre, therefore, represents a truth
Anthropos attempts to find. He admits he knows the correct path, however, unconscious
suggests the truth is part of his psyche and not completely accessible. Also, the capitalization of
Mind as a proper noun personifies it as a separate entity, further supporting the truths
unavailability to Anthropos. To unlock that knowledge he must endure a personal exploration to
uncover the motives for his behavior and understand the truth his subconscious knows that he
lacks. Only after learning his mind has already appropriated the answer, does Anthropos find he
is already there, which indicates he finds the centre, or the truth by delving into his thoughts.
Moreover, the repetition of I signifies Anthroposs control over his situation, but the lost
implies initial uncertainty and truths absence as he is originally unaware he knows the answer.
Even Anthropos finding no reason to worry about finding the centre denotes confidence and
control as it connotes an absoluteness that leaves no room for doubt. Accordingly, Anthropos
eventually finds the truth as see references awareness of something. One can only see if
there is light to see by, and light often represents enlightenment and truth, even in Platos time.
Additionally, the because I further illustrates that Anthropos completely controls the situation
by denoting he is his conditions cause and its effect. The progression from irresolution to
understanding that he controls his own discovery of truth epitomizes the self-analytical approach
to an answer, representing a shift in societal values from Platos era from communal discovery to
self-discovery.
Similarly to Anthropos, Johns harrowing odyssey imparts the truth of the sacrosanct
Dead Places in an out-of-body experience occurring only in a moment of solitude, which he
arbitrates to keep to himself, instead of sharing it with society. When asleep in an apartment in
the abandoned city John recounts, I had stepped out of my body I could see my body asleep in
front of the cold fire, but it was not I. I was drawn to look out upon the city of the gods
Everywhere there were lights lines of light circles and blurs of lights (Bent). John
experiences an epiphany that reveals to him the city of the gods as it once was. He can see his
body, his physical manifestation, but it was not I, which implies he consists only of his
consciousness and therefore witnesses the truth in his mind as a personal discovery, like
Anthroposs experience. The restatement of light implies enlightenment as light is often
synonymous with the truth, like in the freed prisoners era, and the lights are indications of the
unknown past of the Place of the Gods. They show him the way life was and consequently
exhibit the truth John seeks. After this discovery, John returns home and wishes to share his
knowledge, but his father dissuades him by conveying, truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat
too much truth at once, you may die of the truth. It was not idly that our fathers forbade the Dead
Places (Bent). Johns father discourages him by describing truth as a deer, or a swift,
elusive animal, a comparison that identifies truth as an evasive concept. Additionally, to hunt
in connection with truth infers the difficulty and danger in the pursuit of truth. Moreover, to
eat, or uncover, too much of it leads to terrible consequences that die suggests, signifying it
is overwhelming and treacherous. Because of that danger, Johns father says his ancestors
forbade the Place of the Gods, the place where John finds truth, which connotes a serious
proscription. The decision was intensely considered, as it was not idly made by Fathers,
which suggests the knowledge of elders and the capitalization heightens their implied power.
Therefore, the elders are not concerned with sharing the truth with society, but instead with
keeping it to themselves for protection. While the freed prisoner is shown truth, John discovers it
for himself and he and his father adjudicate to keep it a secret from their society, whereas
centuries before it would have been communicated to others.
One can be exposed to and cope with the truth in various ways. Over time, truths
revelation has undergone the transformation of one being told a truth by another to locating it by
oneself. In the previously stated stories, the freed prisoner shares the truth with others,
demonstrating his societys priorities to be propagation to the community. In contrast, Anthropos
and John must locate their own truths and are not obligated to divulge the knowledge to others.
The change signifies the shift in society from the community to the individual and also
demonstrates humanitys evolution as becoming more adept at finding ones own path in life.