Ship Of Fools

by Michael R Hayter · Bristol, GB

The Ship of Fools was a metaphor created by Plato to represent the idea of bad government. Each deck hand represents a member of a government (the ship represents the State) in which each thinks he knows how best to govern the country, but there is no leadership - just a babel of conflicting voices. And so the ship (i.e., the State) lurches this way and that, lacking any coherent leadership or consensus. To me this metaphor also holds true for the dilemmas, internal thoughts, feelings and conflicts that spring up within an individual. Such conflicts can at best result in inaction - and at worst, paralysis - within the life of a person. Here the ship has been washed up upon the beach after a storm (see the torn, wet sails) and many of the crew thrown clear - winded and almost drowned. For me the ship represents the self, grounded but shaken free of its troublesome crew.