Ignorance can be defined as a lack of knowledge, experience and information; or as I call it: the most toxic element of mankind. Ignorance can distort and change a person's opinions and potentially interfere with freedom and quality of life. In some cases it can determine life or death. You may ask yourself: am I ignorant? How can I identify ignorance in my life? Through four literary examples in which humanity chooses to live in ignorance, despite the presence of enlightenment, readers can consider areas of ignorance in their own lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Inherit the Wind by Lawrence and Lee highlights the battle between ignorance and enlightenment and prepares readers for when they will have to choose between defending knowledge or remaining in ignorance. Authors Lawrence and Lee use political and religious characters to represent ignorance. Leaders like the mayor of Hillsboro and Mathew Harrison Brady have a strong thirst for power and are able to manipulate their followers into staying in their dark, unenlightened world. For example, the mayor of Hillsboro warns the judge to avoid discussing unpopular/controversial topics (such as evolution) when he states that "it doesn't do any of them any good to have any of the voters in a rage." The mayor encourages familiar but hindering lifestyles, rather than exposing citizens to a modern world of science. But the authors include characters like Henry Drummond to act as spokespersons for knowledge. Rather than choosing a side or trying to get people to listen to him, Drummond encourages the people of Hillsboro to think for themselves. Drummond is an encourager of free thought. He wants people who can think for themselves and who aren't just "put through a meat grinder so that they all come out the same" (Lawrence and Lee 21). Through these characters and the constant tension present throughout the story, readers can see that the argument between ignorance and enlightenment is one to consider. Plato's Allegory of the Cave is another example of ignorant individuals choosing lack of knowledge over enlightenment, an idea that should be noted by readers. The dark cave symbolically suggests the modern world of ignorance and the chained people symbolize the ignorant people in this ignorant world. Plato says that after one of the men is freed from his chains and sees outside the cave, he realizes that the dark cave lacks the fullness of all that the world has to offer. The man who is freed "considers himself fortunate for the transformation that has taken place in him" (Plato 5). He runs back to the cave to tell the others who were chained about real life and to help them release their ignorance too. He offers other men in chains a chance to be free, a chance to live life, a chance to be enlightened. But, due to their ignorance, the other chained men reject him. In fact, their ignorance has blinded the other chained men so much that they believe his journey into the outside world has made him stupid. Readers should consider Plato's hidden philosophy in this allegory and apply it to themselves. Jon Krakauer teaches readers about the consequences of ignorance through the main character Chris McCandless in his book Into the Wild. Some may describe Chris McCandless as an idealist or nature enthusiast, but after reading Into the Wild it is clear that McCandless was highly ignorant, arrogant, and perhaps mentally unstable. 41).