What do the shadows on the wall represent? According to the allegory, the cave represents the ordinary world of society. Similar to the cave, the ordinary world of society is made up of conventional thoughts, truths, and beliefs. This ordinary world is therefore populated by ordinary individuals, prisoners, who do not take the time to analyze and question their realities. While the cave represents today's ordinary societies, the shadows represent a distorted version of the truth. Like the prisoners in the cave, individuals in the ordinary world are exposed to different and distorted versions of the truth that overshadow the real truth. 5) The other prisoners react with disdain and violence towards the enlightened one. Are there any parallels in history with this type of treatment for people with unconventional disorders ?