The Vegetarian

by

Han Kang

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Vegetarian makes teaching easy.

J Character Analysis

An artist friend of the brother-in-law’s who agrees to be painted and to model with Yeong-hye. Over the course of the film shoot, however, he becomes increasingly aroused by but also increasingly uncomfortable with the poses they take. When the brother-in-law suggests they have sex for real, J storms out of the studio, offended and furious at being asked to do so.

J Quotes in The Vegetarian

The The Vegetarian quotes below are all either spoken by J or refer to J. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Body, Agency, and Resistance Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2: Mongolian Mark Quotes

She rubbed her neck against J’s like they were two birds caressing, almost as if she’d seen his sketches and knew exactly what he wanted her to do.

Related Characters: Yeong-hye, The Brother-in-Law / In-hye’s Husband, J
Related Symbols: Plants
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:

He stood up, stepped close to her and pushed her still-fevered body up against the wall. But when he pressed his lips firmly against hers, probing with his tongue, she shoved him away again.
“Why shouldn't we? Because I'm your brother-in-law?”
“No, it’s nothing to do with that.”
“Then why not? Come on, you said you were all wet!” She was silent. “Did you fancy that kid?”
“It wasn’t him, it was the flowers . . .”

Related Characters: Yeong-hye (speaker), The Brother-in-Law / In-hye’s Husband (speaker), In-hye, J
Related Symbols: Plants
Page Number: 111
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Vegetarian PDF

J Quotes in The Vegetarian

The The Vegetarian quotes below are all either spoken by J or refer to J. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Body, Agency, and Resistance Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2: Mongolian Mark Quotes

She rubbed her neck against J’s like they were two birds caressing, almost as if she’d seen his sketches and knew exactly what he wanted her to do.

Related Characters: Yeong-hye, The Brother-in-Law / In-hye’s Husband, J
Related Symbols: Plants
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:

He stood up, stepped close to her and pushed her still-fevered body up against the wall. But when he pressed his lips firmly against hers, probing with his tongue, she shoved him away again.
“Why shouldn't we? Because I'm your brother-in-law?”
“No, it’s nothing to do with that.”
“Then why not? Come on, you said you were all wet!” She was silent. “Did you fancy that kid?”
“It wasn’t him, it was the flowers . . .”

Related Characters: Yeong-hye (speaker), The Brother-in-Law / In-hye’s Husband (speaker), In-hye, J
Related Symbols: Plants
Page Number: 111
Explanation and Analysis: