I realize now that it may be too late to do the blog on the republic but... i am going to make a last ditch effort.

The republic was interesting because the cave could have meant so many things but...I thought this:

The darkness of the cave is regular human existance without exploration of philosiphy or humankind. The fire is the flicker of knowledge that we see, but many do not touch because we fear it, yet it brings us light. We are afraid of the unknown. The person who unchains us is the one who shows us the light, or teaches us new things. This light may harm the eyes, as it did for the people in the cave, but we adjust to it. This is why people did not like socrates. Because they could not adjust to his thoughts and teachings. There you have it. I'm sorry but it really means nothing now. Bet you heard alot about caves a while back.