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Alex Madarang
Lecturer Sager
RWS 280 Section 30
10 March 2014

The Ascending Perception of Reality
It can oftentimes be difficult to connect and see the relevance of ancient texts
in modern day society, especially given how far things have come over the last few
centuries. Platos Allegory of the Cave, is an example of a text that has a
reoccurring theme throughout world history. This parable can be used as a tool in
order to understand the many ways in which humans act and react towards certain
things. In this essay, I will introduce the film Crash, a modern representation of
Platos analogy, and explain how the Allegory of the Cave directly correlates to the
intrapersonal development of the films main characters. Much like how the
prisoners views changed as he ascended out of Platos cave, I will examine the many
racial barriers and prejudices encountered in this film and describe how the
characters perceptions and attitudes towards each other change as the storyline
unfolds. Furthermore, I will interpret how the use of ethos, pathos and logos by the
screenwriter allows the audience to be fooled into stereotyping along with the
characters in the film and how they are also forced to shed their former perceptions
of what they thought was real in the film and accept the characters for who they
really are. (dissect the film)
In the excerpt, The Allegory of the Cave, from the philosophical text, The
Republic, the Greek philosopher Plato argues that through proper education people
can unshackle themselves from societys chains and learn to welcome life as it
truly is rather than how they were taught to perceive it. Through his analogy of the
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Cave, Plato demonstrates the intrapersonal struggles, as well as the skepticism one
goes through as they are forced to see past what they formerly believed to be true
and see things in their actuality. The philosopher attempts to stress the importance
of educating oneself in order to
Reinforces claims by using dialogue (teacher/student)
Logos by showing the views while inside and outside the cave
Pathos to feel sympathetic for prisoners
Encourages new leaders to come forward
Wants to improve things politically, purpose to improve govt
Scholarly tone- philosopher students and future leaders
How can written and visual texts be read rhetorically?
How something we thought was new actually borrows ideas from older
texts? Importance of connecting texts and using them to understand eachother.

Transition between both prcis: In the Oscar winning film many of these
things are presentIn the film Crash (release date), director and screenwriter Paul
Haggis sets out to show how our actions and reactions, judgments and
misjudgments, can directly affect the people around us. With racial tension and
status as the driving forces throughout the film, Haggis utilizes ethos, pathos and
logos by recreating everyday, relatable situations that allow the audience to connect
with the characters as they embark on an emotional journey through the many
different stratus of a metropolitan society. Haggis explores the conflicts encountered
throughout all social classes in American society, such as the rich and the poor, the
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foreign and domestic citizens, and the many different races throughout the country.
Crash forces the audience to bring about their own prejudices in order to get them
to question the validity of their notions and prejudgments towards people and
society as a whole. (Tone and intended audience)
Are there any instances of comic relief given the serious nature of the topics covered
throughout this film?
We can find all messages in all types of rhetorical texts and mediums
Can be found where you least expect it, show that we should look for those kinds of
things. And can sometimes be connected to more serious or ancient pieces of text
In the beginning of the Allegory of the Cave, Plato describes a group of
prisoners that have been chained up since birth, unable to move their heads, with
but mere shadows casting on the wall in front of them. When noises are heard
echoing through the cave, the prisoners assume that the sounds are coming from the
shadows themselves. In addition, the prisoners see the shadows as a reality since it
is all they have ever known. Similarly, in Crash, the shadows that the films
characters see are the stereotypes that society has convinced them to be true based
on a persons appearance. An example of stereotyping in the film is when Sandra
Bullocks character, Jean Cabot, clung tightly to her husbands arm when she saw
two seemingly suspicious, black males walking in her direction. This, in turn, elicited
a reaction from the two males and resulted in the armed robbery of the couples
vehicle. This scene in the film creates a sense of fear among the Caucasian, upper-
middle class sector of the audience and causes them to feel sympathetic towards
Sandra Bullocks character regardless of her prejudices. This pathetic appeal allows
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the audience to relate to the characters, which, as a result, turns these fictional
representations of American society into a reality; One with real emotions
encountering real situations. Aside from its appeal to pathos, the ways in which the
film portrays these characters is synonymous to the way people might act in real life
and creates a strong sense of ethos between the audience and the screenwriter by
allowing the audience to connect with various scenes throughout the movie.
How the scene where the two black guys are sizing up the couple and when
they see the wife cling onto the husband they changed their course of action and
jack their car. It is used as a strategy to make the audience change their perceptions.
Similarly, Plato uses strategies of his own that challenge his audience to change their
perceptions.
As the audience follows these African American characters throughout the
film, they begin to notice



Unshackeled/Ascent from the Cave
o Peter Waters (Ludacris black friend) does not see the white woman
as being racist or prejudice, he thinks she is just cold.
Witnessing the sun: (?)
o After the cop molested the black woman, when Matt Dillon is saving
Thandie Newtons character, there is a moment where they stop
fighting against each other and they look into eachothers eyes.
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Matt Dillon: Realizes the person he has let his career change
him into
He sees this woman as a person and not black?
Thandie Newton: Sees through Matt Dillons character and
realizes that he truly cares about her safety and that he isnt
going to molest or hurt her.
Return to the cave
o Ludacris character constantly tries to convince Peter that society
(white people) treat black people/minorites like crap and force them
to live in the ghetto and ride buses with huge windows in order to
humiliate them
o Even though Peter tries to see the good in every situation, Ludacris
thinks he is stupid for thinking the way that he thinks.
Synonymous to the prisoner returning to the cave to help his
former fellow prisoners and ends up getting laughed at for no
longer seeing things the way they see things.
Relevance to current times:
o Religion and their views towards certain things is a lot like the
Allegory of the Cave
o Gay rights/marriage
o Racism still going on throughout the U.S. today (still very similar to
what is portrayed in the film)
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Describe how the skill of interpreting and analyzing two texts and using them
to understand eachother is a valuable skill to have in this day and age?