The Vegetarian [Winner of the Man Booker International Prize] (Book review)

Title: The Vegetarian

Author: Han Kang

Note: All efforts have been made to keep this review short and spoiler-free. However, there are some spoilers because analysis does require some factual substantiation.  I shall try and avoid adding too many facts. The point here is to provide an analysis. This is not a gateway for potential bluffing by lazy potatoes who would rather not read those 180 pages.



The novel is geographically located in Seoul.  It appears to bring forth the following issues:

• Xenophobia: the most glaring issue during this novel was the extreme xenophobia that was exhibited by those who were informed that the protagonist had become a vegetarian. It was considered an exotic habit of other cultures that was either absolutely unacceptable or marred with polite condescension (Kang, 2015:23).

• The threat of passive non cooperation : the immense amount of anger that the decision of the protagonist - that is purportedly based on a series of dreams- appears to incite is of a magnitude that is not justified. It is as if her passive decision regarding her own way of life becomes a threat to the existence of others. This inference is propelled by the coaxing admission of the sister of the protagonist who admits that she too has dreams, but that she will not give into those dreams (Kang, 2015: 182)

• Extreme Dissociation owing to emotional breakdowns: As the novel progresses it is gradually divulged that the protagonist is not a recent recipient of violence merely due to her decision to become a vegetarian. In fact, from the time of her childhood, the protagonist has been the receptacle for quotidian violence or aggression from most around her (Kang, 2015:157). Each new novella within this novel, begins at the altar of a socio-emotional catastrophe, the violent impact of which is inflicted upon the protagonist. Following each catastrophe (which is proceeded and succeeded by other small but no less painful episodes comprising of violence that comprises of disrespect, intolerance and, at times, tactile violence) the protagonist further dissociates herself from the world around her.
  
  Psychologically, the protagonist is diagnosed as anorexic (Kang, 2015:140) and perhaps as a kind of schizophrenic (Kang, 2015: 141). However, it appears that the severity of the dissociation appears to correspond with the increasingly severe psychological trauma being inflicted upon the protagonist (Kang, 2015: 39-52; 111-119; 173-178). The ultimate desire to become a plant that merely requires sunlight and water to exist (Kang, 2015:146-148) appears to be a consequence of wanting to absolutely dissociate from the barbarity of the human and the animal existence. A similarly extreme dissociation from humanity owing to the trauma of violence (however in this case it was the violence of fighting in the first world war) was also exhibited by a protagonist in a novel named "Birdy" by William Wharton, published in 1978. 

However, unlike in the case of Birdy, in the Vegetarian, the reader is barely provided a glimpse of the thoughts propelling the protagonist. Perhaps it is this very inability to fully comprehend the actions of the protagonist, that leaves a slightly chilling impression on the reader. Questions regarding tolerance, respect and the long term implications of unaddressed symptoms of domestic violence are glaring in this novel. Even more glaring is the lack of accountability of the aggressors and the complete lack of empathy for the product of this quotidian violence.

This is definitely not a book meant for the faint-hearted (or the faint-headed, who may be quite befuddled by the nuances)