Response to the Allegory of the Cave

How does it apply to philosophy, to society, and to you?

The Allegory of the Cave applies directly towards the idea of philosophy, the way that it parallels philosophy’s theme and the portrayal over its existence is clear. The constant social standard’s that many adhere to is like the shadows on the wall, and the man who is able to see the outside world after ascending up the cave wall is similar to a philosopher trying to reach the answers to all the questions he asks. Philosophy and philosophical thinking has been criticized since the time people began to philosophize. This is very similar to the way the prisoners in the cave treated the man who had seen the outside world once he returned to confinement, they said his eyes were ruined, and thought he was foolish. This of course is much the opposite of the truth as he now had much more knowledge and a greater understanding of their world then the other prisoners. I think this blissful ignorance is exactly how philosophy is judged and has been portrayed over its existence.

Now, as stated previously the prisoners in The Allegory of the Cave seem very similar to that of society, in a way they are one in the same. The shadow’s that the prisoners see over and over again is the same as society’s standards for many different things that it has created. The same images shown over and over again or the same things being said to you over and over again, just because they are said or shown repeatedly does not necessarily make them facts. When the man in the Allegory of the cave is being lead out of the cave towards the light, this is to a philosopher the idea of him trying to work his way to the truth. It’s almost as if society has become blind to the idea of something different. So really, the prisoners in the cave replicate the way society acts towards philosophy and its teachings.

I think that the way this story the Allegory of the cave applies to me, is by me learning from it the message and the way that it teaches. I think that this story really is excellently written and when read shows almost, the philosophy of philosophy. Everyone should definitely read this story if they already haven’t. This being my first time reading the allegory of the cave I really enjoyed the imagery and the overall message within it. I had a thought that if maybe more people read this and began that journey up the cave wall that maybe, the journey would become easier with help from every different thinking person along the way. So really I’m glad that I got a chance to read such an excellent parable of philosophy. This Parable teaches differently, but in a way that is very intriguing. Though, this story should not be a theme to philosophy, this story should be a theme to the way humans apply themselves to life, everyday striving to find more in the world that you and I live in. In conclusion, the allegory of the cave applies to me in the way that I learn from its message, but it should apply to everyone to get the full effect of that message.

The Catcher in the Rye and the Media

The novel the Catcher in the rye has been a focus in the media for quite some time. Mainly because of the connection to the shooting death of the famous John Lennon, and the attempted murder of President Ronald Reagen. It's believed that the novel helped to trigger these horrific crimes as both of these men had copies of the book, John Lennon's killer had it on him at the time of the shooting. Also, both of these men had strong ties to the Catcher and the Rye novel, Ronald Reagen's attempted killer was believed to be obsessed with the book from a very early age. Of course , the media immediately got a hold of these facts which then undauntedly blew it completely out of portion saying the book triggered things in your mind through subtext. This was of course just a rumour, but many still believed it nonetheless. Yes, The Catcher in the Rye has been a very criticized novel, therefore of course the book has been banned in many places especially in the United States. I for one have read the book in its entirety and have felt no desire to go out and hurt anyone or has it changed my way of thought in anyway. Kyles Advice for this blog thought go out and read Catcher in the Rye because its not mind altering tool, its good literature.

What are some common elements that people see in books that they like to ban?

What are some similarities in the books getting banned today? A few that I have found are as follows; Inappropriate language, bold statements made in the book, statements made against a certain belief or religion, or generally offending a certain group of people. It seems a book can get banned for just about anything these days unless its talking about flowers, bunnies, and Sunshine's. Did you know some states are trying to ban the Harry Potter books because they feel it promotes witchcraft, WITCHCRAFT are you serious people? I thought this was done when we burned and through hundreds of women off of cliffs in the 16Th century. Obviously not. Witchcraft theories are still alive and kicking with these people challenging the Harry Potter books. It really seems almost like were moving back in time with this whole banning books thing. Let people read what they want, this isn't communist north Korea, this is Canada a free country, so why aren't we free to read what we want. It's not free or fair to tell people what they can and cannot read. All in all Yes, there are some similarities in the books getting banned, but some of the stuff that's being banned is just completely idiotic. All I can really say about banning books is just Stop doing it, it doesn't help, it makes no sense. Kyles advice for this blog thought STOP BANNING BOOKS! how many times do i gotta say it.

Are there not some books that should be banned? Who should decide when something is "age appropriate" for you? For people in Canada?

Let me start off by saying in my opinion no book should ever get banned for any reason. I see no point at all in banning a book because if you think about it what is written in these "banned books" is the thoughts of someone, so why are we banning it, what ever happened to freedom of speech? Why because its written on paper the government has the right to ban it? I think that's a bunch of bologne, a lot of these "banned books" are really good pieces of literature meant to entertain the mind and generate thought. None of these books were made especially to harm society or any certain individual, so why are we banning them? The practice of banning a book is a form of censorship, which in Canada you would be surprised to hear there is a lot of. The Canadian government usually will ban a book if it has material that are about sexuality, race, drugs, social standing, or if they feel it affects "public safety". But really though how is a book going to affect public safety, it really doesn't make any sense to me. Think about this one folks and Stop Banning Books seriously it makes no sense. Kyles advice for this blog thought Stand up and let everyone know I READ BANNED BOOKS.

Why ban these pieces of literature? What is in them that makes them so inflammatory?

It seems that books can get banned these days for just about anything, but what is the real reason books are getting banned. Is there some similarities in the text? Are the books being written to be banned?Who's banning these books? I for one would like to find these questions out, so...I have, through careful research and analyses. It seems that most of the time books get banned because they are offending some group or person. An example of this is in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck when the stable keep(Crooks) talks about there being no heaven. This offended many religious figures and therefore the book was banned. Another example is the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger a book that really isn't all that bad, but someone read this book misinterpreted it and ended up killing a very famous figure John Lennon. The man who shot John Lennon claims the reason he did it was because he felt his life mirrored that of Holden Caulfield the main character in Catcher and the Rye by J.D Salinger. It's unfortunate that great books like these are being banned just because of the way certain people interpret the book or whats said in the book. These books are fictional reads meant to entertain your mind, there not out there to hurt or cause any harm to society, they are written to entertain. Its all in the way these certain people interpret the read, so its not fair to shun the book from others just because of the way a certain person or group feels about it. All in all my opinion is a book should never be banned because its someones thoughts and feeling they do no harm to anyone, its when a fool gets hold of a book and puts their own spin on it, then make it out to be a harmful book society. Kyle's advice for this blog thought Don't Ban Books.

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Catcher in the Rye Quotation pt.4

Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 26

This is a quote from Holden Caulfield its one of the last things he says at the end of the Catcher in the Rye. What Holden's basically saying is that once you tell a story to someone after you do you think about it and start to miss everything or everybody in it. I can definitely relate to this one as I have had this same thing happen to me. It's very common to talk about something, then really start to analyze it and think deeper into it. I'm really impressed with this quote you could say because I think its one of the smartest things Holden has said in the whole book. It actually, for one "makes sense",two isn't hypocritical, and three it seems like he actually thought about it before he said it. Looks like Holden maybe did take my advice after all hahaha. But, seriously folks this is a great quote, one that makes a whole lot of sense for me and most likely probably does for you too. Good job Holden! So, Kyle's advice for this blog thought, pretty simple, keep up the good thinking.

Catcher in the Rye Quotation pt.3

All morons hate it when you call them a moron~JD Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 6

This quote is of course coming from the ever fascinating mind of Holden Caulfield, he's explaining to us that morons hate it when you call them morons. There is some truth to this a moron doesn't like being called a moron, but NO ONE ELSE DOES EITHER! It doesn't matter if you are a moron or not no one likes to be called one. I mean come on that's just common sense, Not any sane person on this earth wants to be called something that is supposed to be a insulting comment. If your insulting someone eventually they are going to come back at you and get mad. A good example of this is in the movie The Waterboy with Adam Sandler. In this movie, the waterboy (Adam Sandler) gets back at the people who have insulted him by tackling mercilessly in football. So, come on Holden maybe you should rethink that one. Kyles advice for this blog thought, think before you speak, seriously.

Advice to Holden

Holden Caulfield could definitely use some advice in his choices in life, but really I don't think he'd listen to it. Nonetheless what I would probably want to say to Holden is to stop analyzing everyone else, calling them phonies, telling them there wrong in what their doing, and take a look at himself and realize that he's the biggest phony there is. This young man lies pretty much about everything he does, not to mention he's constantly contradicting himself and doing things that he states are not things he does. It's all really ridiculous if you thing about it, your going around critiquing everything and everyone around you, when your doing the same things that you don't like. Its clear that he is very confused in what he's doing,what he believes in and even in what he's saying, it's all mixed up. Holden needs to really just step back a second and take a look at the big picture, take a look at everything he's done, everything he's said and maybe just try to analyze that. Then, maybe he will realize that he's the true phony. Kyle's advice for this thought, people come on, check yourself before you check others.hahaha. but seriously though.

A Catcher in Rye Quotation pt.2

"Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell"~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 15

This is Holden Caulfield speaking about money and how it can make you sad at times. For this particular quote Holden had just finished meeting two nuns who he donated ten dollars to, after the nuns leave he thinks to himself that he should have donated more to them. In which he then says this quote about money making him blue. In a lot of ways I agree with Holden on this subject, Yes I know its a rare occurrence, but I agree with Holden Caulfield, I said it, enjoy it, it doesn't happen often. Anyway, Yes indeed money can make you sad at times, but many believe money can also make you very happy, does it really though? I'm reminded of a famous saying that goes like this " Money isn't everything, it can buy a Bed, but not Sleep. It can buy a Clock, but not Time. It can buy you a Book, but not Knowledge. It can buy you a Position, but not Respect. It can buy you Medicine, but not Health. It can buy you Blood, but not Life. It can buy you Sex, but not Love. Money isn't everything." This always made a lot of sense to me and I'm sure now that you have heard it that you too understand it.

I think that what Holden Caulfield is feeling though is that either way you use money your always bound to feel some sort of regret. Whether it be you bought the wrong item, bought something you no longer like when you get home or maybe there was something better out there for your dollar, either way there's always that feeling of dought or regret. This is exactly what Holden was feeling when he made this statement, he felt that the donation he made was not enough and he wished he contributed more. So, in reality if your really think about it "Goddam Money, it always ends up making you blue as hell" J.D Salinger said it best and that's a fact. Kyles Advice for this blog thought Count your blessings, Money isn't everything in this world, it's really a minor factor in the big scheme of things.