kahuna kahuna
2025년 7월 27일, 일요일
  • 기사제보·독자의견
Weekend
Newsletter
Teen's
SushiNews
KNEWSLA
  • 전체
    • 한인/K-타운
    • LA/OC 로컬
    • 미국 (Ⅰ)
    • 경제/Money (Ⅰ)
    • S.F/California
    • National
    • 부동산/생활경제
    • 세계 (Ⅰ)
    • 한국
    • 엔터테인먼트
    • 오피니언/칼럼
    • 세계/경제/사회
    • 스포츠
    • 이슈/특집
    • 이런일도
    • Senior/Health
    • 여행
    • Food/Restaurant
    • 문화/Book/공연
    • 전문가 칼럼
    • IT/SCI/학술
    • 미디어
    • 자동차/항공
    • 기업스토리
    • Teen’s Press
  • 홈
  • 한인
  • LA/OC
  • S.F/California
  • 미국Ⅰ
  • 세계Ⅰ
  • 경제Ⅰ
  • 한국
  • 연예
  • 스포츠
  • 이슈
  • 화제
  • 문화
  • Teen’s Press
  • 칼럼
No Result
View All Result
  • 전체
    • 한인/K-타운
    • LA/OC 로컬
    • 미국 (Ⅰ)
    • 경제/Money (Ⅰ)
    • S.F/California
    • National
    • 부동산/생활경제
    • 세계 (Ⅰ)
    • 한국
    • 엔터테인먼트
    • 오피니언/칼럼
    • 세계/경제/사회
    • 스포츠
    • 이슈/특집
    • 이런일도
    • Senior/Health
    • 여행
    • Food/Restaurant
    • 문화/Book/공연
    • 전문가 칼럼
    • IT/SCI/학술
    • 미디어
    • 자동차/항공
    • 기업스토리
    • Teen’s Press
  • 홈
  • 한인
  • LA/OC
  • S.F/California
  • 미국Ⅰ
  • 세계Ⅰ
  • 경제Ⅰ
  • 한국
  • 연예
  • 스포츠
  • 이슈
  • 화제
  • 문화
  • Teen’s Press
  • 칼럼
No Result
View All Result
KNEWSLA
Weekend Newsletter
Teen's SushiNews
No Result
View All Result

[Seoyoung] “The Vegetarian,” A Questioning of the Human Race

"Mental Illness and Identity in Han Kang’s The Vegetarian"

2024년 11월 26일
0
“The Vegetarian” by Han Kang is an eerily disturbing novel that touches on topics that are relatable to all, but especially sentient to Koreans. Covering the story of Yeong-Hye, a schizophrenic vegetarian, the novel narrates the misunderstood protagonist through the perspectives of Yeong-Hye’s husband, sister In-Hye, and In-Hye’s husband, but never her own. With a narrative style that mirrors Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and an enigmatic protagonist reminiscent of Haruki Murakami’s Sputnik Sweetheart, this novel challenges the conventions of a 21st-century novel.

Mental Illness Beyond Yeong-Hye

Yang, SeoYoung

In Korean society, vegetarianism is still considered a taboo concept. When foreigners think about Korean cuisine, Korean barbecue is often the first thing that comes to mind. This is a testament to the extent to which meat is embedded in Korean culture. Even in side dishes, meat is often seen as a fortunate addition to the table. When meat is on the table, you are somewhat inclined to feel grateful for its presence, instead of strictly vegetable banchans or broth with only tofu and anchovies. Perhaps this is a global meal tenet that most can turn a blind eye to, but to Koreans, meat plays an integral role in creating a full meal.

In the novel, Yeong-hye’s determination to abstain from meat is perceived as schizophrenic. However, to Yeong-hye, she has no other choice; abstaining from meat is a toxic vocation she must fulfill to escape the human race. Yeong-Hye reaches a point of such disgust with the human race that she transforms into animistic ways of living, which the rest of society—and even her most loved ones—deem insane. Kang decides to tell the story from the perspectives of Yeong-Hye’s husband, sister, and brother-in-law, to show that not only could she no longer tell her own story, but also to show that nobody was able to fully understand the deeper motives behind this dietary choice. Throughout the novel, Yeong-Hye’s mental deterioration proves to lead to increasing desires to connect with the natural world. One disturbing metaphor was the comparison of the upside down human body to a tree’s anatomy. Hands were seen as the roots of trees, and legs spread wide open were branches. But why did the human body have to be upside down to be a proper tree? Kang relates this idea to “Adho Mukha Vrksasana,” the pose that mirrors a sense of grounding of stability: ironic, as Yeong-Hye can only reach this “stability” through harming her body to unrecognizable human form.

Mental Illness Beyond Yeong-Hye

Despite Yeong-Hye being portrayed as the central figure of mental instability in the story, Kang ties this story even deeper into the question of mental illness with Yeong-Hye’s brother-in-law. He who remains unnamed throughout the story plays a critical role in proving the mental sanity of those around him, acting as a foil character. Not only does he highlight Yeong-hye’s solipsism throughout the story, he also tests the limits of his wife’s sanity through his immoral actions. When the novel is told through his perspective in the second part, he admits to the amorality, yet every step he takes gradually seems justified.

Perhaps Kang’s intended purpose was to test the reader’s limits for what is considered wrong when it comes to bodily desires and artistic intentions. If anything, literature and art are among the few realms where anything can be expressed without question, because they are able to “test the world.” The metric for the morality of the human race is heavily guided by the media we are able to accept or reject. The novel deeply critiques but also questions the human need for conformity and the universality of the human race. In a world of increasingly polarized ideas, what does it truly mean to be deemed insane? To what extent are we called to test the limits of our carnal desires?

<Heather(Seoyoung) Yang Student reporter>hseoyoungy@gmail.com

Seoyoung Yang is a Student in Immaculate Heart High School. She is interested in Koreatown, its gentrification phenomenon, and Korean American culture.

 

- Copyright © KNEWSLA.COM, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지

답글 남기기 응답 취소

이메일 주소는 공개되지 않습니다. 필수 필드는 *로 표시됩니다

최신 등록 기사

[석승환의 MLB] 적어도 40 승 17 패

9살 친아들 칼로 살해 후 허위신고 … 경찰에 사살돼

잠들기 전 ‘이 것’ 한 입…전문가가 추천하는 ‘숙면 비법’은?

월마트 매장서 칼부림 흉기 난동.. 쇼핑객들 저지,11명 부상

배우 강서하, 암 투병 끝 사망 … 향년 31세

공공화장실 부족 해결사? … LA, ‘스마트 화장실’ 도입 혁신 모색

미국 떠나는 흑인들, 아프리카 역이민 붐 … 같은 피부색-문화적 뿌리에 마음의 평화

시민권 시험이 이렇게 달라진다…“단순 암기시험은 안된다”

이더리움·리플, 비트코인 제칠까 …알트코인 열풍

트럼프, “달러화 가치 더 떨어져야 미국에 유리하다”

‘정실 인사의 끝판왕’ 트럼프, 프랑스 대사에 사돈 임명

CEO 불륜 기업의 신의 한수 … 귀네스 팰트로 대변인 발탁, 왜

태국·캄보디아 국경 충돌 확산, 사망 33명 …13만명 대피

[석승환의 MLB] 잭 네토의 버블헤드, 4 연패를 탈출시키다.

실시간 랭킹

‘사이비’ LA 한인 목사, 성매매·자금세탁 의혹 … FBI, 터헝가 교회 압수수색

“이게 끝인가 싶었다”… 버뱅크발 사우스웨스트 급강하 “아수라장”

[화제] “노출 없이 8천만달러 벌어” … 20세 모델, 온리팬스 인생역전

트럼프, “달러화 가치 더 떨어져야 미국에 유리하다”

CEO 불륜 기업의 신의 한수 … 귀네스 팰트로 대변인 발탁, 왜

원빈·이나영 투샷 떴다…결혼 10년만 처음

‘정실 인사의 끝판왕’ 트럼프, 프랑스 대사에 사돈 임명

[단독] 장애인법 악용 접근성 소송, 한인 업소들 잇단 타겟 … 가부키 레스토랑도 피소

Prev Next

  • 회사소개
  • 개인정보취급방침
  • 이용 약관
  • 광고문의
  • 기사제보
  • 페이스북
  • 유튜브
© KNEWSLA All Rights Reserved.
No Result
View All Result
  • 홈
  • 한인/K-타운
  • LA/OC 로컬
  • 미국
  • 경제/Money
  • S.F/California
  • National
  • 부동산/생활경제
  • 세계
  • 한국
  • 엔터테인먼트
  • 오피니언/칼럼
  • 세계/경제/사회
  • 스포츠
  • 이슈/특집
  • 이런일도
  • IT/SCI/학술
  • Senior/Health
  • 여행
  • Food/Restaurant
  • 문화/Book/공연
  • 전문가 칼럼
  • IT/SCI/학술
  • 미디어
  • 자동차/항공
  • 기업스토리
  • Teen’s Press

Copyright © KNEWSLA All rights reserved.