Han Kang’s The Vegetarian chronicles the transition from “Before my wife turned vegetarian” to “…. why exactly it is that Kim Yeong-hye is refusing to eat…?” Clearly, the slim book in three parts is a descent from the slow horror of rebellion to disturbing grief.
Sung-il Kim says, “If one Korean novelist must win the Nobel Prize in literature, it would have to be Han Kang.” She is already on the bestseller list. The Kyobo site has 9 bestsellers out of 10 featuring Han’s works. It’s a proud moment for the entire South Korea because a writer represents the history and emotion of a nation. Being a face of the nation, it belongs to, Han’s works are a testament to historical traumas. Human Acts, published in 2014, is about the Gwangju uprising in 1980. Next, to be published in English in the year 2025 is We Do Not Part. It is about the Jeju uprising in 1948-49. Painfully scripting discrimination, atrocities and prejudices, Han Kang hails from the Honam region. Kim Dae-Jung, the President of South Korea between 1998 and 2003, was also from the Honam region. He was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. Honam and Gwangju have weathered a troubled past. Both Kim Dae- Jung in his regime and Han Kang in her works showcased the idea of democracy developed against harsh times.
A vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat and consumes a plant-based diet. But why is it that Yeong-hye, the protagonist who after taking a vegetarian turn refuses to eat completely? Perhaps, The Vegetarian isn’t about animal cruelty only but relinquishing all forms of violence. It does speak about animal violence but not at length as in Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead. The novel is entirely narrated by secondary characters like her husband, her brother-in-law and her older sister, but it’s difficult to make sense of what Yeong-hye is thinking. Yeong-hye remains an impenetrable mystery. Before the rejection of meat there was a quiet defiance of not wearing a bra. This rejection of societal conformity and patriarchal control in Korean society infuriated her husband at an office dinner.
Further, not eating meat infuriates the members of her family to the extent of her father forcibly thrusting meat into Yeong-hye’s mouth. When her mother warned her in the hospital saying, “Stop eating meat, and the world will devour you whole,” the readers form a conclusion that eating or not eating meat isn’t just a personal choice but a social necessity. Obedience and expectations of husband and family drive Yeong-hye to reject meat out of the desire to reclaim herself. Yeong-Hye sits outside naked in the sun like a plant seeking nourishment from nature. The unfaded Mongolian mark on Yeong-hye tantalises her brother-in-law. Perhaps this is indicative of the control that man wants to have over nature. Yeong-hye is attracted to the big red flowers on the model’s body, and next she is found standing in the forest “soaked with rain as if she herself were one of the glistening trees.” Yeong-hye remains in a trance-like state. The nightmares and dreams are wounds that drive Yeong-hye to seek solace in plants. Her vegetarianism morphs into dendrophilia. “ I am not an animal anymore….I don’t need to eat meat, not now. I can live without it. All I need is sunlight.”
A lot has been written about 53-year-old Han Kang, for she is the first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Her books have been selling out, and her win is being celebrated by the entire country. Who is Han Kang? The best way to know her is from her works. Perhaps that’s the reason that sales in Kyobo Book Centre have shot up. To quote Min Jin Lee, ‘Han Kang is a brilliant novelist who reflects our modern condition with courage, imagination and intelligence.
The Vegetarian, published in South Korea in 2007, was her first novel. It was published by Portobello Books in 2015. A small press publisher that took it upon itself to introduce Han’s work to a wider audience. Now that Han has won the Nobel, it emphasises the important role of small press publishing. The Vegetarian makes for a bold read for its explicit imagery. A young woman in the wild, resisting the new reality. These characters and their struggle in microcosm make for a read that is enjoyed by the international audience for its relatability.
Han’s ‘intense poetic prose’ that ‘exposes fragility of human life’ had a beginning in 1993 where a few poems were published in ‘Literature and Society’, a magazine. Her career took a quantum leap with The Vegetarian, and she has never looked back since. Who knew that the breakthrough would pave the way for the Nobel Prize!