The Vegetarian: A Profound Look at Women’s Life Choices
In The Vegetarian by Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang of South Korea, the female protagonist named Yeong-hye responds to those questioning her refusal to eat meat with a simple statement: “I had a dream.” She gives the same answer to her husband, mother, sister, brother, and father. Yet, none of them asks about the dream. No one seeks to understand the reason behind her decision, because, in their view, she should conform to societal norms and live in a way that pleases others.
Although Afghanistan and South Korea are far apart on a map, they share challenges when it comes to women’s issues. Around the world, women often struggle to make personal and life choices as freely as men. While some societies formally grant many individual and social rights to women, certain spaces remain closed to women or are difficult for them to access, even in the most advanced societies.
Most societies have not yet reached a point where women’s decisions are met with support and encouragement. For instance, if a woman decides to become a vegetarian, her family and those around her rarely say, “Alright, it’s your body, and you have the right to choose.” Hearing this affirmation — “It’s your body” — from both loved ones and those in power is immensely significant for women. This simple phrase reveals the cultural and legal maturity of a society, where individuals, especially women, can benefit from its rights and privileges.
But why did Yeong-hye’s parents, siblings, husband, and even her husband’s colleagues abandon her over a choice she made for her own body and diet? No one fully listens to her and they refuse to accept that a dream influenced her decision to become vegetarian.
Yeong-hye’s family and husband perceive her abstention from meat as a source of shame. Because of her vegetarianism, she faces physical violence from the men in her family and is ostracized. Everyone in her life reacts harshly to her decision, insisting she return to eating meat. They reflect a common human aversion to change and resistance to new realities.
If Yeong-hye’s body had grown frail due to cancer caused by eating meat, rather than the physical effects of her decision to abstain, she would not have been treated as if she were at fault. Through her decision, she confronts the family and societal systems, and in doing so, she transforms her environment as well as her body.
This novel is a deep and unsettling exploration of societal expectations, women’s autonomy, and the resistance they face when challenging norms, even over choices as personal as diet.
Han Kang’s The Vegetarian draws readers’ attention to the societal shortcomings that make personal choices difficult or even impossible. Ignoring individual rights — particularly those of women — and forcing them to conform to outdated traditions or collective beliefs entrenched in family or society can inflict irreparable harm on individuals’ well-being and create unnecessary tensions in familial and social relationships. The novel prompts every reader to consider the consequences of their reactions to others’ personal decisions.
First published in 2007 and translated into English by Deborah Smith in 2015, The Vegetarian won the prestigious International Booker Prize in 2016, guaranteeing its success on the global literary stage. While Smith faced criticism for modifying and omitting parts of the original text, Han Kang supported her translator, choosing her as the primary English translator for other works. Han Kang’s defense of Smith in the face of harsh criticism mirrors the actions of Yeong-hye’s sister in The Vegetarian. In the story, when everyone else abandons Yeong-hye, her sister stands by her, saying, “It could have been me instead of Yeong-hye, and everyone would have turned away from me.”
The novel tells the story of domineering, controlling individuals who react violently to the personal choices of their spouses, siblings, or children. Unwilling to accept others’ autonomy, these controlling figures resort to punishment or prolonged ostracism for any decision that deviates from their expectations. They fail to consider the harm their behaviour inflicts on others. To them, compliance is acceptable, but nonconformity warrants consequences, even isolation.
This culture of domination extends beyond personal relationships to institutions and systems that oppress entire communities. Afghanistan exemplifies such a society. The Taliban, as the ruling power, impose their anti-human decrees without considering the devastating impact on individuals, especially women. By shutting the doors of schools, markets, and workplaces to half the population, the Taliban enforce a systemic culture of control and exclusion.
Literature helps us articulate our struggles in ways that resonate globally. A story set in South Korea can reflect the realities of life in a seemingly different context, such as Afghanistan. Reading The Vegetarian, I often imagined myself in the role of Yeong-hye’s sister, empathizing with her for respecting her sibling’s personal choices.
Khadija Haidari is a Zan Times journalist.