The Story

T hree prisoners have been chained deep inside a cave for their whole life. They are chained so tightly that all they ever see or experience are the grotesque shadows cast on a wall from a fire that is burning behind them. This is the only reality they have ever known.

T hen one day, a prisoner is released. He is blinded by the light outside the cave and astonished to see a completely new reality of people, animals, and objects casting these shadows into the cave.

H e scurries back to tell the prisoners the news, but to his dismay, the prisoners do not believe his fantastic stories of the world outside of the cave. For the shadows on the wall are the only reality the prisoners have ever known, and therefore, to them, that is all that will ever exist.