Fruit of My Woman

Short Story | Han Kang

How did the wife’s physical appearance begin to change?

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How did the wife s physical appearance begin to change In Han Kang s -Present short story The Fruit of My Woman the wife s body begins to change in strange ways At first her skin only shows light bruises Slowly her body loses its human look She turns pale green and finally becomes a plant The First Sign of Change The Bruises The story starts in late May The husband sees dark marks on his wife s skin The husband says nbsp Deep bruises mottled her back and stomach nbsp He feels shocked She says she doesn t know how she got them The bruises do not hurt She says nbsp There s actually no sensation at all in the bruised parts nbsp The husband thinks they will fade But they do not They grow bigger The colour turns yellowish-green They spread across her ribs and thighs Her body

becomes thin and weak Her cheeks sink Her skin loses its glow These bruises show her slow change from human to something unknown The Second Stage Blue and Green Skin Her face changes next Her eyes turn pale indigo Her hair becomes as breakable as dried radish leaves The bruises darken like a weeping willow s branches Her whole body takes a blue-green shade She says nbsp As soon as I see the sunlight I get the urge to take my clothes off nbsp Her body wants nature She feels attracted to sunlight wind and freedom The husband gets afraid He cannot understand her The Final Transformation From Woman to Plant After his business trip the husband finds her wife on the balcony She is kneeling The husband says nbsp Her entire body was dark green nbsp Her hair shines like the branches of wild herbs When he poured water her body trembled like a leaf She becomes half-woman half-plant Later the husband says nbsp Dark red flowers blossomed from her chest nbsp Roots grow from her thighs Her human body disappears The Wife s change begins with bruises and ends with flowers The wife s body shows her soul s escape She leaves pain the city and marriage She becomes one with nature

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