Mongolian Mark (Symbol)
The name "Mongolian mark" is an outdated term for slate grey nevus or congenital dermal melanocytosis, which is a flat, bluish-grey birthmark that often appears on the buttocks and lower back of newborns, particularly in babies of Asian, African, Native American, and Hispanic descent. In The Vegetarian, Yeong-hye's mark symbolizes both innocence and sexuality because it remains on Yeong-hye's body well into her adulthood. In-hye's brother-in-law develops a transgressive infatuation with her after learning that she still has her mark.
Bras (Symbol)
Bras symbolize the oppressive social constraints that Yeong-hye chafes against. Even at the beginning of the novel before Yeong-hye's mental state deteriorates, she refuses to wear bras (much to Mr. Cheong's annoyance and embarrassment). According to Yeong-hye, bras squeeze and constrict her breasts, but Mr. Cheong expresses "doubts about this hypersensitivity of hers."
Self-Harm (Motif)
Han does not shy away from difficult and controversial topics such as self-harm in this novel. Yeong-hye's desperate attempt to escape the violence that human beings are capable of (and that men specifically level at woman) often shows up in the form of self-harm. In-hye reflects upon their childhoods, saying that Yeong-hye "absorbed all her suffering inside her, deep into the marrow of her bones" (Part 3). Yeong-hye's coping mechanism is to live as though she could shed her humanity and become a plant. Even while Yeong-hye herself does not see this as a form of self-harm, it brings her closer to death due to starvation. Thus Han complicates the notion of self-harm by infusing it with a socially unacceptable form of resistance.
Yeong-hye is not the only one who experiences the compulsion to self-harm. After In-hye is raped by her husband, she is seized with the urge “to stab herself in the eyes with her chopsticks, or pour boiling water from the kettle over her head.” For these women, the oppression they face at the hands of men contributes to the need to deliberately injure themselves.
The Polyp Inside In-hye (Symbol)
In-hye recalls a period of time when constant pain and bleeding from her vagina caused her to fear for her life. However, when she went to the gynecologist, they removed a minor polyp and In-hye's physical condition improved. After the cut from the minor procedure healed, In-hye still "felt as though there were still an open wound inside her body. Somehow, it seemed this wound had in fact grown bigger than her, that her whole body was being pulled into its pitch-black maw" (Part 3). This symbolizes the pain that In-hye feels at having always endured and done what others expected of her.
Blood (Motif)
Blood repeatedly appears in the novel as a reminder of violence and embodiment. Yeong-hye—plagued by nightmares of bloody meat—lapses into self-harm when she can no longer cope. When her father attempts to force-feed her meat, Yeong-hye slashes her wrist in response.
Later, In-hye has a recurring nightmare in which blood runs from her eye as she gazes upon her reflection in a mirror. If it weren't for the responsibility In-hye feels for her son, her own mental state may have deteriorated in a similar way as her sister's did. In that case, she wonders, "would the blood that Yeong-hye had vomited today have burst from her, In-hye's chest instead?" (Part 3).
Plants (Symbol)
Plants symbolize life, purity, and nonviolence. As Yeong-hye attempts to estrange herself from humanity, she orients closer to plants and even identifies as a tree. For example, she tells her sister that she no longer needs food, only water and sunlight. She physically practices becoming a tree by doing handstands so as to "[dig] down into the earth" and root down through her hands (Part 3). When In-hye opens herself to communicating with plants, she finds that they provide not comfort, but a merciless insistence on life.
