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Keep in mind these are my interpretations of this work as I read it.
1: Persuasion without receptivity is futile.
Polemarchus said to me: I percieve, Socrates, that you and your companions are already on your way to the city.
You are not far wrong, I said.
But do you see, he rejoined, how many we are?
Of course.
And are you stronger than all of these? for if not, you will have to remain where you are.
May there not be the alternative, I said, that we may persuade you to let us go?
But can you persuade us, if we refuse to listen to you? he said.
Certainly not, replied Glaucon.
Then we are not going to listen; of that you may be assured.
This passage reflects the inherent difficulty of trying to persuade somebody that is not willing to listen, for the speaker's energy is spent in vain. Reason can not compel the unwilling.
This moment also reflects the fragile balance between reason and might, prompting the reader to question whether reason can truly rule over force, a question which, at this point in the dialogue, remains unresolved.