Father held his daughter prisoner for 24 years

Originally Posted by Bradylama

If all of these kids hopped into a car and drove off a cliff, I would understand completely.

I know what you're saying. How do you live a normal life knowing that? It must be mind-blowing. That's hard enough, then there are the poor fuckers who never came out of this cellar before now. How the hell do you just start living a normal life after so many years of imprisonment, right from birth?

This scenario reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Imagine prisoners who have been chained since their childhood deep inside a cave: not only are their arms and legs unmovable because of chains; their heads are chained in one direction as well so that their gaze is fixed on a wall.

Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway, along which puppets of various animals, plants, and other things are moved along. The puppets cast shadows on the wall, and the prisoners watch these shadows. When one of the puppet-carriers speaks, an echo against the wall causes the prisoners to believe that the words come from the shadows.

The prisoners engage in what appears to us to be a game: naming the shapes as they come by. This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of objects. They are thus conditioned to judge the quality of one another by their skill in quickly naming the shapes and dislike those who play poorly.

Suppose a prisoner is released and compelled to stand up and turn around. At that moment his eyes will be blinded by the sunlight coming into the cave from its entrance, and the shapes passing by will appear less real than their shadows.

The last object he would be able to see is the sun, which, in time, he would learn to see as the object that provides the seasons and the courses of the year, presides over all things in the visible region, and is in some way the cause of all these things that he has seen.

Once enlightened, so to speak, the freed prisoner would not want to return to the cave to free "his fellow bondsmen," but would be compelled to do so. Another problem lies in the other prisoners not wanting to be freed: descending back into the cave would require that the freed prisoner's eyes adjust again, and for a time, he would be one of the ones identifying shapes on the wall. His eyes would be swamped by the darkness, and would take time to become acclimated. Therefore, he would not be able to identify the shapes on the wall as well as the other prisoners, making it seem as if his being taken to the surface completely ruined his eyesight.

Originally Posted by Free.User

This scenario reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

This article appeared in our local paper today and caught my eye because of the geographically similar case of the girl who escaped after eight years from imprisonment. That and the fact that something like this is so horrific, I believe it's almost worse than death to suffer torture like that. I can only hope that she receives the best psychiatric care possible, because experiencing such injustice for that length of time would seem to almost be irreversible, what with the conditioning that has taken place. One would have to have a superhuman will to endure. That, plus the scary fact that this kind of thing or worse could happen anywhere without anyone knowing is indescribable. My deepest condolences most obviously.

LeHah, if you've got shit to say, then say it.

allegory of the cave has absolutely no relation to this, you fucking jackass

Originally Posted by Free.User

LeHah, if you've got shit to say, then say it.

If I have to explain it to you, you obviously don't need to know.

Just listen to LZ, hes got the right idea.

I was referring to the notion of having no contact with the outside world.

And we're referring to the notion of you shutting your goddamn mouth. This isn't exactly the best place for your mental masturbation.

Originally Posted by Free.User

I was referring to the notion of having no contact with the outside world.

Which just shows how grossly you misunderstand Plato.

If anything, this is in direct opposition to Plato - since not only did the girl know there was a world beyond the basement, but she was later brought out into it.

How gullible must his wife have been to believe whatever lies he was telling her???! You'd think she would be a little suspicious. Poor girl.

It's pretty good to read these kinds of things. Just makes us think of the thinks a person is capable of doing.

It's fascinating how the mind works.

Originally Posted by Vemp

It's pretty good to read these kinds of things. Just makes us think of the thinks a person is capable of doing.

Yeah, that post by sarah100 is incredibly bad, isn't it?

Free.User, I think the girl was 18 when she was imprisoned, so I would assume that she didn't start off without any notion of the outside world. She probably went to school and had birthday parties or whatever. Unless you're talking about the children in the underground cellar, then I guess it makes sense....?

Regarding the story, my friend told me this yesterday, but actually reading about the details is pretty sickening. I hope there's going to be more information soon, since there's so many questions that haven't been answered. My main one would be how the mom had no idea, or what exactly the father told his daughter and wife; did the daughter know that she was in her home's basement? Was there any escape attempts? I hope this guy gets thrown in prison for a long time, with an announcement regarding his crime the moment he steps into jail. Dirty fucker.

I read today that the daughter/granddaughter who was brought to hospital is going to die within the next few days as her organs are failing as a direct consequence of her imprisonment (although the article did not specify the kind of condition she suffers from). The man will therefore be charged with double murder.

As for the wife, I would assume she has been living in denial and oppression from her husband, not wanting to see anything. Then again, I do not know the details of her circumstances.

Originally Posted by Traveller87

As for the wife, I would assume she has been living in denial and oppression from her husband, not wanting to see anything. Then again, I do not know the details of her circumstances.

You do realize that you just said "I believe this! Except I have no pertinent facts to base it on!"

Originally Posted by Free.User

This scenario reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

How? No seriously, HOW? HOW?

Originally Posted by Traveller87

I read today that the daughter/granddaughter who was brought to hospital is going to die within the next few days as her organs are failing as a direct consequence of her imprisonment (although the article did not specify the kind of condition she suffers from). The man will therefore be charged with double murder.

Who was the other person that died? Or are they counting her twice since she's his daughter and granddaughter?