THE VEGETARIAN IB

I grabbed hold of my wife and pushed her to the floor. Pinning down her struggling arms and tugging off her trousers, I became unexpectedly aroused. She put up a surprisingly strong resistance"

Bodily autonomy/ Rebellion

Mr. Cheong Yeong-hye

1.The Vegetarian

"This was the body of a beautiful young woman, conventionally an object of desire"

Gender Patriarchy/ Social convertism

Mr. Cheong Yeong-hye

1.The Vegetarian

"She tried to justify herself by saying that she couldn’t stand wearing a bra because of the way it squeezed her breasts"

Bodily autonomy/ Rebellion Patriarchy/ Social convertism

Yeong-hye Mr. Cheong

1.The Vegetarian

"Yeong-hye’s father raised his hand. Slap! The impact was loud enough to make the air shudder. Staggering, she put her hand to her mouth. A trickle of blood seeped from her split lip. Her father picked up a piece of pork with his chopsticks and thrust it at her. She kept her mouth clamped shut, so he pinched her nose. Eventually, her lips parted in desperation for air, and he pushed the meat inside. Yeong-hye retched violently, spitting it out onto the table.

Class Patriarchy/ Social convertism

Yeong-hye’s father Yeong-hye

1.The Vegetarian

"The imagined sight of him throwing her down, rough enough to make all the people in the restaurant scream if they could see it,

Patriarchy/ Social convertism Suffering/ Violence

Mr. Cheong Yeong-hye

1.The Vegetarian

Emboldened, he moved closer, his fingers trailing down the curve of her back. Just as he leaned in, she suddenly turned, shoving him away with unexpected strength. He stumbled backward, breathless. Her eyes, dark and unreadable, held no fear—only an unshaken resolve, as though he were nothing more than another unwelcome intrusion.

Bodily autonomy/ Rebellion Patriarchy/ Social convertism

Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law Yeong-hye

2: Mongolian Mark

"some inscrutable loneliness that she would have been no more able to explain than he would have been to understand."

Patriarchy/ Social convertism Suffering/ Violence

Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law Yeong-hye

2: Mongolian Mark

"Her body, now completely covered in painted flowers, was a garden in full bloom."

Appearance vs Reality

Yeong-hye Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law

2: Mongolian Mark

"The more she rejected me, the more I wanted her."

Bodily autonomy/ Rebellion

Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law Yeong-hye

2: Mongolian Mark

When she came upon the unexpected sight of a female patient doing a handstand at the far end of the western corridor, it never even crossed her mind that it might be Yeong-hye.

Appearance vs Reality Patriarchy/ Social convertism

In-hye Yeong-hye

3: Flaming Trees

She lies there looking like a freakish overgrown child, devoid of any secondary sexual characteristics.

Bodily autonomy/ Rebellion Appearance vs Reality

In-hye Yeong-hye

3: Flaming Trees

Yeong-hye, you have to eat," she pleaded, spoon in hand. "Just a little, please." But Yeong-hye only turned her head, her voice distant but firm. "I don’t need to eat anymore."

Suffering/ Violence Death

In-hye Yeong-hye

3: Flaming Trees

The doctors, the nurses, they’re all the same … they don’t even try to understand … they just force me to take medication, and stab me with needles.’

Bodily autonomy/ Rebellion Suffering/ Violence

Doctors & Nurses Yeong-hye

3: Flaming Trees

"She had done nothing but endure."

Suffering/ Violence Death

Yeong-hye In-hye

3: Flaming Trees