The thoughts in a mind are trapped by filters of the mouth,
they are trapped by how humans react to things. When a tragic event occurs
those filters are lost and our true feeling explode out of us and into the
world. In “Allegory of a Cave” by Plato the prisoners are mentally and
physically trapped. For a trapped slave a reaction to an event would be much
different from that of a free person with no physical or mental limitations.
Shackled to a wall would limit the physical reaction of fleeing or finding
comfort in another person, having a sheltered mind would limit the emotional
reaction.
If shots were fired in your direction the first reaction
would be to duck and then run, but if you are shackled to a wall you will not
be able to go that far. The slaves in “Allegory of the Cave” are characterized
as unintelligent humans. They do not have the ability to speak they have never
seen the real world. So these shots that are fired in their direction may not
even change how they react. The slave would continue to stand shackled to the
wall making no attempt to move out of the way of danger. These limitations are
comparable to Estelle in “No Exit” by Sarte. Estelle like the slave is
physically trapped in her hell. If shots were fired at her while she was stuck
in the drawing room with no exit her reaction would be different than the
slave. Estelle has lived in the world free from shackles, she would know that
you should duck and run but in her situation she would have nowhere to run to
she is trapped by the walls. A physical reaction is brought on by what you
know.
Mental damage is worse than physical. Cuts, bruises and
wounds will heal in time but mental damage can stay with a person for the rest
of their life. The slave does not have any idea that a shot from a gun would
injure them. Having a sheltered mind is dangerous and that is exactly how the
slave lives. When the slaves are set free they don’t know what to do because
they have never been exposed to freedom. In “No Exit” the character Estelle
would mentally be destroyed from an event like this. Throughout the play we
learn that she is mentally unstable and has things in her past that she regrets
and dwells on an event such as a shooting would mentally break her into
nothing. Plato wrote his characters as slaves with no back story they are just
figures that stand shackled to the cave walls, while Sarte wrote each of his
characters with pasts that are coming back to haunt them these characters are
normal everyday people that now have to face the harsh reality of their sins. With
each character comes a different reaction because of the environment that they
have been exposed to.
The difference between Plato and Sarte is how they portray
their characters. Physical and mental reactions make people who they are. The
slave and Estelle have different reactions to the same situation because they
have been brought up in different environments allowing them to be different types
of people. Both characters represent a part of every person that is real. The
Slave represents a part of people that is uneducated and ignorant this is about
no know exactly what is happening and not having the culture to respond appropriately.
Estelle represents the people that are educated and know how to react in these
situations even though she would not be fully able to react physically in the right
manor she is able to mental react.
