{"id":117,"date":"2017-05-15T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T12:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/the-vegetarian-by-han-kang-korea-2007\/"},"modified":"2022-03-01T09:14:48","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T22:14:48","slug":"the-vegetarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/the-vegetarian\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Korea, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When I began this short and beautifully written novel, where strange blood-thirsty dreams are intertwined with mundane, domestic situations, I thought that it may have been about the central character’s (Yeong-hye), attempts to free herself from the male-dominated society in which she lives. Her decision to stop eating meat was, for me, a sign of a hesitant independence and an awareness of her many soul-destroying relationships \u2013 all of which are threatening to destroy her.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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However, as I read on, I realized that Han Kang\u2019s book delves much deeper than male dominance and female acquiescence. It may well be about the restrictions imposed by a male-dominated society, but I feel that it is also about the many other restrictions that limit both<\/em> men and women. Most people are unaware of the limitations, because they are not interested in pushing boundaries. They spend mundane, unfulfilled lives somewhere in a safe middle zone. Han Kang herself has said that the book is an allegory for present-day Korea; as such, it is probably a description of Korea\u2019s attempt to find herself and realize her potential.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Yeong-hye knows that there is something else, but to reach this <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i>something else<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i> she also knows that she has to extricate herself from everything that is holding her back \u2013 first meat and eventually <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i>any<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i> kind of food: she needs to become as one with the natural environment around her. Her brother-in-law, the artist, is subconsciously aware of the beauty that exists beyond that point of letting-go, but he is unable to let go, fettered, as it were, by his animal desires. At the end of the book, Yeong-hye\u2019s sister, In-hye, begins to understand that Yeong-hye is not mad, and she finally understands what it is that her sister has been trying to communicate.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Like a painting, this is a beautiful but disturbing book with many different levels and, no doubt, many individual interpretations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Photo of Han Kang above from <\/span><\/span>Barnes & Noble<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When I began this short and beautifully written novel, where strange blood-thirsty dreams are intertwined with mundane, domestic situations, I thought that it may have been about the central character’s (Yeong-hye), attempts to free herself from the male-dominated society in which she lives. Her decision to stop eating meat was, for me, a … <\/p>\n

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