The Necessity of Education in Malcolm X’s “Prison Studies” and Plato's “Allegory of the Cave"

📌Category: Allegory of the Cave, Books, Education
📌Words: 808
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 21 January 2022

Reality perception is the process by which we perceive and understand the world around us. It is a process that involves the way in which we see, feel and act in relation to our surroundings. Education is an important factor in shaping our perceptions in terms of how we view the world. If there is a lack of education, people will tend to misinterpret reality, and they won’t be mentally alive. One can become mentally alive when they are introduced to a variety of information that can expand their knowledge. Education was essential for the development of a person’s mind, is what both Malcolm X and Plato believed. Two examples of this belief are Malcolm X’s, “Prison Studies” and Plato's, “Allegory of the Cave” which are both based on the idea that education is necessary for a person to be able to understand the world around them.

Education has the ability to open the mind of an individual to issues that occur around them. In order to learn about issues occurring around you, you must first go out and try to see things from another perspective by educating yourself. Malcolm X was able to educate himself in prison. It was from there that Malcolm X became more aware of what was happening in the African American community. Malcolm X wrote, “My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America” (Malcolm X 77). By self-educating himself, he learned how to be a better person and became aware of issues affecting his race in society. Malcolm X was able to do this because he pursued an education while in prison, overcoming all hardships. He states, “I don’t think anybody every got more out of going to prison than I did. In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college” (Malcolm X 77). Malcolm X's education helped him to become a better person and opened his mind to the world, leaving him mentally alive. I can agree with Malcolm X that education is important in understanding issues that affect our lives. It helps us understand how we are affected by society and how we can change it if needed. I believe that education also shows the importance of being mentally alive because we need to be able to think critically about things that are happening around us.

If one isn't educated, then they will be ignorant towards the true nature of reality. In Plato's, “Allegory of the Cave” Plato describes a group of people chained in a cave, where they cannot see anything but shadows. They don't know what is real or unreal, so they are unable to see things beyond the shadows. I think the prisoners represent humans that are uneducated, trapped by their own ignorance. Plato states, “All in all, then, what people in this situation would take for truth would be nothing more than the shadows of the manufactured objects” (Plato 1). Since the prisoners have no idea what is real and what isn't, they can't see beyond the shadows, therefore their minds are limited to believing the shadows are the real thing. This demonstrates how the prisoners are ignorant to reality, since they don't know what is real and what isn't; they won't understand the true nature of reality because these shadows are reality to them.

In order to be mentally alive, one must be open to new ideas. Being open to new ideas can lead to a better understanding of reality, resulting in one becoming mentally alive. Malcolm X was open to new ideas due to him realizing he had a lack of knowledge while in prison. For example, he states, "I spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary's pages. I'd never realized so many words existed! I didn't know which words I needed to learn. Finally, just to start some kind of action, I began copying" (Malcolm X 75). Malcolm X used his harsh circumstance to find some sort of solution to his problems. I think this is a great way to represent being open to new ideas because although Malcolm X was in prison, he used that experience for his own benefit. Being open to new ideas had engaged Malcolm X to develop his own views and beliefs, therefore starting his quest to become mentally alive. I believe that it is important to be open minded to new ideas because they can help you grow as an individual. The more you are exposed to different perspectives, the better you will be able to understand the world around you.

Being mentally alive helps us see things from different perspectives. Education is the key to our ability to learn and grow. It allows us to gain knowledge and skills that we can use to analyze the world around us. In my opinion, Malcolm X and Plato are both great examples of how education is essential in shaping one’s mind. Education is a way for people to develop their minds, without it, people won’t be able to think critically and will misinterpret reality.

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