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A review by turninpages_sippintea
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was strongly advised against reading it, but I'm so glad I did anyway.
The choices Yeong-hye was making were taking strands of control over her from other people's hands. She might not have rebelled consciously, but everything she did broke the norms, and oh how we hate when someone dares to go against the grain.
Refusal to eat meat in a predominantly meet eating society. (Why not help her come up with a nutritious vegan diet instead of shaming her for losing weight?)
Refusal to consent to sex with her spouse in a society that believes that a man has a full right to his wife's (or any woman's) body. (Why not find a woman who will actually want to sleep with you?)
Refusal to adhere to societal norms of conversing in a polite manner. (Why take it personally when someone doesn't follow the unspoken protocols for eye contact? Why do we get offended when the person answers your question but not in a manner we think respectful? Who made those rules and why are we still forcing people to follow them?)
Refusal to wear clothes that the society deems appropriate for a woman. (Why is it ok for men but scandalous and immoral for women to take their shirts off when they're hot? How can we pride ourselves for evolving and separating from animal-like behaviour, call ourselves civilised societies, yet still get all hot and bothered when we see a topless woman?)
Refusal to eat as the last attempt at autonomy, and even that choice is taken away from her by force-feeding. (Why is euthanasia not an option everywhere? Why do we keep forcing what we think is good for someone when they clearly disagree?)
Her sister was the only one who admitted that she envied Yeong-hye - as soon as the boundaries got crossed, she became aware that the boundaries had existed in the first place, and she came to a painful realisation that she's too much of a coward not to keep conforming. Yeong-hye wasn't even breaking any legal rules, everything she did had a direct effect only on her, but instead of resolving the situation peacefully - and by doing that, bypassing the ridiculous norms everyone must follow for some reason, - every single person resorted to violence against Yeong-hye by forcefully denying her the agency over her own body. Getting used to committing violence, or getting desensitised to witnessing it, comes easier to us than accepting the idea that we ourselves might feel more free if we started questioning the societal norms.
The choices Yeong-hye was making were taking strands of control over her from other people's hands. She might not have rebelled consciously, but everything she did broke the norms, and oh how we hate when someone dares to go against the grain.
Refusal to eat meat in a predominantly meet eating society. (Why not help her come up with a nutritious vegan diet instead of shaming her for losing weight?)
Refusal to consent to sex with her spouse in a society that believes that a man has a full right to his wife's (or any woman's) body. (Why not find a woman who will actually want to sleep with you?)
Refusal to adhere to societal norms of conversing in a polite manner. (Why take it personally when someone doesn't follow the unspoken protocols for eye contact? Why do we get offended when the person answers your question but not in a manner we think respectful? Who made those rules and why are we still forcing people to follow them?)
Refusal to wear clothes that the society deems appropriate for a woman. (Why is it ok for men but scandalous and immoral for women to take their shirts off when they're hot? How can we pride ourselves for evolving and separating from animal-like behaviour, call ourselves civilised societies, yet still get all hot and bothered when we see a topless woman?)
Refusal to eat as the last attempt at autonomy, and even that choice is taken away from her by force-feeding. (Why is euthanasia not an option everywhere? Why do we keep forcing what we think is good for someone when they clearly disagree?)
Her sister was the only one who admitted that she envied Yeong-hye - as soon as the boundaries got crossed, she became aware that the boundaries had existed in the first place, and she came to a painful realisation that she's too much of a coward not to keep conforming. Yeong-hye wasn't even breaking any legal rules, everything she did had a direct effect only on her, but instead of resolving the situation peacefully - and by doing that, bypassing the ridiculous norms everyone must follow for some reason, - every single person resorted to violence against Yeong-hye by forcefully denying her the agency over her own body. Getting used to committing violence, or getting desensitised to witnessing it, comes easier to us than accepting the idea that we ourselves might feel more free if we started questioning the societal norms.