What's The Difference Between Here-America And Vietnam?

“What’s the difference between here—America—and Vietnam?” I received this question every time someone found out that I was born and raised in Vietnam. Before I came to America, I lived in a Communist country that controlled almost every aspect of your life. I had to go to a state approved school—which my family had to pay for—that propagated a lot of media that shows America as an evil country. I grew up in an environment where your future occupation is usually the occupation of your father or family. For almost 30 years, the borders of Vietnam were closed to all western countries and any news from the outside world was heavily censored. Once I came over to America, I was placed in an environment that vastly different then what I was raised …show more content…
At the beginning he described the perspective of the prisoners and how we, in a way, are those prisoners. He also describes the environment of the prisoners; he stated that the prisoners are chained inside a cave. Here the “cave” symbolizes how we all live in a world that we consider reality. Ever since we are able to comprehend the world around us, we hold some perspective of that reality that may be false. Once the prisoner was freed and was allowed to look at the light behind him, Socrates asked Glauco “will he not be perplexed?” (Plato, pg. 202). This question explained the process of the prisoner trying to comprehend what he saw was a reality that was much different than what he had known his entire life. But now that he was able to see the objects that the shadow represents, his knowledge and perspective has changed. Plato then went on and explained that the prisoner has now been taken out of the cave and placed into the world. Up to this point, the prisoner has only known 2 things for certain, the shadows and the objects that casted those shadows. But once the prisoner’s eyes are accustomed to the light, the prisoner now has a better understanding of where he came from. Now that the prisoner has been taken out of the cave, the prisoner was able to see that there is a world outside of what he had known all his life. Here, Socrates told Glauco that the prisoner now has to go down and must inform the other prisoners of the world that lies beyond the shadows; for the prisoner has now acquired a new perspective of the world. As Socrates ask Glauco to place himself in the shoes of the prisoner, Glauco was able to come to a new understanding of what we must do to obtain a truer reality. As we break out of our caves, we must not neglect those that are still in those caves, but we must help them