Adaptation of Catcher in the Rye - Seokwoo Jang

Adaptation of Catcher in the Rye (portion of Chapter 25)

Seokwoo Jang

When I got outside, the sun was just about to set into the mountains, filling the sky with a splash of orange and yellow. It was early December, and even though it was warmer than typical KMLA’s winter, the night air that brushed against my skin was cold.

I didn’t know where the hell to go. I was freaken tired of the 11^th floor, a place where silence and tenseness was at its fullest. So finally all I did was I walked towards the other end of our school, the gymnasium. I figured I would just sleep .on the seats on the second floor, sticking my feet up. Yet I only managed to sleep for about half an hour thanks to the Crossover kids who made the gym echo with the sound of basketballs bouncing. It only worsened my headache.

I started to think about my KMLA life. Before I came in, I dreamt freedom. I would finally be freed from the hakwons and parents who talked about universities. But here, in KMLA, things were no different than outside. EOP? No one cared about such thing. Student counsel? No they were puppets, telling what the teachers did. But on top of that, the regulations the laws, no orders that dictated our actions. I didn’t know why on earth I had to follow these regulations. 10 points for ordering chicken? Is this even logical? Anyways, just because I went to special training for 60 points a week ago, my advisor had called my parents. They, in turn, scolded me over the phone for about an hour. Damn.

There happened to be a Minjok Herald magazine that somebody’d left on the bench next to me, so I started reading it, thinking it'd make me stop thinking about my life and a million other things for at least a little while. But this damned article I started reading only made my feelings worse. It was about not getting penalty points. It was about an interview with those lousy students who still had probation. Those cowards who wouldn’t, no couldn’t do anything except what the teachers told them.

‘Robots.’

I tore the magazine in half, throwing the shreds down to the first floor. I got up and went down the stairs to the entrance. I figured I'd be expelled in a couple of months –just like Do Gyun did –just because I reached 80 penalty points. I really did. I was even positive I would be. It certainly didn't make me feel too gorgeous, though.

For one thing I figured I had to walk. I didn’t know if it was the right thing to do at this point, but I couldn’t bear the fact that I wasn’t doing anything. At first, I walked slowly. Then my steps got faster, and faster until I went running. I ran past the archery field. I ran past the two statues at the gates. I ran past the milk factory. I ran out to the road that stretched out in both directions. Then, I turned right; not because some regulation or teacher told me, but just because I wanted to, I chose to do so. I ran into the darkness, leaving KMLA behind me.

What's on your damn mind?