The Vegetarian Plot Summary

The Vegetarian Plot Summary

Chris Jordan

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4,776 views  Jun 7, 2021

Plot Summary for Han Kang's award winning novella, 'The Vegetarian'. 

📖 Free Knowledge Organiser - https://issuu.com/chrisjordanhk/docs/...

🔠 Fancy words I used in the video: 

Triptych - "The Vegetarian by Hang Kang is a triptych, a 3 part story told by 3 different narrators."

Insolence - "Yeong-hye’s family attempt to force feed her a piece of meat, having grown tired of her insolence and rapid weight loss."

Laceration - "Yeong-hye is then put in a hospital facility so that she can recover from both the laceration and her weight loss."

Perplexed - "Mr.Cheong finds her outside the hospital, half naked, seemingly trying to photosynthesise before a crowd of perplexed onlookers."

Sustenance - "She has been found wandering the woods outside the facility on occasion, in order to gain sustenance from the rain."

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Transcript

the vegetarian by hang kang

is a triptych a three-part story told by

three different narrators

none of these narrators are the

protagonist yong-hei

the first is narrated by mr chong her

husband the second by her brother-in-law

and the third and final part of the book

is narrated by her sister

in hey

the first book of the vegetarian begins

in yonghei's home

this section is narrated by mr chong a

businessman who candidly explains how

average he

his wife yong hey and the rest of his

life is

mr chong seems satisfied with this state

of low expectations

until one day his ordinarily meek and

subdued wife

starts to act bizarrely he finds yonghei

in the middle of the night

emptying their fridge and freezer of all

its meaty contents

when questioned about her abnormal

behavior yonghei simply states

that she has had a dream the contents of

this dream are never given to mr chong

but through yonghei's internal monologue

the reader learns that they are filled

with gory details of blood

flesh and violence at first yong hayes

vegetarianism

merely provides a moderate amount of

inconvenience or annoyance to mr chong's

life

however this quickly escalates after she

embarrasses him in front of his boss and

colleagues

as well as provoking the anger of her

conservative parents and siblings

this part of the book comes to a climax

when yong haye's family

attempt to force feed her a piece of

meat having grown tired of her

insolence and rapid weight loss in

retaliation

the usually impassive yong hey takes a

knife to her own wrist

thus stunning everyone in to stand still

yong-hae is then put in a hospital

facility so that she can recover

from both the laceration and her weight

loss

despite the efforts of staff and her

family yong hai remains defiant in her

insistence

not to eat meat and thus continues on

her journey

of mentally distancing herself from

others

in the final scene of this section mr

chong finds her outside the hospital

half naked seemingly trying to

photosynthesize

before a crowd of perplexed onlookers

the mongolian mark is told from the

perspective of yonghei's brother-in-law

two years later he is married to in hey

young hey sister

and was also present at the dinner party

where yong hai cut herself

we learned that the brother-in-law is a

relatively unsuccessful video artist

supported financially by in hay's

well-run retail business

the second section of the book is named

after the birthmark that many asian

newborn babies possess

that eventually fades with time

after learning from inhe that yonghei's

mongolian mark never faded

the brother-in-law is inspired to make a

new video that features yonghei

completely naked

painted all over with flowers the

brother-in-law

avoids informing his wife of this new

project and starts to slowly become more

and more

sexually consumed with his vision to the

detriment of both his marriage

and parental responsibilities

surprisingly the now divorced yonghei

agrees to be in the film

despite the brother-in-law's insistence

that she keep it a secret

yonghe seems attracted by the prospect

of having flowers painted all over her

even when the brother-in-law suggests

that they include a male model

who she is to simulate sex with the male

model

jay eventually abandons the project

after worrying that the video is

becoming more like pornography

than art leading to the brother-in-law

taking his place

as yonghei's fellow performer

the brother-in-law is now presented with

the exact situation he has pursued all

along

and proceeds to have sex with yonghei in

front of the watching camera

after falling asleep the brother-in-law

wakes up to the realization

that inhe has visited the studio and

watched the footage of her husband

and sister having sex she accuses her

husband of having lost his mind

due to his desire to mislead a mentally

deranged woman

as well as sleep with her in such a

perverted manner

yonghei who for the most part enjoyed

having the flowers adorning her skin

now realizes that the experience was not

as fulfilling as she would have liked

instead of bringing her closer to nature

the ordeal has reminded her of mankind's

many

faults as she appears to be suicidal

the authorities arrived to detain both

yonghei and the brother-in-law

respectively

the final section of the triptych

largely takes place in a psychiatric

facility

which houses a now emaciated yonghei

it is the turn of inhay to be the

narrator and she too is now separated

from her husband

after his dalliance with yonghei in

section 2.

young haye has continued to avoid

meeting the intervening period between

sections two and three

as well as most other types of food in a

bid to be more like a plant or tree

she has been found wandering the woods

outside the facility on occasion

in order to gain sustenance from the

rain

flaming trees is largely concerned with

inhale reflecting on her sister's

supposed madness

in the face of her own growing doubts

about human society

we learned that yong hey and in hayes

family have disowned her

due to the shame of being associated

with her madness

in addition if young hai continues to

refuse food

she will need to be transferred to a

facility that can intravenously

or force-feed her sustenance

inhabe deliberates about whether or not

society is right to be treating her

sister in this way

although acting in an unusual manner

yonghei's calm and composed explanation

of her desires

portray her in a far more rational

manner than the heavy-handed

and harsh medical staff or judgmental

members of her family

as the book comes to a close inhay is

travelling with yonghei in an ambulance

bound for the new facility

as she looks through the window the

surrounding trees seem

a flame or beast-like leaving the reader

to question whether inhae

will maintain her commitment to human

society and young son

or not