According to Kant’s excerpt from “What is Enlightenment?,” we learned that in order for people to become enlightened they must be able to break free of the control of their “guardians”. These guardians would ward us off from making choices that go against the social norm of society such as not taking certain risks because they can lead to failure. Wollstonecraft weaves her ideas of feminism into the concept of enlightenment which we stills use today. This idea that it’s okay for men and women to not strictly adhere to or completely surrender to society’s gender roles has become much more accepted in today’s society than ever before. However these ideas have a connection within the three chapters we covered in Cao Xueqin’s “The Story of the Stone.”
The jade stone that was created by the goddess Nu-Wa when she was repairing the sky seems to represent a enlightenment because the child Bayou is born with a jade stone in his mouth in the story. I would assume that children born with this stone in their mouths are destined to be extraordinary but not always in the way the families might like. When Yuccan was traveling he came across a child he tutored who was very difficult to teach in the accustomed way Yuccan was used to teaching. Eventually Yuccan resigns and says,”A boy like that will never be able to keep up the family traditions or listen to the advice of his teachers and friends.”(page 539) This is an example of the old generations groups of “guardians” trying to force the same way of thinking upon the child. However since the child has not given into this way of thinking he will be able to carve his own path by his own means not by the means of tradition.
The child that is born, Bayou, also seems to hold significance because shown different items to select or play with he singles out items that are deemed to be for women such as a bracelet. Instead of acknowledging that his child will be different especially after having the jade stone in his mouth when he is born the father just shrugs his own child off because he’s not different for the reasons he wants. Along with this the child that Yuccan tutors cries out for girls whenever he is in pain he seems to find peace when girls are around because he also claims he cannot study without them there. However once when he cried out one of the girls said, “Why do you always call to us when you are hurt? I suppose you think we shall come and plead for you to be let off. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!”(page 539) He is being looked down upon for crying which even today is seen as something that boys should not do and even again the girl speaks lowly of herself because she seems to think that she can only plead for someone to be let off as if she herself is incapable of anything else. After hearing all this Yuccan even laughs at him for it.
I think both these boys are an ideal example of what we learned from Kant and Wollstonecraft because even though they’re ideas and tendencies are frowned on by their families and teachers they do not care. The fact that they don’t care means they have no guardian to hold their ideas back or limit them, therefore they are great examples of enlightened thinkers.