IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189 LangLit An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal DISSIDENCE IN THE VEGETARIAN BY HAN KANG PUMMY SHARMA PhD Scholar Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu ABSTRACT: The Vegetarian by Han Kang is a powerful and astonishing novel that won her the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. In this paper, the researcher has analysed the reasons for the complete derailing of protagonist’s, Yeong-hye, personal and social life. The paper shows how the dissidence of the cultural mores by the protagonist results in such a drastic change in her life. She challenges two important cultural powers, patriarchy and meat eating culture in Korean society. Yeong-hye ignores the warnings of her husband to resume her meat diet. She also stops doing daily chores for her husband who assumed these to be the duties of a good wife. By choosing to turn into a vegetarian she challenges the long standing tradition of meat diet in the Korean society. In a closely knit society where cultural conformity is highly expected of its members this behavior creates troubles in Yeong-hye’s life. Key words: Dissidence, Patriarchy, Cultural Conformity, Vegetarianism. The Vegetarian by Han Kang is a powerful novel which tells the story about a woman’s decision to become a vegetarian. Her decision to become a vegetarian brings crucial changes in her life. In this paper, the researcher will try to find the reasons as to why her decision to become a vegetarian brings about these changes in her life. Collen Lutz Clemens in his book review of The Vegetarian writes: “The novel’s painful conflicts begin when Yeong-hye unexpectedly breaks cultural mores and declares herself a vegetarian, leading to her husband’s consternation, confusion, and anger over his wife’s seemingly small subversion.” It comes across as an odd behavior for a “normal” South Korean family of hers that is habitual of eating meat dishes in their daily diet. Slowly, her vegetarianism starts affecting her personal and social relationships. Yeong-hye’s husband and her family members try to convince her to resume non-vegetarian diet. When she persists with her vegetarianism, they resort to physical violence and force her to eat meat. As an act of defiance, she slits her wrist. Later, she is divorced by her husband and almost disowned by her family. On the surface level, the novel appears to be a story of a woman who suffers as a result of her decision to become a vegetarian. But on close reading it appears that there is more to the novel than just being a powerful story about a woman’s vegetarianism. Yeong-hye in the novel decides to become a vegetarian which goes against the mostly non-vegetarian food culture of South Korea. It is important to know here that vegetarianism has been present in the South Korean society in the recent past. There are people who turn to vegetarianism either due to health issues or they have adapted to the culture of vegetarian diet. If we look at the novel from the critical apparatus provided by the Sinfield essay, Yeong-hye provides dissidence to two powerful institutions in the South Korean society that is the meat eating culture and patriarchy. Yeong-hye not only indulges in vegetarianism, she also apparently disobeys her husband and her father, both of whom are long-standing patriarchs. Vol. 6 Issue 1 Website: www.langlit.org 348 August, 2019 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal Yeong-hye and her vegetarianism It is important to analyze why “seemingly small subversion” creates trouble in the life of the married couple. By deciding to become a vegetarian Yeong-hye has posed a challenge to societal norms, as meat eating is the part of South Korean culture. Even when people turn to vegetarianism for health reasons, it can still lead to “accusation[s] of disturbing group harmony” (Yoo and Yoon 131). Non-vegetarian diet is so integral a part of South Korean culture that many Koreans have come to believe that vegetarian food does not constitute a healthy diet. According to a study conducted by Yoo and Yoon: “Eating differently is considered a deviant behavior that disturbs group harmony, social pressures to conform to a conventional diet is the major challenge that Korean vegetarians have to cope with” (130). Another reason for this hostility towards vegetarians as Yoo and Yoon point out in their study is: “the mere presence of a vegetarian appears to have an immediate impact on underlying principles at the Korean dinner table, which is closely associated with eating and sharing the same meals together” (131). Conformity to social norms in Korean society is expected from all the citizens as South Korean society that is a “collective society” offers less room for individual freedom due to social pressure (Yoo and Yoon). Dczook writes: “While on the surface it may appear that Korean society is orderly, tight-knit, and peaceful, the reality is that this social formation requires a tremendous amount of structural violence to maintain and enforce its cohesion”. Raymond Williams in his book Marxism and Literature writes: “The alternative [culture], especially in areas that impinge on significant areas of the dominant [culture], is seen as oppositional and, by pressure, often converted into it” (126). In an interview, Han Kang says that her literary works try to unmask violence that takes place in day-to-day life which is considered normal by the society. She says: “My preoccupation extends to the violence that prevails in daily life. Eating meat, cooking meat, all these daily activities embody a violence that has been normalized” (Krys). In South Korea it is very difficult to stick to vegetarianism. Han Kang says that her personal experience of being a vegetarian for sometime in South Korea informs the book. She remembers how people around her “made it a mission to feed [her] meat” (Krys). Vegetarianism in the Korean society is seen as a symptom of “narrow mindedness” (Kang 23). Jack Smith in his essay “Vegetarianism and Veganism: Animals and Moral Status” writes: “Even if vegetarianism doesn’t have the negative baggage it may at one time have had—speaking of Westerners and those cultures heavily influenced by the West—it is still suspect, and it is likely to raise some hackle” (189). Sinfield says that ideologies are present in the society masked as “common sense” or “the culturally given” (Sinfield 31). In other words, Yeong-hye indulges in dissidence with her vegetarianism. Mr Cheong is also under societal pressure because he is not willing to be undermined in his workplace due to vegetarianism of his wife. In the book, some people are turning to vegetarianism, but their number is not large. Sinfield writes that subcultures offer confident position to the followers only in those parts of the society where the “subculture runs” (38). Vegetarianism is a part of the emergent culture; therefore it is not powerful enough that vegetarians feel confident. The abhorrence or even downright hatred for these vegetarians in the society is common. When Yeong-hye goes for a work dinner with her husband, she is ridiculed by the high society of corporate executives and their wives. His boss says: “I’d hate to share a meal with someone who considers eating meat repulsive, just because that’s how they themselves personally feel . . . don’t you agree?” (Kang 24). Vol. 6 Issue 1 Website: www.langlit.org 349 August, 2019 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal When her husband fails to persuade her to eat meat, he decides to weigh her down with familial pressure. During a charged family meeting Yeong-hye again refuses to eat meat. The men of the family force her to eat meat by physically overpowering her. But she spits out whatever bit of meat is forced down her mouth. Her father delivers two mighty blows on her face. As an act of resistance she slits her wrist. Eventually, she is sent to a psychiatric department of a hospital and she is almost removed from the society. Only when seen from this deeper perspective, it becomes clear as to why “seemingly small subversion” results in such catastrophic consequences. The woman in the novel by simply resorting to vegetarian diet is rebelling against larger cultural forces. As a result, her vegetarianism does not lead to certain soul-awakening experience; it only results in her becoming the victim of the culture that cannot stand her vegetarianism. Yeong-hye and her defiance of patriarchy It appears on close examination that Yeong-hye also provides dissidence to patriarchy in the society. Being a woman it is expected from her to follow the words of men of the family. Mr Cheong, Yeong-hye’s husband, marries her in the first place because she is an ordinary woman. He says in the opening sentence of the novel: “Before my wife turned vegetarian, I’d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way” (Kang 3). Their married life as a couple depends on the selfless fulfillment of his needs and desires by his wife. He says: “the passive personality of this woman in whom I could detect neither freshness nor charm, or anything refined, suited me down to the earth” (Kang 1). It was because of her docile and passive attitude that he married Yeong-hye. He also explains why he would not marry women with strong personalities as they would disrupt his “carefully ordered existence” (2). It is the lack of any ambition or any desire that makes her a docile or submissive woman. After she decides to become a vegetarian, she refuses to carry on the duties of an “ideal” housewife for which he had married her. According to her husband, “It was nothing but sheer obstinacy for a wife (italics mine) to go against her husband’s wishes as mine had done” (Kang 14). She no longer irons his clothes or sends him to office the way she used to do. By refusing to follow his father’s orders she upsets the patriarch in him. Yeong-hye had been a victim of her father hot temperament, and “he had whipped her over the calves until she was eighteen years old” (29). When she refuses for the second time to eat meat he shouts: “Don’t you understand what your father’s telling you? If he tells you to eat, you eat!” (38). Her father is also worried that his daughter is not following the orders of his son-in-law, Mr Cheong. He shouts at her: “What are d’you think you’re playing at, hey? Acting like this at your age, what on earth must Mr Cheong think?” (Kang 29). Finally, he resorts to physical violence which is his way of punishing the defiant. Interestingly, the women characters in the novel are not as aggressive as the men characters in the novel. For example, Yeong-hye’s mother and sister only try to convince her to meat considering her deteriorating health. In-hye says: “You must eat [meat], Yeong-hye . . .You’ll have more energy if you do. Everyone needs a certain amount of energy while they’re alive” (Kang 36). Women characters do not resort to the extreme step of violence to convince her to eat meat. Yeong-hye’s sister-in-law even questions the violent act of her father in front of her husband. She even stops her husband when he was about to hit Yeong-hye for refusing to eat. Vol. 6 Issue 1 Website: www.langlit.org 350 August, 2019 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal For the first time in her life Yeong-hye, who for the large part remains compliant, finds something for which strongly cares. As a result of her vegetarianism, she also stops fulfilling the bodily needs of her husband who was keen about the fulfillment of his needs. He says: “What troubled me more was that she now seemed to be actively avoiding sex. In the past, she’d generally been willing to comply with my physical demands . . .” (Kang 16). The patriarchal man in him is deeply affected by her act of defiance. When he fails to make her comply with his physical needs, he rapes heart his will. He tries to justify his actions in these words: “But it was no easy thing for a man in the prime of his life, for whom married life had always gone entirely without a hitch, to have his physical needs go unsatisfied for such a long period of time” (Kang 30). In the novel, Yeong-hye’s dissidence results in physical and mental violence against her. It is how dissidence is treated in the cultures which do not want to change their existing systems. Sinfield writes that more often than not, an act of dissidence (disturbing the system) results in violence because “the tendency of the ideology is, precisely, to produce the subjects who feel uncomfortable when they transgress” (45). But Yeong-hye in the novel is not concerned about the society anymore. According to the standards of the society, she is not “normal” and it is hard for her to find a place in the society which provides no chance for her to make simple choices. In a world, that demands conformity from individuals she is determined to live on her own terms. As a result, she ends up in a psychiatric hospital, a suitable place for people who are not “normal”. As far as her defiance of patriarchy is concerned, her husband divorces her because he cannot find “an ordinary woman” in her. REFERENCES 1. 1. Clemens, Collen Lutz. “The Vegetarian by Han Kang.” World Literature Today, 26 Apr. 2016, https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2016/may/vegetarian-han-kang. 2. Dczook. “A Vegetarian Perspective on Han Kang’s The Vegetarian.” Medium, 30 May 2016, https://medium.com/@zookkini/a-vegetarian-perspective-on-han-kangsthe-vegetarian-341db8acc1aa. 3. Kang, Han. The Vegetarian. Translated by Deborah Smith, Changbi Publishers, 2007. 4. Lee, Krys. ““Violence and Being Human: A Conversation with Han Kang".” World Literature Today, 30 Apr. 2016, https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2016/may/violence-and-being-humanconversation-han-kang-krys-lee. 5. 5. Masad, Hana. The Vegetarian by Han Kang Tells a Dangerously Defiant Story. 23 Dec. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/dec/23/thevegetarian-by-han-kang-tells-a-dangerously-defiant-story. 6. Sinfield, Alan. “Cultural Materialism, Othello, and the Politics of Plausibility.” Faultlines: Cultural Materialism and the Politics of Dissident Reading, Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 29–51. 7. Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature. Oxford University Press, 1977. 8. Yoo, Taebum, and In-Jin Yoon. “Becoming a Vegetarian in Korea: The Sociocultural Implications of Vegetarian Diets in Korean Society.” Korea Journal, vol. 55, no. 4, 2015, pp. 111–35. Vol. 6 Issue 1 Website: www.langlit.org 351 August, 2019 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI