Analyse post-modern texts according to Plato's cave and suggest how reality is constructed, commenting on its relevance and need in our modern era. Compare to classic texts where reality wasn't as much of an issue. Why is it so important for us to have a constructed reality presented to us? Why can't we go out and explore our own reality?
Suggestions of texts: Lewis Carroll – Alice in Wonderland The Matrix James Dashner – the Maze Runner Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games
Or any texts that have a constructed reality within.
I can see this going in so many different directions. Having just recently read Susanna Clarke's novel "Piranesi" I can also see how this theme would be really popular now, reflecting the various isolations of our pandemic circumstances. A writer may want to lean into some classic Jean Baudrillard/simulacrum, or Jean-Paul Sartre to compare differing ideas about how isolation distorts reality. – Grimoiria4 years ago
The Plato's Cave thought experiment is also used in discussions of ethics and morality: is it right or wrong to bring people from their constructed reality into the outside world we think of as real? Characters in The Matrix sometimes struggle with the morality and consequences of waking people up.
This question can also extend to us as purveyors of media: how right or wrong is it to analyze or even criticize the constructed realities of these stories? – noahspud3 years ago
