Not part of a single novel, The Vegetarian has a 3-part structure, told from 3 different perspectives people who stand at the center of the spectrum, trying to cut down on an ununderstanding incident: A woman suddenly refuses to eat meat.
However, from that refusal, all order in life began to break down and were put into a state of questioning: Family, marriage, sexual desire, both assumptions about morality and reason.
Vegetarians do not dwell on specific behavior but on the process of dissecting each layer of social shell where normalcy can become a form of oppression, and dis obsession can sometimes become unacceptable.
The novel revolves around Young Hye - an ordinary woman in a middle-class family in Korea - when she suddenly declares she stops eating meat after a nightmare dream.
The first part is the story of the husband, a indifferent character who values compliance and discipline, facing his wife's change with cold and imposing behavior. Young Hye was criticized and forced by her family, but remained silent and withdrew from any outside adjustment efforts.
Part two is the perspective of the brother-in-law - an artist obsessed with his body, gradually slipping into an act of crossing moral limits.
The final part is the story of Young Hye's sister, who witnessed Young Hye's physical and mental decline and faced silent losses in her own life.
Vegetarian can also be seen as a study on the formation of enmity when humans are no longer able to express or refuse to participate in society, acceptance gradually becomes a form of final resistance.
Author Han Kang depicts the image of a woman who silently withdraws from the presence mold that society expects. The character's psychology is unleashed from a dream - as the first sign of a cracked life that is suppressed.
In addition to the character's inner journey, the book also depicts a typical "uncertain, cold" Korean social atmosphere that reflects personal tensions in the context of a rapidly developing country.
The work shows the backdrop of urbanization, the collision between traditional and modern values, between institutions and personal needs - all of which are delicately integrated into each story layer.
The Vegetarian also continues Han Kangs consistent concern in his career: Psychological trauma both individual and social. Her character often struggles with inner disorders, social pressure or existential crises.
In his acceptance speech for the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, Han Kang shared that, For me, writing is a way to ask questions. I don't try to find an answer, but to perfect the question or to stick with that question for as long as possible.
The Vegetarian is a challenging quiet area where literature does not describe action, but touches the most unpredictable lands in humans, especially the desire to escape.
Han Kang was born in 1970 in Gwangju, South Korea. She is one of the leading names in contemporary Korean literature.
Coming from a family with a literary tradition, she graduated from Yonsei University in 1993, majoring in Korean language and literature.
The novel The Vegetarian brought Han Kangs name to the world, becoming the first work written in Korean to win the International Booker Prize in 2016.
In 2024, she became the first Asian woman and also the first Korean to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
