52 pages • 1-hour read
King of Envy
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Symbols & Motifs
Fire
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence.
Fire is a personal symbol for Vuk, which mirrors his emotional growth and psychological resiliency. For most of the story, Vuk associates fire with personal pain and suffering, as it refers back to the fire that killed Lazar and left him without a family. More than the Brotherhood, it is fire that triggers a deep-seated fear for Vuk, and he often uses it as hyperbole to designate fear, such as when he states, “two junior marketers were already inside [the elevator], but when they saw me, they leapt out as if it were on fire” (114). Though he has been able to enact his revenge and instill fear within the Brotherhood, fire has nevertheless left a lasting reminder in the form of his neck scars and pyrophobia.
It is particularly telling, therefore, that when the Brotherhood—through Roman—tries to kill Vuk a second time, they once again try to use fire as their weapon, both because of Vuk’s fear of it and as an effort to rectify their failed attempt to kill him the first time. In the end, however, fire becomes a rite of passage for Vuk as he is once again confronted with a situation similar to his brother’s murder—that is, where a blazing fire separates him and someone he loves from safety. Rather than succumbing to his pyrophobia, he overcomes his memories and pain to save Ayana and let go of his past.
Scars
Scars, specifically Vuk’s scars, are a recurring symbol in the narrative that reflect the themes of The Harms of the Modeling Industry and Cruelty Versus Personal Justice. For Vuk, his scars are a direct representation of the Brotherhood’s needless cruelty. Whereas Vuk can be brutal in his torture, he typically only acts to protect those he cares about from individuals who wish to harm them. By contrast, the Brotherhood acts out of false ideas of wounded pride, kills Lazar, and attempts to kill Vuk simply because Vuk outsmarted them.
Parallel to this meaning is the contrast Huang creates between Vuk and Ayana’s visual appearance. Though Vuk is accustomed to the negative reaction his scars elicit from onlookers, they nevertheless clash with the standards of beauty espoused by Ayana’s peers. Those who do have a modeling-level of beauty are often only taken at face value, as seen in this commentary from college students: “‘Oh my God […] That’s Ayana Kidane.’ ‘The model? Oh my God, you’re right. What’s she doing with him?’ ‘Maybe he’s really rich. Pretty girls date ugly guys all the time for money’” (339). Vuk’s scars therefore become a foil to Ayana’s beauty, and in their juxtaposition, they highlight the vain and demeaning stereotypes often associated both with individuals of remarkable beauty, and those who do not reflect conventional beauty standards.
Scents
Scents are a key motif within the narrative. For both Vuk and Ayana, scents are a valued sensory pleasure. Vuk’s appreciation of scents is uniquely tied to Ayana, as he intently pays attention to every detail about her: “Tonight, there was no perfume—just the soft whiff of coconut from her shampoo and the natural scent of her skin. I craved it as much as I hated it” (46). For Ayana, however, scents are repositories of memories, comfort, and a past that could have been. As she explains to Vuk during their time in DC, her appreciation of scents initially made her plan to study chemistry before she became a model.
Likewise, her extensive collection of perfumes attests to the memories and the people she wishes to remember, as she explains that “one whiff of a familiar scent, and [she] was instantly transported back to a certain place and time” (336). Perfume scents, therefore, carry with them a temporal and emotional meaning, such as “lemon verbena for the Amalfi Coast, green tea and rose for Japan, lavender for Provence” (336), and, in Vuk’s case, “soft woods for the mountain, which [he said he] liked. A hint of rum because [he runs] a liquor and spirits company. Vanilla, for warmth and comfort” (338). Scents are thus a way for them to learn to love one another and, for Ayana in particular, to learn to love the world she travels.
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