72nd Meeting (Book Club) - The Vegetarian (3/3)

Place: Zoom, Online

Participants: Paige, Aditi, Matthew & 100.

We read the last part of The Vegetarian today. Everyone picked this part 'Flaming Trees' as the best part in this book, because i) Inhye was the one who bridges readers and the other characters in this novel by explaining and sympathising with them, ii) and Inhye is someone with common sense, like us. However, we began to discuss that actually, Inhye's role in this novel is more complicated. While she is the one who looks after her 'insane' sister, she is also the one who condones (if not supports) the violence that drove Younghye insane. In a way Inhye is in a position who could resonate with Younghye but still she not only fails to relieve Younghye's pain but also keeps aggravating the situation as Inhye tries to 'help' Yonghye. The contradiction of Inhye, like in the chapter's title '나무 불꽃' (where lush leaves mean the tree's struggle rather than vitality), leads us to think about the sanity in insane Younghye and the insanity in the 'sane' society and the general readers inside it (including us!).

<Mission participants>

Part 1: Aditi

Part 2: Vivien, Sneha, Aditi

Part 3: Aditi, Paige