Which observation about human behavior is expressed
in this part of the allegory?
O People should not be freed from prison.
O People change after they are imprisoned.
O People require time to adjust to knowledge.
O People need freedom to observe nature.
In this excerpt, Socrates explains how one of the
prisoners is removed from the underground den.
Socrates: And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly
dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until
he's forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not
likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the
light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to
see anything at all of what are now called realities.
Glaucon: Not all in a moment.
Socrates: He will require to grow accustomed to the
sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows
best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the
water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze
upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled
heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night
better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
Glaucon: Certainly.