The Vegetarian

The Vegetarian The Vegetarian is a short Korean novel by Han Kang translated by Deborah Smith which, described bluntly, follows the self-destructive consequences of a woman’s new-born vegetarian lifestyle with the conviction that she will turn into a tree. It’s tough to describe in few words and doesn’t make much logical sense, and yet, that is what made it captivating for me. It was haunting, even if at times the plot got psychologically disturbing. We never get to see the story from Yeong-Hye’s perspective, the woman in question. Instead, we learn about Yeong-Hye through her husband’s voice, Mr. Cheong, then her sister’s, In-hye, and her brother-in-law (whose name is not given). Yeong-Hye lives under her husband’s patriarchal expectations, compliant  without restraint. However, one night and one dream changes all of that. Yeong-Hye awakes vegetarian. This disrupts the whole context, bothering her husband whose diet inevitably changes as well when Yeong-Hye throws away all animal produce from their fridge. Despite his complains, Yeong-Hye surprisingly refuses to change. She no longer plays her life around what is expected of her and thus breaks every foundation around her. Her family, her husband’s sanity, and above all herself. Even at a family dinner and her father’s persistent tries, and to the shock of the company, she revolts by stabbing herself. Her husband, instead of worrying most about Yeong-Hye’s wellbeing, worries about how her image will impact his own. Invited by his boss to dinner, Mr. Cheong’s main concern is what his colleagues will think about him. This creates a great contrast between the violence of one’s inner monologue (in this case Yeong-Hye’s view on meat) and the cruel indifference of external expectations. In other words, your responsibilities towards society are never excused. Thus, in a way, becoming a tree for Yeong-Hye means becoming reliant only on natural resources, away from societal contact. Mr. Cheong is just one element that showed us from the beginning how acts of violence become cyclical once disguised as expectations. She no longer plays her life around what is expected of her and thus breaks every foundation around her. The Vegetarian is Han Kang’s first internationally recognized novel. Han Kang has a particular visual and sensual style that makes the plot themes provocative and captivating. Far from focusing on vegetarianism itself, I found it impressive how she wrote the novel in a way that forces you to look deeper into the “why” instead of the surface level “what”. With these extreme cases, Han Kang highlights what usually goes unnoticed, that being domestic violence against women and their long-term effects. Deciding vegetarianism, Yeong-hye chooses the only way she believes able to rebel and takes agency for her own life for the first time. Han Kang wrote the novel in a way that forces you to look deeper into the “why” instead of the surface level “what”. So far, we omitted mentioning two important characters in the novel: Yeong-Hye’s brother-in-law and her sister In-hye. Yeong-Hye’s brother-in-law becomes obsessed with Yeong-Hye’s body and sexualizes her to the point of impelling her to sleep with him on camera, backfiring when In-hye discovers the photos. In-hye then sends her sister to a mental hospital, partly from anger but mostly from genuine concern. Among all other family members, In-hye is the one to keep pushing for Yeong-Hye’s recovery, even if everyone else have already given up. But Yeong-Hye’s self-starvation and conviction she’ll turn into a tree persist, and In-hye’s attempts to control this self-destruction, even if stemming from a place of love, highlight the exact issue which led to it in the first place- the lack of personal autonomy in Yeong-Hye’s life. Ultimately, The Vegetarian is a small yet intensive novel that encourages readers to think critically about concepts of control and their limits when it comes to relationships and their own outlook of societal expectations. Book cover for La Vegetariana, Spanish translation for the novel. Credits: Amazon Media