sunshine but no warmth in their hearts Seoul s tall buildings and lifeless surroundings reflect their disconnection The wife says she feels trapped in the building The city s sameness the same rooms lifts and balconies makes her soul empty The Wife s Isolation A Silent Suffering 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 Here the wife s loneliness is quiet but deep She stops speaking Her body shows her pain through bruises She says nbsp There s actually no sensation at all in the bruised parts This weakness is both physical and emotional She feels unseen by her husband When she cries he cannot comfort her She tells him nbsp It s impossible to live in this stifling place nbsp Her wish to stand naked in sunlight shows her search for freedom She feels more connected to light and air than to her husband The Husband s Alienation Emotional Blindness The husband is practical and emotionless He watches her change but cannot understand her He says to his wife nbsp The bruises will fade soon enough nbsp He thinks logic can fix pain He loves her body but forgets her soul When she stops speaking he feels lonely but blames her His love becomes routine He says the past three years have been the most peaceful of his life though his wife is dying inside His peace comes from ignorance not happiness Silence and Distance The Death of Communication As the wife turns into a plant their words vanish She only shakes her head He keeps talking but his words fall to the floor like dry biscuits This image shows that language has lost meaning The silence fills the flat It is the silence of a marriage that no longer breathes Even when he pours water on her green body his act is physical not emotional He saves her surface but not her heart Transformation and the End of Loneliness When the wife fully changes into a plant she finally finds peace She becomes part of nature not part of the city or her husband s world Her death is her escape The husband left alone plants her fruits He feels her scent in the air This act shows a faint hope He begins to understand her too late Their alienation ends only after she becomes nature Han Kang shows modern loneliness through the husband and wife Their thirteenth-floor flat stands for isolation in city life The wife s changing body speaks her silent wish for freedom Their silence turns love into emptiness The story begins with distance and ends with rebirth