The Vegetarian Literary Elements

Novel, Psychological Fiction, Transgressive Fiction, Body Horror

The novel takes place in modern-day Seoul, South Korea.

Both the narrator and the point of view change over the course of the novel. Mr. Cheong (Yeong-hye's husband) narrates Part 1 in the first person. In-hye's unnamed husband narrates Part 2 in the third-person limited point of view. In-hye narrates Part 3 in the third-person limited point of view.

Dark, Haunting, and Disturbing

Yeong-hye is the protagonist. The violence she faces from a conformist and patriarchal culture is the main antagonistic force in the novel. This force is embodied in the characters of Mr. Cheong, Mr. Kim, and In-hye's husband.

The main conflict is the violent pushback that Yeong-hye faces from her family and society at large when she tries to assert agency over her own body by first becoming vegan and then later refusing to eat. This conflict can be understood in a variety of ways, including individual autonomy versus society and a woman's struggle for liberation.

The climax in Part 1 occurs when Yeong-hye slashes her wrist after her father attempts to force-feed her meat at a family lunch. In Part 2, the climax occurs when In-hye calls emergency services after discovering her husband and sister's transgression. The highest point of tension in Part 3 happens at the very end as In-hye accompanies her sister in an ambulance.

In-hye's dream foreshadows her sister explaining that she spread her legs because she wanted flowers to bloom from her crotch.

The novel alludes to several historical events, including the Vietnam War and the Gwangju Uprising.

Han conjures vivid images that interrogate human violence, the possibility of communing with plants, and the reliability of dreams. A prominent example from Part 1 is Yeong-hye sitting naked at the hospital fountain, licking her wounds and clutching a dead bird. In Part 2, the most bizarre and disturbing image occurs when Yeong-hye's brother-in-law paints both their bodies with flowers and films them having sex. An important image from Part 3 happens at the very end of the novel as In-hye gazes defiantly at the trees lining the road, which are "blazing," with "green fire undulating like the rippling flanks of a massive animal, wild and savage."

In attempting to sever her ties to humanity and assert agency over her own body, Yeong-hye brings herself closer to death.

In-hye's dream parallels her sister's utterance about why she practices handstands in order to transform into a tree. Throughout Part 3, In-hye wonders if her own mental state is beginning to parallel that of her sister.

Trees, plants, and other natural phenomena are personified in Part 3 when In-hye begins to commune with them.