Since Han Kang’s The Vegetarian was first published in 2007 in South Korea and translated into English in 2015, academic readers have shown critical interest in the novel and explored cultural issues, such as family and gender, from multiple perspec- tives. Despite the different ways of approaching the novel, these studies have commonly employed a method of symptomatic reading, a mode of reading that seeks hidden meanings underneath a visible surface. Challenging this approach to reading The Vegetarian, this article argues that the novel calls for surface reading, which focuses on what is evident and perceptible on the surface level of the text. Taking The Vegetarian as a text that requires an anti-allegorical approach, this article seeks to elucidate the main character’s desire for mutual love and bodily touches present on the text’s surface.