Our Twisted Hero
Encyclopedia
Our Twisted Hero is a South Korean novel written by Yi Munyol
. It was first published by World Literature (hangul
:세계의 문학) on June, 1987. Yi Munyol was awarded the 1987 Yi Sang Literary Award
for the novel. This book was a big hit in South Korea and was even later made into the 1992 film adaptation, Our Twisted Hero
, directed by Park Jongwon.
It has been translated into English by Kevin O'Rourke, and published by Hyperion East in 2001.
Due to Byeong-tae's father fails in business, they move to a low town and go to Y Elementary School. There, he meets Eom Seokdae (or Om Sokdae), a president of the 5th grade and one who holds everything in his grade, more than his teacher. However, it is really Eom Seokdae forcing students by force to follow him. Byeong-tae, tries to defend from Seokdae and have a battle in his power and pretty soon enough, everything goes wrong for him; his parents misunderstand him, his grades go down and his power rankings also go down...So he loses, give up, and goes under the Seokdae's power.
After it, Seokdae gives him a great treatment. First of all, he restores Byeong-tae's power rankings to normal, but higher than before. Second, he makes everyone play with Byeong-tae and is not alone. Byeong-tae also gets his grade back. But the story says, "I was thankful to Seok-hyen. But when I think it back, those things were the things I had lost to Seokdae. He has just given it back."
But when Byeong-tae goes to 6th grade, Seokdae's power breaks, due to the new teacher who have senses in the goings. Seokdae, leaves the school and is last seen by Byeong-tae, saying "Do it well."
The story zooms to the present. Byeong-tae's riding the train to where Seokdae is living to get a face of him. On the train, someone is being dragged by polices and is surprisingly Eom Seokdae. However, he does not recognize Byeong-tae.
Han sees Eom arrested for a petty crime by accident. He was not going to see, only musing over what had happened to him. Eom seems unchanged (still controlling people, or at least trying to)
Yi Munyol
Yi Munyol is a South Korean writer.He was born in Cheongun-dong of Seoul. He attended the Seoul National University, where he studied Korean Language Education. He dropped out in 1970. From 1994 to 1997, he taught Korean language and literature at Sejong University...
. It was first published by World Literature (hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
:세계의 문학) on June, 1987. Yi Munyol was awarded the 1987 Yi Sang Literary Award
Yi Sang Literary Award
The Yi Sang Literary Award is a South Korean literary award. It is one of South Korea's most prestigious literary awards named after Yi Sang, an innovative writer in modern Korean literature. The Yi Sang Literary Award was established in 1977...
for the novel. This book was a big hit in South Korea and was even later made into the 1992 film adaptation, Our Twisted Hero
Our Twisted Hero (film)
Our Twisted Hero is a 1992 South Korean film directed by Park Jong-won. It was chosen as Best Film at the Chunsa Film Art Awards. It is based on the book Our Twisted Hero.-Synopsis:...
, directed by Park Jongwon.
It has been translated into English by Kevin O'Rourke, and published by Hyperion East in 2001.
Characters
- Han Pyongtae - protagonist
- Om Sokdae - president of the 5th grade
- Teacher in charge of the 5th grade
Plot
This story is told by a man named Han Byeong-tae (or Pyongt'ae), recalling his memories when he was in 5th grade.Due to Byeong-tae's father fails in business, they move to a low town and go to Y Elementary School. There, he meets Eom Seokdae (or Om Sokdae), a president of the 5th grade and one who holds everything in his grade, more than his teacher. However, it is really Eom Seokdae forcing students by force to follow him. Byeong-tae, tries to defend from Seokdae and have a battle in his power and pretty soon enough, everything goes wrong for him; his parents misunderstand him, his grades go down and his power rankings also go down...So he loses, give up, and goes under the Seokdae's power.
After it, Seokdae gives him a great treatment. First of all, he restores Byeong-tae's power rankings to normal, but higher than before. Second, he makes everyone play with Byeong-tae and is not alone. Byeong-tae also gets his grade back. But the story says, "I was thankful to Seok-hyen. But when I think it back, those things were the things I had lost to Seokdae. He has just given it back."
But when Byeong-tae goes to 6th grade, Seokdae's power breaks, due to the new teacher who have senses in the goings. Seokdae, leaves the school and is last seen by Byeong-tae, saying "Do it well."
The story zooms to the present. Byeong-tae's riding the train to where Seokdae is living to get a face of him. On the train, someone is being dragged by polices and is surprisingly Eom Seokdae. However, he does not recognize Byeong-tae.
Analysis
Han Byeong-tae and Eom Seokdae are the characters' names, and Han fights against Eom until he is left with nothing. Only then does he fight to get Eom's respect, which takes a very long time. Finally, when Eom does recognize him even as his right hand man, a new teacher comes in and sees that Eom Seokdae is oppressing the boys. Only Han doesn't admit to Eom's wrong doings, seemingly because he cannot understand giving up the power now that he has compromised all of his original beliefs of freedom.Han sees Eom arrested for a petty crime by accident. He was not going to see, only musing over what had happened to him. Eom seems unchanged (still controlling people, or at least trying to)