Brutus

In the beginning of Julius Caesar Brutus is in turmoil between doing what he thinks is best for Rome and being loyal to Caesar. "Vexed I am of late with passions of some difference, conceptions only proper to myself, which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors." Brutus is explaining to Cassius that he is distraught with himself and the fact Caesar is rising to power. These, he is saying, are responsible for his unusual actions. Brutus strives to maintain his nobility and honorable position in society and will do anything for the good of Rome. His overall ambitions are driven by his love of the Roman Empire. However Cassius persuades Brutus, quiet easily, to turn over to the conspirators' side and eliminate Caesar from power. Cassius used Brutus' love of Rome to convince him that eradicating Caesar would be for the better. I thought Brutus was the most intriguing because he is a man willing to cut down another man, who has not personally wronged him, simply to aid a greater cause. On one hand I want to believe he should be highly venerated, but on the other I think he can't fully think for himself and can easily be persuaded. However Brutus was still a good man wanting to do the right thing. He firmly stood by his belief and even carried it with him to battle. Near the end Brutus reverts back to his original stance on things, "Caesar, now be still, I kill'd not thee with half so good a will." He now realizes that his motives for killing Caesar were weak and that his own death is the only logical outcome.

Most Political figures represent Brutus in one way or another. They are highly influenced by outside forces, whether this be companies, organizations or their constituents. They all want to do the right thing to help our nation and due to the multitude of view points, their actions will be perceived as right or wrong in one way or another. But overall politicians want to do the right thing just as Brutus wanted to ensure a bright future for the Roman Empire.

The Allegory of the Cave

1. The shadows that move along the visible wall of the cave represent a false sense of reality. The prisoners have never known the origin of theses shadows so they have taken them as actual objects of their world. They truly signify our misguided beliefs resulting from our failure to ponder and contemplate the world around us. These shadows are a shallow pond compared to the vast ocean of the world. Equally comparable would be our prior concept of the world. We believed the world was the center of the solar system and all other bodies orbited around us. Then philosophers came up with the idea that the sun was the center and the Earth and other planets rotated around it. On a first glance to the untrained eye, it would appear that the stars were orbiting around us. This incorrect conjecture is exactly what the shadows on the cave wall exemplify, a false notion of the surrounding world. A more recent example would be the story of the stork and where children believe babies come from. They are misguided, until they reach out and try to grasp the reality of where they really com from. These illusions misguide us in our everyday lives.

2. Another illusion we face daily is the altered images we perceive on billboards, magazines and other advertising tools. These advertisements feature men and women who are airbrushed and altered to near perfection. Perfection that absolutely no one can naturally achieve. These are shadows because of the false sense of beauty and perfection that are illustrated everywhere. The truth is that no one truly looks like this and the companies that pay for these ads, are only worried about the money people will pay in hopes of achieving these concepts of pure beauty.

3. Shadows influence society in negative ways. As a whole, society is crafted into believing false concepts of reality. Shadows narrow our thinking to a limited space which makes it impossible for us to gaze at the "bigger picture" in life. In the beauty industry they illustrate what the ideal women should look like but can never attain. If we trust these shadows society will be wrongly informed and we will eventually loose sight on life around us.