Yeong-hye’s choice to become vegetarian is the catalyst for all events in the novel. The survivor of significant physical abuse by her father, Yeong-hye is married to a man who views her as “completely unremarkable” (11) except for the fact that she never wears a bra. Yeong-hye’s husband begins raping her after she stops satisfying his physical needs. Throughout the novel, Yeong-hye descends deeper into her belief that she can lose her animal self and escape her terrifying dreams if she stops eating meat. 

Despite being the center of the novel’s plot, Yeong-hye rarely speaks or narrates. Her silence makes it difficult to know how she feels, and as her behaviors become stranger, she becomes more disconnected from normal life and convention. Each of the other characters struggles to understand Yeong-hye’s choices, acting out their own fears and desires on her body either through imagination or physical interaction with her. 

Yeong-hye’s older sister, In-hye, is married to an artist and has a son, Ji-woo. Over the course of the novel, In-hye’s feelings about her sister, husband, and child shift as she works through her internal conflicts. In-hye runs her own cosmetics shop and is the sole provider for her family.