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The Brother-in-Law / In-hye’s Husband
Yeong-hye, In-hye, and Yeong-ho’s father. Yeong-hye’s father is described as a strict and violent Vietnam War veteran. At the end of the novel, In-hye reflects on the fact that Yeong-hye is the only one that Yeong-hye’s father had beaten growing up, and she had internalized this violence. This assertion is given more proof when Yeong-hye remembers an incident in which she had been bitten by a dog, and Yeong-hye’s father ran the dog until it died of exhaustion, strangled and bloody. Yeong-hye is haunted by the image of the dog and how she ate its meat afterward. This and the other similar dreams are what prompts Yeong-hye to decide to give up eating meat, seeing it as a violent facet of human existence. Yeong-hye’s father and mother, however, view this as obstinate disobedience toward her husband and a poor reflection on them as parents, which prompts him to slap Yeong-hye and force her to eat meat. In response, she cuts her own wrist open, again trying to assert autonomy over her body by any means necessary.
Yeong-hye’s Father Quotes in The Vegetarian
The The Vegetarian quotes below are all either spoken by Yeong-hye’s Father or refer to Yeong-hye’s Father. 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:
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Chapter 1: The Vegetarian Quotes
Though In-hye sprang at him and held him by the waist, in the instant that the force of the slap had knocked my wife's mouth open he'd managed to jam the pork in. As soon as the strength in Yeong-ho's arms was visibly exhausted, my wife growled and spat out the meat. An animal cry of distress burst from her lips.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Yeong-hye’s Father Character Timeline in The Vegetarian
The timeline below shows where the character Yeong-hye’s Father appears in The Vegetarian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Vegetarian
Yeong-hye’s mother and In-hye’s calls have no effect on Yeong-hye. The next weekend, Yeong-hye’s father calls, bellowing at her for disobeying Mr. Cheong. Yeong-hye puts down the phone without a...
(full context)
Mr. Cheong, In-hye, the brother-in-law, Yeong-hye’s father and mother, and Yeong-hye’s brother Yeong-ho all make pleasant conversation over lunch, but Yeong-hye doesn’t...
(full context)
...put a piece of pork right in front of her mouth, to no avail. Yeong-hye’s father then tries the same tactic, demanding that Yeong-hye obey her father and eat. She responds,...
(full context)
Yeong-ho and Mr. Cheong are slightly appalled at Yeong-hye’s father’s behavior, but they do not let go of Yeong-hye. Yeong-hye’s father slaps her again, causing...
(full context)
...memory of herself at nine years old, when she was bitten by a dog. Yeong-hye’s father then tied the dog to his motorcycle, and drove in circles with the dog following...
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...wife In-hye, and Mr. Cheong are all watching her sleep. Yeong-ho’s wife comments that Yeong-hye’s father went too far, hitting her and force-feeding her. Mr. Cheong doesn’t comment, only feeling intense...
(full context)
Chapter 3: Flaming Trees
...what she could have done to prevent everything from dissolving: she should have stopped her father from force-feeding Yeong-hye, or picked up the fruit knife, or dissuaded Mr. Cheong from casting...
(full context)
