In The Vegetarian by Han Kang, my analysis moves beyond the surface idea of vegetarianism and reads the novel as a profound exploration of bodily autonomy, patriarchal control, and the politics of silence. Yeong-hye’s decision to stop eating meat appears small, almost mundane, yet the intensity of the backlash it provokes reveals how deeply society fears a woman who exercises choice over her own body. Her refusal becomes symbolic — not merely a rejection of meat, but a rejection of violence, domination, and the expectations imposed upon her as a wife and daughter. What strikes me most is how the narrative is structured through the perspectives of others, denying Yeong-hye a sustained voice of her own; this deliberate narrative distance mirrors the social reality in which women are spoken about, judged, diagnosed, and controlled rather than truly heard. The calm, almost clinical tone of the prose intensifies the horror, suggesting that brutality does not always arrive loudly — it often ...