Links between The Matrix and Plato's Cave

After we had finished watching "The Matrix" and finished writing our film reviews, we saw a clay animation of a story told by Plato called "The Cave". It was about how these three men were locked up in a cave facing a wall since they were born, behind them was a fire and when people crossed the fire it would cast shadows on their wall. Therefor all they knew was this wall and because of this, when one of them was released to see the world he had been missing out on and came back to tell them. They could not believe him and could not hear him as they did not believe it.

As you can see from this brief explanation there are a lot of similarities between 'The Cave' and 'The Matrix'. First of all there is the fact that in both stories there were people who are trapped and can only see what they are allowed to see. I the matrix this is shown by the by how people are only in a computer simulation of reality and thus can only see what the computers want them to see. In the cave this is shown by the prisoners only being allowed to see the wall.

Second of all there is a point in each story where one of the people gets to see the bigger picture of life and actually experience the real world. The matrix shows this by Neo picking the red pill and getting decoded out of the matrix. In the cave this is shown by one of the prisoners being released and being allowed to see the real world for himself. In both stories the people trapped do not find a way out by themselves, as they only get out with the help of someone else.