They would think less of the actual object, and more of the shadows, because the shadows are all they know. What if a prisoner was brought outside where the sun was shining? The prisoner would be blinded at first, but as time went by, they could see dark images and the sun would be the last thing they could see. He would have pain in his eyes from looking at the sun as he is accustomed to only being in the darkness. Once he is accustomed to the sun, they would then see the objects for what they really are, not just their shadows. Also, what if he is thrown right back in this cave, will he not have the same reaction in his eyes as he did when he was brought up to the sunlight? "Imagine once more, such a one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?" (Lawhead, 34)2.
Prisoners learn from what they see. Plato says the prisoners are mistaking what they think the shadows are because they are only shadows, not the real thing. For example, imagine if the prisoner saw the shadow of an apple, he would say that's an apple, referring to what he is looking at. Really all he can see though is the shadow of an apple; to see the real apple he would have to turn his head. They categorize things as they appear to them. Plato's point is that we give names to the actual objects that we see, but really they're the names of the things we can't really see. Plato's explanation can be split into different stages. The first stage is the imagination stage, when the prisoners are referring to the shadows because they think they are the most real things in the world. The next stage would be the thought stage when they have strong allegations on things they see. When the prisoners are released and they see the things that are more real than the shadows that they thought were real, they then understand how the fire and puppets cause shadows.
