After having a dream filled with images of dead animals and blood, Yeong-hye decides to become a vegetarian. This is not acceptable to her husband or her father, who try to force her to eat meat. She eventually slashes her wrists in protest. Her husband leaves her, after which her brother-in-law contacts her about filming her naked. This does not end well either. The final part of the book focuses on Yeong-hye and her sister, In-hye. Yeong-hye now refuses to eat, seemingly wanting to become a tree, while In-hye tries to keep her alive until she realises that she is lost too. This powerful story revolves around the idea of the body as ultimately just a carcass, an envelope, and explores how we, or others, can exert power over it and seek freedom amidst this reality. Enthralling.
“The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure.”
Original title : 채식주의자 / chaesikjuuija
Translated from Korean