How is truth manipulated in ‘The Truman Show’?

Throughout his life, someone has been able to offer Truman an explanation for every anxiety, every strange event - his dad's disappearance, the cinema light falling, the interference on the radio. However, as Truman steps out of the Seahaven Island set, at least he realizes that the world does not function so neatly. He embraces the idea of the unexpected, because at least he finally has control over the narrative. Truman's choice, then, is to recede from the public eye - both the viewers of his television show and of Weir's film. His importance has been an illusion, and he has chosen to abandon it for the truth.

John McGuire uses Plato's famous cave allegory to describe the viewers of "The Truman Show." Plato's story is about a group of prisoners who are chained in a dark cave and cannot see anything except the wall in front of them. The prisoners' knowledge of the outside world is dependent on whatever shadows appear on this wall. Therefore, their understanding of reality is limited in comparison to those who can turn around and look at the real thing, not the two-dimensional outline.

Plato's tale draws the distinction between reality and illusion. In this context, Truman becomes a "paradigmatic philosopher and teacher" who renounces the world of illusion (or television). However, the audience of "The Truman Show" is not inspired by Truman's courage. Instead, they look for a new illusion to lose themselves in. In essence, McGuire asserts, Truman breaks through the walls of the cave, while the viewers voluntarily keep staring at shadows.