Category: Allegory

The cave represents the physical world that humankind lives in at present. Platos Allegory of the Cave provides descriptive scenarios equivalent to practices in a human beings ordinary physical world (Altman, 2018). In that cave, human knowledge grows upon getting closer to reality aided by light from the fire and the sun.

The sun represents the realm of knowledge illustrated by Platos Allegory of the Cave. The excerpt notes that if one of the chained men accessed sunlight, their perspective on shadows would change (Altman, 2018). As illustrated by Plato, values, and morals of truth should guide the right decisions for accurate justice delivery.

The cave-dwellers react to the freed prisoner as an outcast of their community (Altman, 2018). Ideally, the former see the freed prisoner as an outsider who opted to leave their inherent and conservative surrounding that determined knowledge.

Personally, social media resembles Platos cave in my world. Online activities have overwhelmed the need to search for knowledge by getting distracted by digital media platforms. Long hours of online activities have inhibited the perfect scheduling of knowledge-seeking activities away from digital sources.

I would want to be freed from Platos cave through the path leading to the outside world. The act of reasoned judgment based on truth and the idea of well represented by Plato would mark access to real knowledge (Altman, 2018). Ideally, this would include the strategic identification of useful content that enhances good knowledge in the modern world.

I think that an individual has the power to shape their ideas and perspective of knowledge. The change is inherent and must be intrinsically motivated from within an individuals interest to transform. Taking charge of ones power of shaping ideas and beliefs is useful in ensuring consistency in perseverance throughout the change process.

Reference

Altman, W. H. (2018). Ascent to the good: The reading order of Platos dialogues from Symposium to Republic. Lexington Books.

Connection of The Jungle to US History since 1877

Upton Sinclairs novel The Jungle complements the history of the U.S since 1877 by further accentuating the impact of the industrial revolution that commenced in mid nineteenth century. This was a period of intense development which saw the U.S ascend to greater echelons of capitalism. The industrial revolution facilitated America with massive provisions like mass production of goods through manufacture, rapid growth of cities, and a greater demand for human resource.

The nineteenth century was a period of brilliant technological inventions and practical science that provided a foundation for the expansion of industry. Inventions such as the steam engine, the telegram, photography, the telephone and the Trans Atlantic cable, the airplane, electricity, gas lighting and the electric bulb provided industries with a basis as to how to model their operations.

The iron and steel refinery mill established by Andrew Carnegie was largely responsible for the rapid expansion of the railroad and the emergence of multiple storied buildings. The vast railway network expanded the market for manufactured goods and the emerging buildings led to the growth and expansion of cities (Sinclair 1936, 21). The utilization of refined oil rather than steam to run engines created an extensive market for the oil products. Subsequent industrial machinery was designed to run on oil since its combustion provided more power increasing the output of the industries.

Late nineteenth century engulfed a period of extreme unrest from workers who held strikes occasionally to protest or demand better wages, treatment or working conditions. Accidents in the work place occurred frequently and some were fatal. Workers were of the view that their efforts were not respected considering the poor pay they received (Sinclair 1936, 52).

Hence, by going on strike there was a greater chance for their grievances to be addressed bearing in mind that no body including the Socialist Labor Party advocated for most of the workers since unions were of limited membership(Sinclair 1936, 38). Most of the strikes ended up in riots which bore casualties, for example the Haymarket Massacre where a confrontation between the workers and police left 7 fatalities and more than 60 casualties.

Of similar detrimental consequences were the 1892 Pennsylvania Homestead Strike and the 1894 Pullman Strike in Chicago. The successive governments of late nineteenth century an early twentieth century were marred with controversy and massive corruption (Sinclair 1936, 64). Several paradigms support this fact for instance the 1884 controversial election rivalry between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine.

Summary of the plot

The novel begins on a high note with the presentation of a Lithuanian wedding party celebrating the union of the main character Jurgis Rudkus and Ona who is the bride. The mood is toned with joy and excitement as the newly weds family invites passers by to join them in the festivities and even provide food, drink and entertainment (Sinclair 1936, 81). The hosts are however apprehensive on whether the guests will be courteous enough to give a donation which is customary in Lithuanian tradition.

Rudkus together with his family travel to America at the end of the 19th century hoping that Rudkus will soon acquire a job and support the family. When they arrive at their abode in Chicago, Illinois, the reality finally dawns on them that they will have to struggle and work hard in order to make ends meet (Sinclair 1936, 127). The fact that they will have to work hard just to get minimum wage instills within them a sense of desperation and urgency to acquire their own house in order to save on rent.

The search for an ideal house that is within their budget leads them to a vicious lending scheme that takes away their savings under the pretence that the money is a down payment for a house in the slums. Consequently, Rudkus together with his family lose their new home as well as their money (Sinclair 1936, 144).

All family members including the children are compelled to seek employment in order to sustain themselves. Working conditions in the Chicago Stockyards are harsh and the workers are required to submit to their employers regardless of the underpaid wages. They will certainly be over two hundred dollars and maybe three hundred; and three hundred dollars is more than the years income of many a person in this room. (Sinclair 1936, 6).

Everyone they encounter in the chain of command is corrupt and the exposure to corruption gradually corrupts members of the family as well. Rudkuss predicament is further compounded by the death of his wife during labor as well as the death of his son who mysteriously drowns in a mud puddle.

Other family members also succumb to death due to malnutrition and treatable diseases associated with poverty. The prevailing circumstances become too overwhelming for Rudkus and he decides to leave the city (Sinclair 1936, 200). After all, he perceives that he can never accomplish his goals in such a capitalistic setting where people are hostile, deceptive and selfish.

Rudkus decides to go to the countryside but soon runs out of work and returns to Chicago. He takes on odd jobs like digging tunnels and also becomes a con man. One evening, he involuntarily ventures into a lecture presided over by an eloquent socialist supporter and he immediately decides where he belongs (Sinclair 1936, 158). A fellow socialism supporter offers him a job as the socialist party goes on to gain immense popularity.

Messages in The Jungle

Sinclair has a number of issues he tries to reveal through his novel The Jungle. The first and most dominant message in the novel is the demerits associated with capitalism. Sinclair uses the suffering of Rudkus as well as his family as a mirror image of the poor living in a capitalistic society. The novel portrays the American society as ruthless and discriminative to the poor.

Furthermore, the industrial revolution is viewed as counterproductive due to the fact that the introduction of machinery was largely responsible for the exploitation of workers both in the working environment and in remuneration. Most jobs did not require intensive training and therefore these posts were always on demand. With industry owners aware of that, they took advantage and underpaid the laborers who would be threatened with dismissal or blacklisting if they complained.

Sinclair also reveals the intricate corrupt practices that are adopted and widely accepted by the rich and political classes (Sinclair 1936, 112). Such practices could also be used as veto points to deny the poor access to a good job, medical services or council.

The exploitation of women and children to work in the industries was unethical because children were being exposed to the same harsh industry conditions similar to the adults yet the children were paid less (Sinclair 1936, 245). Women and children were also more likely to experience an accident in the industries especially if it was their job.

The novel also shows the outcome of a lax or corrupt system of government to society. A government that encourages unethical practices is solely liable for the detriment of the society it governs. By only taking care of the rich the government does not fulfill its pledge to serve all its citizens and this can breed animosity between the rich and the poor.

Conclusion

The Jungle was set in the early 20^th century specifically to examine the struggle that the working class and laborers went through. From a historical perspective, the novel provides candid and insightful information regarding the social structure of America during the late nineteenth century.

The novel differs from other historic material in that it analyses the life of a few individual relative to the prevalent circumstances allowing for more detailed results rather than a generalized perspective. This allows a reader to better understand how people thought and acted through the study of dialogue. The depiction of the types of architectural structures, houses and fashion provides additional information to historians regarding the American culture during the stipulated period.

The novel is of similar importance to the literary field since it bears language that might have evolved with time. The examination of past English narratives from different timeframes provides literary scholars with a sequential pattern that may help them discern the exact period when the language progressed. This is important when categorizing the different classes of English to specific eras.

Further, the reference to Jungle is indeed an allegory which refers to the state of America during the late nineteenth century. This is because people were self centered, dishonest and greedy thus those in power took advantage of the weak and poor to accomplish their own selfish interests allowing for their comparison with animals in the jungle.

Reference List

Sinclair, Upton. 1936. The Jungle. New York: Babylon Dreams.

The Allegory of the cave and You, Screws are two metaphors that different authors have used to show some similarity in the way people think and limit themselves to view the world and reality as though they are shattered from the rest of the world or landed in a prison. Plato succeeded to create a wonderful piece of art that denotes how people are ignorant to the extent of not being aware of their own surroundings.

It portrays a humanity that has failed to be wise, so nobody can achieve anything, and as a result, people are stuck in the darkness of their ignorance. This is so because they have time, and there are a lot of chances for them to change the things for better, and it is a matter of realizing what is at their disposal to make the best way out of the difficult situation.

Irrespective of the status that one may have, Plato brings out a fact that it is possible to succeed and join the elite of the society. The same sentiments are echoed in You, Screws , the author of which understands that everything is exposed, and everyone can get it. The story features a man who has been imprisoned for seven years for charges of terrorism.

The thing that two articles have in common is a theme of prison. However, the authors depict different types of prisons. Plato portrays a prison as a mental state, i.e. the inability of human beings to perceive light or rather the real situations with different circumstances that occur in the world and gain some experience to become more wise.

In You, Screws, the author talks about a real (physical) prison where some of the prisoners are taught to act as leaders to the rest. These poses a question for a reader whether it is a physical or a mental prison that hinders a person from achieving something in his/her life.

As far as Breyten is concerned, people will always drag you to the pit the moment they realize that you has finally been enlightened. Breyten was a prisoner on his own, and he will never let imprisonment deter him from advancing in knowledge. Thus, he addresses his article to all screws who decide to listen to him as a way of gaining knowledge.

He says that he does not regret much of having been shattered from the world but I normally resent all attempts at dragging me back particularly when they come from the sentimentally deprived or the vicarious heart-eaters and self shitters who wallow in victimization and heroism by proxy (Breytenbach 15).

This is what is echoed in Platos allegory of the cave. The thing is that ordinary folks that are not enlightened will always misunderstand those who have an intellectual insight. The character in Platos story at last understands his environment and tenaciously overcomes the challenges experienced in the cave, which are his mental incapacitations in his long and tortuous intellectual journey.

Platos Cave represents human knowledge showing the intellectual journey to truth as a gradual and arduous process (Plato 134). He compares people to prisoners in a cave whose only perception of reality is a play of shadows on a wall that they face them. Everyone has a role to play in bringing change to his/her life.

One should do his/her best trying to avoid the thoughts that prevent him/her from perceiving the world from a broad perspective. Only being able to face challenges and difficulties, people can get an understanding of the real world. Plato classifies this process in four stages.

The first stage includes forming an attitude that is based on the realitys outward appearance constituted by sights and sounds of experience though it takes a while before the human mind distinguishes reality. Breyten understands that in order for one to stay in darkness having no power over his/her own destiny, he/she needs to continue closing the eyes and avoid noticing some crucial facts.

He is aware that purpose is an intention, and everybody has the ability to achieve his/her goal using the circumstances that the life may present to him or her. The prisoner goes through these stages, and that is why it is possible for him/her to address people though an ex-convict.

The second stage requires the ability to recognize the difference between a deceptive entity and knowledge and the real ones. In this case, the scary shadows on the walls are the true carvings. The puppeteers and the things inside and outside the cave described by Plato indicate that empirical discoveries never penetrate the ideal realm of truth, thus calling for the need to leave the cave.

The third stage starts when people get outside the cave and see the sun that seems to tend to blind them. This sun is the light of truth, thus the reality turns out to be dangerous and as much fearsome for the prisoners as the shadows on the walls. This makes it difficult to understand the nature of entity that happens to be an idea, a concept, and something nonmaterial as Plato later realizes.

Accordingly, practice and learning are the key ingredients for realization of the true form of reality. The fourth stage begins when one acknowledges the source of the intellectual light. Plato realizes that the Good elucidates the concepts that help us understand the truth.

The prisoner knows that holding his head high and standing on his dignity will signify victory as far as address the masses concerned. Plato maintains this concept by saying that only those who can achieve enlightenment should be leaders of the rest. The released prisoner is a leader because he overcomes his fears and difficulties and gains the necessary knowledge, thus he is able to lead the rest.

He does not resist the enlightenment as the others do but rather embraces it with open arms. The prisoner described in You, Screws takes a leadership position in the United States after being released from the dark world or rather a prison. This comes in line with Platos allegory of the cave since it is only after setting free, the prisoners are able to get a real picture of their world outside the cave.

Platos belief that only the enlightened grasp the invisible truths lying under the apparent surface is reflected in You, Screws when the prisoner achieves a leadership position in the United States that happens to be a foreign, unknown, outside world for him. He understands that all are equal living in the same place and excluded from the outside world with the same walls.

This indicates that it is upon everybody to act with bravery to achieve whatever a person needs without immersing in apathy considering that one is doomed or cursed. Actually, everything is exposed to everybody to get it.

Breyten knows pretty well that there are always warders and prisons to govern and control the society by those who are above the law. In this case, the aspect of not progressing is nullified. This is what Plato calls the escape from the limitation of the cave. He maintains that everyone should be lifted up to look at the Mountain meaning that everybody ought to be enlightened even if it calls for the rest to give hand.

Additionally, Breyten is aware that there is no chance to escape the fears of existence, except by maintaining dignity and being responsible for each persons actions. From Platos acknowledgement that the truth is in a way embedded in peoples minds, Breyten calls for the prisoners to become useful to their societies through employment. Thus, everyone needs to change their thoughts and attitudes to be able to live a worthy life.

There is nothing for the free or the slaves since all have opportunities even if they are bloated. Mental imprisonment is definitely the worst situation in life as far as enlightenment is concerned, so one should fight to the last breath to set free from that cave.

Works Cited

Breytenbach, Breyten. You, Screws. Harpers Magazine Feb. 2007: 15-20. Print.

Plato, Allan. The Allegory of the Cave, The Republic of Plato. 2nd ed. New York: Basic Books, 1968. Print.

Introduction

In analyzing Platos allegory, what is of paramount importance is the philosophers theory of knowledge. That is, whether what we purport to know and accordingly assign names to, are real objects or mere forms of reality. In the allegory of the cave, Plato presents a scenario where human beings are tightly chained that they are unable to turn their heads around and are dumped in a dark cave with only source of lighting from the caves opening.

Fire is kept blazing above and behind them; in between the hostages and the fire, there is a raised way and a long wall on which puppeteers show their puppets (Plato, para. 1). The hostages thus see the images of these puppets on the wall as people, animals, and objects and that of themselves cast by the fire. Talking amongst themselves, Plato supposes that the hostages use language to name the shadows that they see cast on the wall and they are convinced that the shadows are real objects.

However, after their release, they are blinded by the immensity of light outside the cave so much so that they encounter difficulties to change their mindset about reality hence preferring to get back to the cave. This paper attempts to establish the veracity of Platos claim that appearance is not reality and that what people call reality are shadows of real objects.

Appearance and Reality

Platos contention was the gross ignorance displayed by the hostages through naming the shadows of themselves and of marionettes cast on the wall as though they were real objects. Having been held hostage since their childhood, the prisoners had not been exposed to real objects that they purported to name. Plato, in line with his theory of knowledge, managed to some extent, to argue out the pertinence of his theory.

Put in such a condition, one would be at difficulties to discern whether what one sees are images of real objects or are real objects in themselves. In life, it is always easy to lapse into this trap of equating appearance with reality. For instance, people who are colorblind often mistake one color for another, maroon for red, or pink for red. Similarly, a desert mirage can be mistaken for a water body from a distance but in reality is a bare desert. Plato therefore was not far from the truth surrounding the existence of things.

Plato had discovered this mishap and endeavored to bring it to our consciousness through his allegory. He argued that it was foolhardy for the hostages to assign names of real objects to the images that they saw cast on the wall. Eventually, the hostages were unfettered and they realized, perhaps to their amazement, that what they thought were real objects and accordingly assigned names to, were just but images/shadows.

The puppets were statues of real animals and people, and the shadows were of their own! If, for example, they gave a name donkey to a statue resembling a donkey, what name would they ascribe to the real donkey? Definitely, it would be utter embarrassment for them and they would retreat to the cave where they are complacent with what they know, however skewed.

In most cases, people get very uncomfortable when their mindset is challenged. A case in point is the historical Copernican revolution that posited that it is the earth that goes around the sun, not vice verse as upheld by the Church. Copernicus was blinded by this Platonic light and retreated to the Churchs position until Galilei Galileo challenged it finally (Kuhn and Copernicus 34).

Nevertheless, as Aristotle would say, there are no shadows without real objects. That is, Plato abstracted his ideas from the real things, hence shadows point to reality  appearance is harbinger of reality (Heidegger 5). By dismissing the shadows and images in toto, as espoused by the hostages as reality, Plato missed the point owing to the heralding concept of appearance.

To get ideas that are universal, immutable, infinite, et cetera; particular, mutable, finite objects must be used as sources of abstraction. The hostages in the allegory were not misguided, after all, by the images/shadows that they saw for they gave them a glimpse of reality. When in ordinary circumstances, a person sees an image of an object, say of a Military Drone fighter jet; s/he will have a modicum of knowledge about the real object because it is its replica, albeit a miniaturized or enlarged version.

Another critique that can be made with regard to Platos allegory and concept of appearance and reality is his arrival at the names of real objects yet the hostages had been in the cave since childhood. Plato imposes these names on his hostages as though they had experience some clairvoyance.

Plato, consequently, fails to acknowledge the concept of a priori knowledge that is independent of corporeal objects, something that is evident in the hostages repository of knowledge. In order for a person to know anything without the influence of the phenomenon, a priori knowledge is necessary and Plato only concentrated on a posteriori concept of knowledge. Therefore, he failed tremendously to deliver a conclusive writ on the acquisition of true knowledge (reality) as opposed to illusions of reality (shadows/images).

Conclusion

Platos allegory endeavors to categorically dichotomize appearance from reality. Arguments have been advanced on this course such as the biological phenomenon of color blindness, the mirage effect, and most forcibly the Copernican revolution and Galileos excommunication from the Church for asserting the new paradigm that hitherto eluded it.

Nevertheless, some rebuttals have been equally advanced against Platos standpoint regarding the allegory. For example, Aristotle founded the realist school by arguing that Plato did abstract his forms or ideas from the existing objects. This can be construed to mean that these forms, as were seen by the hostages, point to the reality and are a basis of knowledge for those encountering them for the first time.

Works Cited

Heidegger, Martin. Phenomenological interpretations of Aristotle: initiation into phenomenological research. Indiana, USA: Indiana University Press, 2001.

Kuhn Thomas and Copernicus Nicolaus. The Copernican revolution: planetary astronomy in the development of Western thought. New York, NY: Harvard University Press, 1957.

Plato, Platos Allegory of the Cave From Platos Republic, Book VII, 514a-c to 521a-e. 2011. Web.

Why are the prisoners like us?

The prisoner in chains is an allegory of people without insight and imagination. In other words, they represent the average person. The lack of insight prevented them from seeing reality (Duarte 79). This explains the limited capacity to only see in shadows. They do not have the ability to grasp the reality of the circumstances they are in, and this prevents them from formulating an escape plan. At the same time, the lack of insight made it difficult to see more. Their experience is similar to the captives in the movie entitled, The Matrix. In the said film, humans were treated like cash crops.

The average person is different from innovators and inventors like the Wright Brothers, Louis Pasteur, and Gregor Mendel. These men changed the world, and as they help transform the world around them, they enabled others to see solutions to their personal problems. However, it requires a certain talent or a certain mindset to accomplish the same things.

The prisoner in the chain is an allegory of people that are handicapped by the lack of imagination. After a long period of time spent in chains, and after struggling with the sting of the shackles, some of the prisoners were able to figure out that they needed to escape. However, the average person does not have the imagination to develop an escape plan.

The prisoner in shackles is an allegory of the average person who does not want to upset the status quo. Fear prevents the ordinary Joe to get up and liberate himself. He is afraid of the consequences of his actions. His lack of imagination and insight prevents him from seeing the benefits of freedom. The average person plays not to lose, while great people risk the little they have in order to gain something greater than their lives.

In what sense is the liberator a philosopher like Socrates?

It requires a philosopher to break the chains of ignorance and narrow-mindedness. In the Symposium and in the Apology, Socrates revealed the power of questioning the status quo and to see circumstances from a different frame of reference. It is only through the exercise of philosophy that people begin to notice that something is wrong with their current circumstances. Without the Socratic method of questioning, it is difficult to see how the human mind is in bondage.

It is important to point out that the liberator is a former inmate. The transformation from prisoner to philosopher does not occur overnight, and it does not happen often. Some of the prisoners will realize the foolishness of maintaining the status quo the moment a fellow prisoner yanks them free. After some time, one of the prisoners will experience a eureka moment. A stream of heavenly insight floods his mind, and he sees the problem from a different perspective. In that moment of great inspiration, the ordinary prisoner transforms into a liberator.

The liberator is a philosopher, someone who resembles the character of an inventor, an innovator. In this particular context, the liberator must perceive his surroundings in a different light. Therefore, the evolution from prisoner to liberator must go through a transition phase, and in that transition phase, the incarcerated man becomes a philosopher.

The liberator is a former prisoner in chains because no one can break out from a complex prison system without breaking out from within. Only a prisoner understands the layout of the prison. Only a fellow inmate can develop the compassion to rescue a fellow prisoner. Only an ex-convict can persuade another ex-convict to navigate the complex labyrinth that leads out of prison. Only a fellow prisoner understands the language of the prison system.

What another type of figure might further the cause of liberation?

Without a doubt, the liberator must possess some of the qualities that make up a philosopher. A philosopher possesses the ability to see the world in a different light. Without the capacity to leverage the power of insight and imagination, the prisoners will never figure out that they have the power to turn their heads, break the shackles, and live in paradise. For example, Socrates is a great philosopher, but it is highly unlikely if he could lead a revolution to lead his people out of bondage. This is his limitation because he needed the mindset of a warrior to liberate the Greeks from a foreign oppressor.

It is the job of the philosopher to ignite the imagination and enable people to see the surrounding circumstances in a different light. The philosophers insights are like germinating ideas that blossom into solutions. His ideas are the scaffolding to internal structures that will help them defeat the evils that hamper the growth and mobility of the prisoners.

Although the philosopher provides a different perspective that enables people to see the world in a different light, the flood of insights and ideas will not automatically translate to liberation. Even if the philosopher can explain the root cause of the problem and provide a foolproof plan to escape, this newfound capability is not enough to break them out of prison.

The author provided a hint of why it is difficult to execute an escape plan, and he says that if someone needs to look up, he can only do so if he is able to go through the pain (Plato 1). In other words, it requires tremendous effort and great commitment to go through with the escape plan. Thus, a philosopher that does not have the heart of a warrior will only succeed in giving lectures.

Conclusion

The prisoner in chains is an allegory of the average person who is unable to live life to the fullest because he is afraid to challenge the status quo. The average person cannot offer a solution to some of lifes pressing problems, because he does not have the insight and the imagination needed to become an innovator or inventor. Therefore, the average Joe is like a person in chains. He needs the help of a liberator, someone who understands how to combine the qualities of a philosopher and a warrior.

Works Cited

Duarte, Eduardo. Being and Learning. New York: Springer, 2012. Print.

Plato. The Allegory of the Cave. Stanford University, 2015. Web.

Good Country People is a short allegorical story, written by Flannery OConnor, about the dual nature of religious workers, loneliness, and egocentrism. Indeed, even the characters names possess a hidden meaning about their appearance, personality, or life. The story commences with the description of two old ladies and their children who belong to two different social classes. Mrs. Freeman is a maid in Mrs. Hopewells house, and the former was described as a woman with two primary unpleasant facial expressions for the public. Since the story was told from Mrs. Hopewells viewpoint, she was presented as a calm, polite, and tolerant person, noticing but forgiving other peoples flaws, including her daughter Joy, who chose the formal name Hulga. Their bitter coexistence was interrupted by a 19-year-old handsome man, Manley Pointer, who sold Bibles door-to-door and claimed to have the same heart disease as Joy but appeared to be a criminal. Through symbolism, OConnor was able to convey the characters unique features with their names, connection to parents with Hulgas wooden leg, Joys mindset with her glasses, and Pointers non-religiousness with the hollow Bible.

The first symbol is the characters names that partly represent their fates and personalities. For example, the reader is not provided with the first names of Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell. They acquired their last names from marriages, indirectly pointing to the only function that women could have in the South at that time, indicating the forced fate that is opposite of their actual situation. For instance, Mrs. Freeman is not a slave, but she is not free because she is a maid, while Mrs. Hopewell is hopeless. The womens personalities were revealed in their dialogues and their children. Both are polite and consider themselves good individuals who sometimes have to endure other peoples rudeness or ignorance. Mrs. Freemans daughters, Glynese and Carramae, red and blond girls, whom Joy associated with Glycerin and Caramel, indicating a lack of respect for their chosen life path (OConnor 2). Moreover, Joy was never joyful in reality; thus, she changed her name to Hulga to complete the image of an ugly person to avoid the traditional path of all South women. Specifically, she seemed to want to avoid marriage and childbirth.

The second allegoric element in this story was Hulgas wooden leg. This symbol represents her inability to become independent of her mother. Indeed, she still lives with her parent, is unemployed, and does not have relationships with other people. It appears that she was born with a congenital heart defect that, in the best-case scenario, would allow her to live until her forties (OConnor 5). Still, Mrs. Hopewell wanted her daughter to get married at the right age. However, an accidental gunshot wound at the age of ten became a pivotal point in Joys life when she was implanted with the wooden leg and escaped the usual fate of her female counterparts. Despite a PhD degree, the girl did not work and lived with her mother, waiting for her own death. The appearance of Pointer gave her a tiny hope for a new life. However, the girls dreams did not become a reality because Hulga was deceived by the young man and lost her artificial leg. Nevertheless, the disappearance of her prosthesis was an allegory for the opportunity to detach from the parental home and start an adult life.

The third allegoric element of the short story was Hulgas glasses that Manley stole along with her wooden leg. Hulgas glasses are her vision and ability to see the world clearly, both literally and figuratively. However, she was ready to refuse her beliefs for this man. Thus, she allowed him to take away her glasses during the moment of intimacy: when her glasses got in his way, he took them off her and slipped them into his pocket (OConnor 13). Since Pointer escaped, Hulga was left without glasses because she no longer could look at the world through the lens of her old mindset.

The fourth symbol was the young mans suitcase with two Bibles. Indeed, one of the Bibles was an empty container for whiskey, cards, and condoms (OConnor 15). The hollow represented not only Pointers absence of Christian beliefs but was also an allegory for the insincerity of some religious workers, who talk about God and are simultaneously involved in sinful acts. Furthermore, this picture and the young mans altered behavior not only ruined Hulgas hope for a different future but also confirmed her atheist believes.

In summary, OConnors Good Country People represents the issues of the dishonesty of religious workers, the difficulty of detaching from parental supervision, and the obsession of individuals with their goodness and other peoples faults. This story showed a painful experience of a young woman with poor health who failed to build social connections despite several university degrees. Four symbolic elements in this short story uncovered Hulgas journey to detachment from her mother and old beliefs. The first was the characters names that described their appearance and personalities. The second was Hulgas artificial leg as an anchor to her mother. The third was Hulga glasses, which the young man stole from her smoothly, becoming the critical facilitator of disillusionment. The fourth was Pointers suitcase with fake Bibles as a symbol of the falsity of his religiousness. Overall, the evil act of the young man left Hulga in rage and disappointment but with a more realistic perception of the world.

Works Cited

OConnor, Flannery. Good Country People. Gothic Digital Series, 1955.

Socratic dialogues are deemed as the inception of Western civilization in their distinguishing of tribalism from humanitarianism, thereby constructing the “Other” and Western consciousness. Each dialogue has contributed to the “ideal” teaching model in which new knowledge is created for both teacher and student. Interlocutors expand this method to facilitate the multilogical understandings of knowledge and truth, removing man from “unintellectual” foundations of tribalism (Popper 164). Such conversations have laid the groundwork for Western concepts of educational elitism. As authors like Nehamas and Popper engage in discussions about the Socratic pedagogical method, The Republic sustains relevance into the present day. However, the allegory of the cave denotes a playbook of ostracization, as the “chained” individuals of the cave can only be transformed by a univocal notion of education. In deconstructing what Plato explicates through characters like the puppeteers and prisoners as they pertain to Western intellectual hegemony and slavery, the modern-day conception of the exploitative democracy can be unearthed.

Intellectual and educational enlightenment is framed by a pedagogical, Socratic model within the context of authors like Nehamas and Popper. The model is bound both by notions of aesthetic sensibility as well as dramatic performances of truth seeking. Socrates’ “insisten[ce] on receiving answers his interlocutors truly accept” becomes a compelling model for interjecting reason within philosophical inquiry (Nehamas 11). The method details a form of teaching and learning in a small group, without a clear hierarchy. Nehamas similarly purports a notion of maturity and one’s innate capacity to philosophize and engage in the dialectic. Though this learning archetype seems inclusive, it proclaims a conviction that reason is grounded in faith, a Western doctrine for revelatory experiences. Plato describes a “purging of the soul of false benefits that stand in the way of learning” (Nehamas 13). This “purge” is the formal point of departure for philosophy and has solicited an entire discourse around Greek connotations of virtue and truth.

Popper categorizes closed and open societies, in relation to Plato’s anxiety and discomfort in the dialogues. First, through the ideal teaching method, the Socratic concepts of knowledge promulgate submissiveness to justice: “the strength of both the old and new totalitarian movements rested on the fact that they attempted to answer a very real need” (Popper 162). This dire political situation is the foreground for violent colonialism, especially as Popper distinguishes archaic from classical Greek, tribalism from humanitarianism, and closed from open societies, respectively. He writes, “it is necessary…to see that tribalist exclusiveness and self-sufficiency could be superseded only by some form of imperialism” (Popper 172). This imperialism is grounded in “mastery: dominating and enslaving your neighbors” (Popper 173). The dominion over man is mediated by money and some membership to an ideal political community, reflective of the ideal logic of educational command: “by inventing the…art of thinking rationally, [Ancient Greece] is one of the inexplicable facts which stand at the beginning of our civilization” (Popper 178). This underpins Western education’s footing in writings like Plato’s.

The allegory of the cave in The Republic grapples most precisely with Western terms of educational prowess in exploring why man speaks. The parable’s normative picture of the ideal state is founded in the univocity that Plato alludes to throughout the text. The Republic itself is rampant with blatant assumptions, precipitating philosophical discussion that is inherently marginalizing: “the justice of a single man and also the justice of a whole city” creates a commensurability of justice in tandem with the conflation of happiness (43, 368e). As the city is a proxy for the individual, joy and happiness are accordingly attributed to the cohesion and concord of an entire system: “happiness in the city as analogical to happiness in the soul” (110, 434e). The Republic and the allegory of the cave propel a discourse of submission to justice and philosopher kings because man is flawed and has an epistemic deficiency. Plato holds dear a prioritization of unity over multiplicity, especially as “a god…doesn’t change himself…whether in visions or dreams” (59, 382a). Driven by the divine, the cave is a site for how reality and the world of Forms stand in contrast to the objective-existing universals, such as the Good, the Just, the Beautiful.

There are two fundamental claims of allegory of the cave. First, there is a clear discontinuity between divine knowledge and mundane empirical beliefs. The perceptible provides us with an incomplete understanding of our world which sustains an incomplete body of the Forms. This is why individuals must redirect themselves back to the intuition of wholeness and stability, under the “philosophers [who] come to power in the city” (212, 540d). Second, man has unequal access to the proclaimed illumination. The majority of man is destined to remain without light, while a select few are drawn out of the cave. Socrates writes that, “we should be able to defend ourselves by showing that the people we mean are fitted by nature both to engage in philosophy and to rule in a city, while the rest are naturally fitted to leave philosophy alone and follow their leader” (149 ,474c). Society will correspondingly have a natural hierarchy that creates the clear-sighted governing elite and subordinate classes. Societal roles are assigned according to both an ability to philosophize and biological capacity: “The god who made you mixed some gold into those who are adequately equipped to rule, because they are most valuable” (91, 415a). The categorization according to commensurable value elicits an immovable stratum as each individual “must practice the one thing about the city the one for which his nature has made him naturally most suited” (108, 433a). The Republic is a blueprint for an elitist society that survives off of the backs of those less suited and naturally unfit to engage in philosophy. Because Western civilization is based off of the much idealized Greek tradition, it also appropriated exploitive, patronizing elements inherent in Classical democracy.

The allegory does not defend a city like that of Book II of The Republic, wherein the polis is structured by using its citizens’ exhaustively to meet the general populous’ needs. Instead, the cave details a feverish account of the demos, marked by slavery and wretchedness. Socrates begins the allegory by asking Glaucon, an interlocutor, to “imagine human beings living in an underground cave-like dwelling” (188, 514a). Individuals are chained, unable to turn their heads and only seeing what is directly in front of them. At some distance, a fire is burning which is the acclaimed source of light for the prisoners and slaves. The puppeteers manipulate the light to create the concepts of object, including the prisoners themselves: “the prisoners would in every way believe that the truth is nothing other than the shadows of those artifacts” (187, 515c). Socrates describes a causal interaction between the prisoners and the puppeteers; irrespective of intention, the puppeteers are responsible for the shadows that the prisoners observe. Their relationship elucidates how the philosopher king, in parallel to puppeteers, can influence the ordinary people, like the prisoners, as the rulers assume the position of “manipulators of thoughts”—they are in control, the masters of hegemony and colonizers who “carry all kinds of artifacts that project above it” (187, 514d). It is their prerogative to bring people into the light, either vocally or literally— “talk [or stay] silent” (187, 515a). The ordinary mirror the prisoners and slaves as they all grapple with the tension of “being released from their bonds” and gaining some consequential intelligence (187, 515c).

Prisoners and slaves are forced to first look at images shown by the puppeteers or the demos’ philosopher-kings without alternatives. Then, they must resign to accept the images because there are no alternatives. This is the immediate tragedy of Plato—the text elucidates an instrumentalization of enslavement and imprisonment that is the onslaught of philosophy. The discourse is an attempt to redress the material injustices. Not everyone is completely brought out of the cave, however. The forced ascent out of the cave makes man “pained and dazzled” from the brightness, making him refuse to bring others out in a similar fashion (187, 515d). Instead, a gradual process marked by discerning shadows and understanding water reflections facilitates interest in the divine Forms, allowing man to relay the knowledge back to other prisoners (188, 515e). The necessary descent back to the cave ideally illuminates the illusions of one’s un-enlightened existence, proliferating the tugs to this “truth.” These notions have created the Western hegemonic discourse that relegates the “Other,” who is misguided and biologically absent of the “strong” and “modern” philosophizing faculties of the mind, attributed to the West (Said 67). Such distinctions have contributed to colonial theory, exemplifying the pervasive dangers of the allegory of the cave—by determining members in a populous who can be easily molded into adhering to an exploitative discourse, the “truth” can be illuminated.

Thinkers, like Plato, Socrates, and Glaucon, participated in their forums and theaters to elucidate how to turn man away from morally reprehensible desires and towards the correct, true Forms. However, slaves labored to economically sustain the demos—the wealth produced by the “strange prisoners” allowed free Athenians to engage in discourse (187, 515a). It is reported that the silver mines at Laurium in Greece, wherein masses of slaves were forced to extract metal, were the bedrock of the state’s wealth (Boardman 198). Workers were chained to extract metals for the polis, parallel to how philosopher kings’ coercively extract metal from their constituents’ souls. So long as philosopher kings assumed the positions of power that proliferated a discourse excluding members according to “biological” or “metallurgical” attributes, the resulting intellectual and exhaustive slave-labor institutions perpetuated—this is the site of scholars like Plato, Socrates, Nehamas, and Popper. The metallurgical hierarchy within Athenian society ran rampant, evidenced by the slavery in silver mines, as many of Plato’s philosophical ideas were much in line with the practices in Athens.

The dangers that philosophies like the allegory of the cave allude to persist in Western society, as per the categorization of “fit” and “unfit” members. Apropos to Western hegemony, the allegory of the cave deploys a value and priority of unity over multiplicity, as the ideal form is stable and eternal—”there is no other inquiry [like the dialectic] that systematically attempts to grasp with respect to each thing itself what the being of it is…all other crafts are concerned with human opinions and desires” (205, 533c). The stability of the polis, and according to Western democracy, was, in their eyes, contingent on unity. The dangers of multiplicity, especially as it pertains to an inclusive discourse of man and his “opinions and desires,” introduce a city that is marked by chaos and without command. The state mirrors the philosopher king’s understanding of the Good, the Just, the Beautiful—“it is our task as founders, then, to compel the best natures to reach the study…namely to make the ascent and see the good” (191, 519d). The allegory upholds a framework of control, marked by one type of ascent, in which the commoner’s escape from slavery redirects them to adhere to the absolute desires of rulers.

Plato’s discussion of philosophy is dependent on a polis profiting off of the backs of the “unfit.” The allegory of the cave purports a romanticized method of freedom that is hearkened by material sustenance of those without ideal qualities. Hegemonic thought is founded upon the similarly repugnant notions put forth in the allegory of the cave—“they’ll take possession of the children, who are now free from the ethos of their parents and bring them up in their own customs and laws” (212, 541a). The compulsive method of defining the Good and concepts like it are a reflection of a philosophy established by inequality. Western democracies, in choosing to adopt the Greek model or their interpretation of such, are an extension of Plato’s project, enacting chaos and exploitation that members of society now see. The univariate axioms of equality and emancipation that Plato puts forth are mere afterthoughts. Nehamas and Popper have become distracted in trying to reconcile equality with Plato’s overall philosophy, and in doing so, have given the idea too much weight. The “invention” of rational thought continues to eliminate discourse associated with ancient Greek enslavement and its consequences in the modern-day. These structures are propagated in present society, as attitudes toward past doctrines have destroyed individuals’ capacities to exist in the Western-dominated intellectual discourse.

One of the world’s most known, widely read and studied philosophers named Plato born in 428 BC. He was the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle who are also world known philosophers. Plato’s level of thinking and reasoning were well beyond that of his time, he created 36 dialogues that featured his teacher Socrates throughout majority of them. Plato studied for 10 years to habituate the intellect to abstract reasoning before any moral ideas. Some of his popular works include The Republic, The Symposium, Plato’s Apology, Theaetetus and Phaedo. Plato is well-known for his theory on forms but I find Plato’s dialogue of the ‘Republic’ interesting as some of what he wrote is still relevant today. With help from Plato’s theory of knowledge, we will discuss what the allegory of the cave writing in ‘The Republic’ is about, the significance of it and how it relates to Plato’s theory of forms. This dialogue Plato describes is a timeless metaphor that is relevant in today’s society.

In the Allegory of the Cave that Plato wrote in The Republic VII Socrates describes to Glaucon who is a disciple, a scene of prisoners placed in a dark cave facing a wall from birth, the prisoners have never seen anything except shadows as they are bounded to not be able to look anywhere expect straight in front of them. Socrates continues to explain that because this is all they can see; the shadows are what the prisoners believe to be realism and that this is the way things are supposed to look and be. If the prisoners could turn around they would see puppeteers with props and a fire behind that. In the dialogue, the puppeteers are using the fire to produce shadows on the wall for the captive prisoners. Plato states that to them, reality is just a shadow thrown onto the wall, because that is all they have ever and will ever know.

The Allegory of the Cave continues but over time Socrates explains that one prisoner was released, describing how his movements would suffer, his eyes would suffer and his body would suffer not only emotionally but physically. Due to him never seeing light, as he left the cave his eye took a long time to adjust to the natural lights causing the freed prisoner pain as well as confusing because before that day the prison believed that a shadow was what is considered the real thing. All the evidence from “the cave” to my understanding makes it seem as if Plato thought most of humanity was living in a cave, in the dark and very limited in knowledge being bound to bare minimum, and that with new knowledge and to gain this new information is basically humanity being rescued from darkness. He states:

“The conversion of the soul, in the readiest way; not

to put the power of sight into the soul’s eye, which already

has it, but to ensure that, instead of looking in the wrong direction,

it is turned the way it ought to be.” (Plato Republic book X)

To Plato the rest of humanity was basically these tied up people. Gaining true knowledge to people in today’s society would be the same as letting the one prisoner out of the cave, potentially harmful and also freeing at the same time.

Each symbol acknowledged in the allegory of the cave has a significance, from the puppet-master that symbolizes individuals and organizations who construct knowledge to the chains which symbolize anything that keeps the individual from having the freedom to learn. The other important symbol is the sun as it is the only true light, and this light symbolizes how people accurately see the world. Socrates explains:

“When they [the eyes] are directed towards objects on

which the sun shines, they see clearly and there is sight in them?

Certainly.

And the soul is like the eye: when resting upon that on

which truth and being shine, the soul perceives and understands

and is radiant with intelligence.” [508](248-249)

Plato’s theories have many of the same themes throughout, In the cave the prisoners go from the dark of the cave to the light of outdoors, showing us limitations and how knowledge can get us beyond our previous limitation, this also infers to show us how our knowledge can be a limitation if we do not keep searching and educating ourselves. The Forms show us that even though we can see something does not mean we can see all of it and just because we cannot see something does not mean it does not exist. All three-link knowledge as the key to all; anything and everything. If you have infinite knowledge there is nothing you cannot have.

Further support for this claim comes again from the allegory of the cave as it contains many forms of symbolism used to describe the illusions of the world. The cave represents the superficial world for the prisoners. The chains that prevent the prisoners from leaving the cave represent ignorance, meaning the chains are stopping them from learning the truth. The shadows that cast on the walls of the cave represent the superficial truth, which is an illusion that the prisoners see in the cave. The freed prisoner represents those in society who see the physical world for the illusion that it is. The sun that is glaring the eyes of the prisoners represents the real truth of the actual world. The allegory of the cave was about all these people in a cave being fed fake realities and in turn if they ever saw the real world then to them it would probably turn their world upside down.

In the allegorical novel, Lord of The Flies, author William Golding explores the essence of human nature in its purest form. From a group of stranded boys on an island to create an inner ‘beast’, Golding writes a story about the inevitable deterioration of order and civility when evil arises in mankind. Golding reveals harsh truths about the boys’ savagery and urges, connecting to several biblical stories. In Lord of The Flies, Golding uses religious allegories from three well-known biblical stories: The Story of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve, and Jesus Christ to illuminate the brokenness in human nature.

Golding claims that the boy’s behavior turning more savage and animalistic stems from a larger, more dangerous evil within one another. This brings to mind about the story of two brothers and the first recorded murder on earth. The story of Cain and Abel. Due to his respect for the boys, Ralph beats Jack in the election for chief. Jack’s fermenting ‘mortification’ (22) early in the novel reveals itself later when it is released in a legitimate attempt to murder Ralph: ‘He ran forward, stooping. ‘I’m chief.’ Viciously, with full intention, he [Jack] hurled his spear at Ralph’ (180). What was once petty jealousy has now become a catalyst for murder even after Jack gets what he wanted in being chief. In the same way, Cain attempted and succeeded in killing his own brother. The anger inside of Cain that led him to do this evil stemmed from the built-up jealousy and spite of his brother. Finally, in Lord of The Flies as well as in the bible, both the boys and Cain cry for the end of their own innocence, ‘…the other little boys began to shake and sob too…Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart…’ (202). The murder of Simon and Piggy revealed a darkness in the boy’s hearts that they were not ready for. Because they now understand the evil within them, they ‘weep’. In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain too cries. He comes to see the ‘darkness’ within him, which drives him to commit the worst sin of all time, murder.

Just as the boys lost the opportunity to live on a heaven-like tropical island as a result of their animalistic ways, Adam and Eve also lost their opportunity to live in The Garden of Eden due to their overmastering impulses. Golding relates The Garden of Eden and its characteristics, from the bible to the island the boys are stuck on in many different and minor ways. Simon is seen wandering off to a “spot” multiple times throughout the novel, taking in the beauty and glory of the island the boys are on. ‘The whole space was walled with dark, aromatic bushes, and was a bowl of heat and light’ (56). This spot is “walled” away from the other boys due to natural barriers, and Simon is the only boy there that is able to access this paradise. A paradise where the air is thick with “gaudy butterflies [that] danced round each other ” (43). This paradise was beautiful and perfect, just like the Garden of Eden, but sin destroyed it and all its goodness.

Throughout the novel, we see many similarities between Jesus and Simon. Both are betrayed by their comrades and both had prophetic visions. A couple of nights before his death, Simon talks to Ralph in a situation similar to Jesus during the “Last Supper’: ‘I just think you’ll get back all right’…and then they suddenly smiled at each other (111). Simon reassures Ralph of his safety while never addressing his own, suggesting his sense that his end was near. This prophetic vision mirrors Jesus and his otherworldly abilities. Secondly, Jesus set out to spread the gospel or truth and was crucified because of it. Simon endeavors to also share the truth about the “beast” and its connection to boys and is murdered just like Jesus. Furthermore, before Jesus’ death, he is ordered to carry the cross to Calvary. A pretty lengthy journey. Stumbling and exhausted, Jesus asks for help carrying the cross upon his death. Similar to Jesus, Simon stumbles on the floor and can barely speak due to the exhaustion of his long journey across the island. Unfortunately, due to his unusual behavior, he is mistaken for a beast and killed. Right before Jesus’ death, he cried out to God in Luke 23:24 saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Simon also suffered a gruesome death due to the boy’s false belief that he was a beast. For the boys did not know what they were doing.

By using religious allegory and biblical parallels, William Golding was able to redefine his novel, adding a much deeper dimension to what on the surface, seemed like just an adventure story. The Bible is viewed by many as the moral compass of guidance and judgment. By interlocking parts of his novel with stories and teachings from the bible, he was able to compare the boys and their mannerisms against the ethical standards the bible teaches. Since the boy’s behaviors equated to the some of worst and lowest instances of morality when compared to the bible, Golding’s claim is confirmed: man is inherently evil.

The short stories can be comprehended as the modern-day written version of tales rendering the folktales that are mostly written with many moral insights and cultural values. Allan H. Pasco, a distinguished professor of Nineteenth-Century Literature, defines a short story as short, literary prose fiction, open to any topic or material, but the deciding factor is usually not the presence or absence of a saint or supernatural events, but rather the artistry in the creation of a reality whose existence depends primarily upon the text in question, which thrived from the late nineteenth-century onwards. Short stories like fables and parables are often allegorical in nature, which is an extended metaphor implying something beyond literal. ; The Black Girl in Search of God; is such kind of a well-known allegorical short story by the eminent writer George Bernard Shaw.

George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright, was famous for his wits and sly humor and delighted in shaking up the social conservatism of early twentieth-century Britain. He produced several works of vigorous prose, which were literary, classical, and had biblical allusions. His works are a commentary on moral, social, and artistic issues. Bernard Shaw generally wrote about socialism based on equality and justice and played a major role in revolutionizing comedic drama. Pygmalion was certainly his comedic masterpiece performed in 1913. Nonetheless, he decided to write a story deviating from his ordinary course of writing a play, as a playwright, as he has mentioned in his Preface to ‘The Black Girl in Search of God’. He believes that ‘all truths are divinely inspired’ and in fact, he was inspired to write the story. He wrote the story within the setting of African colonization in 1932 as he was one of the Europeans who had a firsthand experience of the brutalities that the natives had to go through.

The question of whether there exists a God or not was dealt with from the time humans started to evolve and is still a relevant topic to date. Most of the quests that are undertaken in the search for God, however, are concerned with the perspective of the Christian ideology and its relation to the Bible. The reason was mainly because of the superior status that the Europeans had established all over the world with their ability to conquer the world and exert their power primarily based on religion as well racial ideology. In the name of achieving much more freedom, peace and equality they preached their version of God everywhere in the world, converting millions of indigenous peoples into their religious spectrum with the effort of the missionaries, an indirect type of rule to control and colonize the countries. The Europeans through this process of Christianization had got both spiritual as well as secular benefits, thus using Christianity as a potent weapon for European imperialism. The missionaries had created many great impacts on the indigenous people of colonial Africa who were subjected to cultural, political, and religious change. It has been assumed that Christianity played a key role in colonial efforts, allowing Christian missionaries to ‘colonize the conscience and consciousness’ of Africans, instilling the belief that any non-Christian spiritual ideas are inferior to Christianity, echoing the colonial hierarchical view of culture.

The short story ‘The Black Girl in Search of God’ is a side-splitting comical allegory of a ‘black girl’ which is on the surface a religious fable. It was written by Shaw when he was in a remote coastal village called Knysna, South Africa. The book The Black Girl in Search of God And Some Lesser Tales was published in 1932 and included the short story of the black girl along with the collection of some ‘other lesser tales’. An essential message that Shaw believes and puts forward through the story is that – ‘all are equal in the sight of God.’ Being an active feminist in his life, Shaw chose a ‘black girl’ as his protagonist maybe because the most disrespected and neglected is the black woman and he gave a voice to her. He was an immense supporter of women’s rights and in 1891 wrote; ‘Unless woman repudiates her womanliness, her duty to her husband, to her children, to society, to the law, and everyone but herself, she cannot emancipate herself. It is false to say that woman is now directly the slave of man: she is the immediate slave of duty; and as man`s path to freedom is strewn with the wreckage of the duties and ideals he has trampled on, so much hers be.

Set against the background of colonialism in Africa in the early twentieth century, the black girl is converted to Christianity by Christian missionaries. As the black girl questioned about ‘the God’, the missionary, who converted her, said that ‘He has said ‘Seek and ye shall find me’. She takes those lines literally and then embarks upon a spiritual journey of the soul in search of God. Along the way through her adventures in a forest, she meets several representations of God and secular authorities, like ‘The Caravan of the Curious’ who are a group of white colonial party, the god of Moses, the God of Job, Micah, Ecclesiastes, Saint Peter, a scientific behaviorist named Pavlov, Mohammed and Jesus Christ too that she meets twice. Most of these versions disgust and appall her with their hopelessly outdated embodiments of deity. The black girl finally meets an old man in his amateurish garden and asks the girl to cultivate the land along with him to His glory and he says that the best place to seek God is in a garden. In the end, an Irishman comes into the garden who claims to be a socialist. The old man asks the girl to marry him and she bears his children making her forget about her thirst for knowledge. In his work ‘The Black Girl’ and some lesser quests: 1932-1934 Leon Hugo comments about ‘The Black Girl’ that this short story is a sport in Shaw`s work; there is nothing else like it, no religious or another fable, no parable, no black or other girl setting out on any picaresque adventure, anywhere.

The old man that the girl finally meets is Voltaire and Shaw expresses Voltaire’s philosophical concept of Deism. Deism was a mode of religious thought that dominated during the Europe-wide intellectual movement named the Enlightenment which had gained great currency in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was practically based on the supremacy of human reason. The deists are frequently represented as the champions of freedom that had led to the modern world, existing in opposition to the conservative establishment. Voltaire’s thoughts on deism can be seen in his works such as Traite sur la Tolerance, the Dictionary Philosophique, and Letters Philosophiques. He believed that if God did not exist, God must be invented. He criticized the Catholic Church’s doctrines for including superstitions and attacking the faith in a Christian God. For him, Man could perceive God through the use of his human reason. This cultivation of one’s religion with one’s own ‘reason’ is evident in his book Candide.

The other concept that Shaw puts forward through the story is that of the ‘Creative evolution’. He calls it the ‘The Religion of the Future’ in his play Back to Methuselah. Going against the theory of natural selection by Darwin, Shaw was influenced by Lamarck, a French naturalist, and his answer to the question of what caused biological variations. The answer was that it was caused by the effects of the environment. Lamarck found three truths within the zoological philosophy: the species vary under changing external influences; there is a fundamental unity in the animal world; and there is a progressive and perpetual development. Thus for Shaw, in the struggle for existence, the fittest survive not because of their reason luck or chance but survive by reason of their success which they achieve by undergoing the external pressure of the environment. For him, the moral standards and the religious standards that existed during his time were too narrow and binding, and he received a lot of criticism from the outside. The black girl in the short story refused to just survive under the rules and doctrines spit out by minority white settlers. Under the external pressures of human beings, animals, and nature, the black girl emerges as a champion of Shavian thoughts.

Another focal point that Shaw has put forward in the story is the concern for the colonial ‘subject’ as well as the concern for the female ‘subjects’ both through the aspect of colonialism and feminism. Thus the ‘subaltern’ subjects are at the center of this quest for God. The European imperialists had succeeded in upbringing a connection between religion, the ‘other’, and female sexuality. Therefore the short story can be said to be having three layers. The various astounding illustrations of the black girl by John Farleigh also have created a great impact on creating this subaltern subject.

This dissertation attempts to analyze the short story ‘The Black Girl in Search of God’ as a sardonic allegory and how the concepts of feminism and colonialism can be traced throughout the short story and also concerns Bernard Shaw’s exposure to colonialism while he was in South Africa. The first chapter titled ‘Sardonic Allegory and intertextualities’ tries to determine how the story is sardonic in nature, brings to light the intertextualities of the short story with a few classics, and finally compares and contrasts the fable to that of Voltaire`s satirical book Candide. The second chapter, chapter would mainly focus on the subaltern elements in the story concerning colonialism and feminism which remains a double-layered vision in the story. And finally concludes how the black girl is a Shavian champion of religious freedom and feminist rights.