Convincing you to read books I've read again

THE VEGETARIAN

 by Han Kang

 translated by Deborah Smith

Of the books I've read this year, this happens to be one of the weirdest ones as much as I have been unable to stop thinking about it. 

I initially thought it was going to follow one of those "I hate my wife," narratives that manage to achieve nothing other than invoking pure infuriation from me as a reader. However, as the story unfolded, I felt more sadness and disappointment(in the system and characters not the book), than the anger I initially anticipated.

The themes brought to light in this book could be treated as a universal problem even though the writer originally intended to bring forward issues in South Korea where the book is set. Again drawing to mind that the struggle of women anywhere is the struggle of women everywhere.

In the book, we follow the story of Yeong-hye who is viewed as a sister, daughter, sister-in-law or wife and in my opinion, overlooked as a person.

Her decision to become vegetarian as a reaction to a horrifying dream she had can be seen as an audacious choice in a society where meat is almost always a staple in their cuisine. 

Metaphorically, this could be a symbol of deciding to go against what is considered normal and the backlash she got is fitting to symbolise the criticism people face for daring to be different.

It is not long before we also begin to notice signs of abuse in the narrative. The first major indication is when her father slaps her at dinner because she refused to eat meat. After this, it is no surprise that she was also a victim of physical abuse while growing up. We soon discover that this most likely had a hand in her, "so calm; doesn't speak" personality.

There's also the often repeated problem of how issues concerning women's health, mental well-being or abuse are often trivialized. I would like to bring this home a little with how cases of rape are dismissed more times than they are looked into and investigated. Take the whole discourse surrounding Ochanya whose case was dismissed for "lack of evidence" after her death caused by Vesico-Vaginal Fistula, a complication due to prolonged sexual abuse from her relatives. (I would include a link to the petition to get her abusers punished below). It is terribly infuriating how little people react to cases of abuse that should make anyone go feral. Even throughout history; issues concerning women's health are dismissed as benign– only needing rest or exaggerations from the people who display these symptoms.

Almost through Yeong-hye's life as a woman, she was described as oddly calm which to most people was viewed as good behavior or comportment without regarding the fact that this calmness might be a reaction to years of suppressed emotions as a child. She was the perfect lady until she refused to eat or cook meat...  Then she became a woman who was just acting up, something which is a reality for most women today.

I don't have the numbers to give the book a rating but in my opinion it has just enough symbolism to discuss a societal issue while keeping readers fascinated.

Here's the link to the petition mentioned earlier: 

https://www.change.org/p/nigerian-feminist-demand-justice-for-ochanya-elizabeth-ogbanje

Thanks for reading!