Review by koreeee - The Vegetarian

koreeee 's review for:

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

5.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“Why, is it such a bad thing to die?”

Told through the perspective of her husband, brother-in-law, and older sister, we follow Yeong-hye as her mental health worsens while going against the societal pressure of how to be a woman. It is a grueling narrative, told exclusively through the eyes of people who fail to understand her. Yeong-hye’s motives are unclear to even the reader, which doesn’t matter because those closest to her–who are supposed to do their best in supporting her–see her resistance to societal norms as moral failings.

While I do recommend this book for anyone who wants to get into grittier feminist literature, I would not say this is a great introduction to Kang’s work because it is so out-there in terms of subject. It’s a heavy read that I will definitely come back to time and time again

Spoilers !! More detailed thoughts

I don’t often like reading the perspectives of abusive men, but Kang does an excellent job with contrasting the emotionally unavailable (now ex-) husband in Mr. Cheong with the obsessive and entitled brother in law-turned-rapist. In-hye’s husband laments about Mr. Cheong being unappreciative of the kind of woman that he has married, when he himself acts the same towards his wife. They both view Yeong-hye as something to be won and shown-off, but neither consider her personhood as something to be respected. I find the brother in law's perspective to be the most astounding in his belief that he is doing everything just for art. He lies, blatantly, and simply assumes that people will go along with his plans because he is such a great visionary. He thinks so highly of himself that the only person he refers to by name is Mr. Cheong, who he viewed as a competitor.

Kang took a pretty interesting direction with In-hye that I personally hadn’t seen much when I first read this book in 2022. Often, the “perfect older sister” trope falls into the chracter admonishing her siblings and parents for forcing her into the role while she remains dependent on societal norms, and while In-hye does hold resentment she also holds an understanding of her sister and the life that <i>she</i> was forced to live. They are a lot more similar than realized throughout the first two parts. In-hye recounting her own dreams that have begun plaguing her and how she finds more comfort in the mental wards than she does outside bring her closer to her sister in what is presumably her final moments. I greatly appreciate that her reliance on her son is not framed as motherhood bringing her happiness, but instead that the familiarity of parenting (which she was conditioned into from a young age) brings her comfort when everything around her has become uncertain.

Content Warnings