allegory of the cave
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My experience finding out Santa Clause does not exist can be compared to those of the characters in The Allegory of the Cave. The people in The Allegory of the Cave are led to believe that what they see is real, when it is actually not. The same was done in my childhood with Santa. I, like the person who left the cave was exposed to reality and the discomforts which came with it. Both I and the characters in The Allegory of the Cave became outcasts as a result of our new knowledge.
As a child I saw only what my parents let me see. "And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sort of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials." This excerpt from The Allegory of the Cave speaks of men who cast shadows on a wall for chained prisoners to see. The men casting the shadows that I saw during my childhood were my parents, teachers, and other older role models. "How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their head?..