From ‘Being’ to ‘Becoming’: A Critical Analysis of Han Kang’s Novella “The Vegetarian”

Han Kang is one of the most promising contemporary writer of South Korea. Her novel ‘The Vegetarian’ (Cheshik-juuija in Korean) was awarded with the Man Booker International Prize for fiction in the year 2016. The story takes the readers into journey of exploring different facets of human relations not only with others in a society but also with one’s own body and mind. An individual behaves in a certain way, in accordance to its association with external stimuli. The novella is written in three parts, the novella unravels human psyche that consciously /unconsciously engages in building up a wall to combat with traumas that one’s body undergoes in relation with other humans and civilization which encompasses: various needs, expectations, instincts, social system, power structures and its functionalities, hierarchal structures which initiates the victor/victim roles and so on. The novella critically engages the readers to think and question about one’s body and its experiences, mind and its psychological response or receptions towards certain experiences and mechanism that it employs to combat or deal with trauma. This study would focus on the first part of the novella, titled- ‘The Vegetarian’. The paper would precisely focus on the various underlying shades of trauma that a women’s body and mind undergoes while trying to live up to the expectations of the contemporary society .