Sometimes, at the most random of times, when I am doing something of no importance, I am reminded of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, and suddenly it’s all I can think about: the memory of Kang’s haunting prose paralyzes me. The decision to give up meat is Yeong-hye’s alone, but the actions of her husband, her father, and even her brother-in-law to some extent, do not allow her to stick to this decision. A remarkable memoir about being a Black student on a white Canadian campus, A Southern Gothic dark comedy that is not without its faults, Research on racial, LGBTQ+, gender disparities, mental health, Living in translation: from South Korea to the rest of the world, Content warning: mentions of domestic abuse, Sometimes, at the most random of times, when I am doing something of no importance, I am reminded of Han Kang’s. The novel centres around Yeong-hye, a housewife who decides to become a vegetarian after a series of violent dreams. Han Kang's novel, 'The Vegetarian,' tells the story of Yeong-hye. , and suddenly it’s all I can think about: the memory of Kang’s haunting prose paralyzes me. By the end, the only one who stands by Yeong-hye is her sister In-hye, as she navigates Yeong-hye’s stay at a mental institution. All in all, The White Book is a powerful statement of less being more, and of simplicity conveying some of the biggest realities of our world. Kang takes this idea to the farthest extent with the philosophical question, should a person be allowed to choose to die because their life is just that, their own life? Further, by using Yeong-hye as a proxy of sorts, her husband, brother-in-law, and sister are forced to acknowledge their own mental instability and their own feelings that are brought out due to Yeong-hye’s worsening physical and mental health. was first published in Korea in 2007, and the English translation was published in 2016, which went on to win the Man Booker International Book Prize. The audience can predict the personality of the protagonist as an average wife. She sees it as a way to oppose the violent tendencies of human nature, in order to find her own peace in life. unfamiliar and disengaged in social activities. Paperback edition. The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880. The different narration emphasizes Yeong-hye’s determination to become a vegetarian, which has become a serious problem to her health, disengaged in social activities. There are very few authors who capture human nature like her — skirting between realism and surrealism — unafraid to express the raw truth through words on a page. There are chapters on salt, snow, the moon, and white birds, all of which convey Kang’s reflections on the different topics in fragments. At the age of nine, Kang was a witness to the Gwangju Massacre (Reynolds). Mr. Cheong, her husband, was the first to acknowledge her vegetarianism which disrupted their daily, In The Vegetarian by Han Kang, what appears to be one insubordinate South Korean woman’s choice to not eat meat, becomes a much larger issue revolving around what is normal, and just how far others should be allowed to impose their own views of reality onto another person’s life. Having recently had a dream that has convinced her to cease eating any meat whatsoever, and finds that such a decision is affect nearly all aspects of her life. Han Kang’s The Vegetarian includes three perspectives of people who closely associate with Yeong-hye to provide various views of their thoughts and experiences with her. Yeong-hye’s family sees her change as a disgrace, which only makes the woman’s discomfort amplify, The opening sentence, “Before my wife turned vegetarian, I’d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way.”, shapes the plot by introducing the main character in the perspective of one of the narrators. Evil In Han Kang's The Vegetarian. Han Kang’s The Vegetarian includes three perspectives of people who closely associate with Yeong-hye to provide various views of their thoughts and experiences with her.