Illusions and Truth [English Composition In Class Essay]

       Giving up something you once believed to be true is a difficult task. Especially when the truth is far worse. Between “The Matrix,” a science fiction movie released in 1999, and “The Allegory of the Cave,” an excerpt from Plato’s “The Republic,” the Matrix more accurately depicts the processes of surrendering illusions and finding the truth, in not only history but in other productions and from personal experience.

In the movie “The Matrix,” its shows Neo, the main character, in a post apocalyptic world, where machines harvest human beings for energy while keeping the mind sedated using an artificial reality simulation called the Matrix. Although it sounds totally far-fetched and far from being accurate, it actually shows how finding out the truth wont necessarily be dandelions and butterflies as Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” depicts.

To prove such accuracies, I will use “Oedipus the King,” a play, as an example. In the play, Oedipus is told a prophecy that foresaw him slaying his father and having sex with his mother. When he found out, and finally understood the prophecy, he gouged out his eyes, as his whole world came crashing down upon him. By realizing the truth about his true self, he was not better off as his entire family was slain. This is similar to the Matrix, because it shows that even though the truth is horrible, it is still the truth.

As a child I also dealt with illusion and the truth not being so pretty just like the Matrix. I was naïve as a child and only thought that the world was a fun place, and that if everyone was peaceful the world would be a better place. As I grew older and more aware I realized just how much poverty, pain and suffering that goes on in the world. It was an ugly truth. In the Matrix, when Neo discovers the real world, he literally vomits, because his mind couldn’t consume so-to-speak the information.

Throughout history many people lied about a lot of things to maintain control. One such instance of this is religion. Many religions were taught to children at a young age. But once they reach a certain age and discover other things, people would kill you if you did not believe what everyone else believed. Many people were forced into believing something such as Christianity to the African slaves 300 years ago in America. And Islam to Egyptians thousands of years ago.

Even though “The Allegory of the Cave,” seems more accurate in regards to the fact that there are no machines that control the earth and stuff of that nature, it doesn’t mean that events in the Matrix aren’t more likely to happen. In fact we could hypothetically be inside a “matrix” right now