Yeong-hye
Yeong-hye is the protagonist of the novel. She is a quite young woman whose life has been absolutely unremarkable up to the day when she stops eating meat. Her sudden decision is not accepted by her family at all. The woman suffers from horrible nightmares in which she sees pools of blood and her own reflection in them. It seems that she stops to care about her marriage that falls apart and social life. Yeong-hye immerses deeper and deeper in her own world.
Mr. Cheong
Mr. Cheong is a husband of Yeong-hye. The man proves to be rather selfish. According to his own words, the main reason why he decided to marry Yeong-hye was the fact that she was absolutely unremarkable woman. He didn’t want to lift a finger to gain affection of more beautiful and successful women, so he settled for the most ordinary one. As soon as he realizes that Yeong-hye undergoes irreversible changes, he leaves her to make his life comfortable again.
In-hye
In-hye is a sister of Yeong-hye and Yeong-ho. She doesn’t understand her sister’s strange behavior but does try to prevent her father from force-feeding her. Unlike the rest of the family, she doesn’t leave her sister in need. Not to mention that she, In-hye, understands her better than them, for by the end of the story the woman starts thinking about self-harm.
In-hye’s husband
In-hye’s husband is an artist. When he learns that his sister-in-law still has a Mongolian spot, he becomes obsessed with her.
Mr. and Mrs. Kim
Mr. and Mrs. Kim are the parents of In-hye, Yeong-hye and Yeong-ho. The father is the Vietnam war hero whose infamous short-temper is his the most prominent feature.
Ji-woo
Ji-woo is a son of In-hye.
Yeong-ho
Yeong-ho is a brother of Yeong-hye. Just like his father, the man is rather short-tempered and even cruel. He doesn’t even try to understand what has happened to his sister.
