<P> Plato continues, saying that the freed prisoner would think that the world outside the cave was superior to the world he experienced in the cave; "he would bless himself for the change, and pity (the other prisoners)" and would want to bring his fellow cave dwellers out of the cave and into the sunlight (516c). </P> <P> The returning prisoner, whose eyes have become accustomed to the sunlight, would be blind when he re-enters the cave, just as he was when he was first exposed to the sun (516e). The prisoners, according to Plato, would infer from the returning man's blindness that the journey out of the cave had harmed him and that they should not undertake a similar journey . Socrates concludes that the prisoners, if they were able, would therefore reach out and kill anyone who attempted to drag them out of the cave (517a). </P> <P> The allegory contains many forms of symbolism used to describe the state of the world . The cave is a symbol of the world and the prisoners are those who inhabit the world . The chains that prevent the prisoners from leaving the cave represent ignorance, meaning they interfere with the prisoners seeing the truth . The shadows cast on the walls of the cave represent what people see in the present world . Last, the freed prisoner represents those in society who see the physical world for the illusion that it is . </P> <P> The allegory is probably related to Plato's theory of Forms, according to which the "Forms" (or "Ideas"), and not the material world known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality . Only knowledge of the Forms constitutes real knowledge or what Socrates considers "the good". Socrates informs Glaucon that the most excellent people must follow the highest of all studies, which is to behold the Good . Those who have ascended to this highest level, however, must not remain there but must return to the cave and dwell with the prisoners, sharing in their labors and honors . </P>

Who is the freed prisoner in the allegory of the cave