Thinking Outside the Box

Plato with  "Allegory of the Cave" and Satre with "No Exit" both write about the limitations of human thinking. However, they do this is distinct ways. They both use metaphors and extended metaphor to essentially convey the same message.

 In " Allegory of the Cave" the people were limited to what surrounded them. They were hidebound to anything that they were not familiar with and therefore did not believe what the man who had left the cave told them. They purposely limited their thinking to what they knew and was familiar with them. They didn't want to bother with what was outside their comfort zone.They never searched for more than what was available to them. They simply relied on what was at reach to them.The shackles represented what was holding the prisoners back. A cave is usually thought of as a dark, dank place. The cave represents how they were "in the dark" with their knowledge. It is important that we do not wait for knowledge to come to us but that we go out and look for it and be open minded about things that may be new to us.


 In "No Exit" the characters are limited with their thinking because of isolation and also limited by what the people they are with tell them. In the play, people in hell is used instead of prisoners in a cave. Instead of being limited to the people that surround you,  listen to others' opinions and thinking instead of being limited to those that surround you. Garcin, Inez, and Estelle only have each other to listen. This is especially visible with Estelle. She validates her existence based on what Garcin and Inez tell her. She, in a sense, depends on the thinking of others instead of also trusting her own thinking. She is open to the thinking of others but is perhaps too dependent on it. Also, Garcin not leaving the room when he was given the chance shows that many people do not venture out in search of knowledge when they are given the opportunity. Again, we need to seek knowledge rather than being limited to what is already at grasp

Plato and Satre both express about the limitations of our thinking through "Allegory of the Cave" and "No Exit." Both show that many are not willing to accept new concepts or ideas that they are no used to. That is one way in which our thinking is limited. Our thinking is also limited if we are dependent on the thinking of others, as it is seen in "No Exit."