The Catcher in the Rye - Returning Home - Choah Lee

Holden wanting to meet phoebe

Sneaks in

Looks around the room.

Wakes her up

Soo happy to reunite

But phoebe realizes. “daddy will kill you” “why did you do it” “you never like anything” “What are you going to do in the future?”

Holden – I do like some things. Like talking w you . I want to be a cathcher in the rye

Phoebe kept saying ‘daddy’s gonna kill you’

Mom and dad came in.

Scenario

Holden used to attend regular high schools. But he is sick of:

-       listening to the stupid teachers’ lecturing

-       cramming stuff in his brain – think he’s going to puke. For the sake of exam b/c sure to forget it in 2 minutes after the exam

-       and why is this kind of education necessary? counseled w/ teacher- to get a decent job and earn money. Earn money for chrissake

-       I just simply cant stand the phony place. i want to run away.

-       I want to run away and come back with an army. I want to take over the country and make it work for the first time. Schools all good. Nobody has to be phony. Just true to themselves for gods sake. don’t fake emotions/reactions(examples. Stupid handshaking or chuckling and laughing for the principal)

일반고.

The Catcher in the Rye

141113 Choah Lee

This is an adaptation of Chapter 21, where Holden sneaks into his house and talks to Phoebe. In this version, Holden is attending a regular high school called Pencey in Daechi-dong(the most infamous place for Korean-style rigorous education). His house is at Incheon, where all his family still lives, but Holden was sent to his cousin’s house at Daechi-dong for his high school. This is a scene where Holden quits Pencey and returns to his house at Incheon.

I never take the stairs, except in those sad old buildings that don’t even have elevators. But this time I couldn’t help but take the stairs. I mean, I didn’t want to advertise my presence with that stupid elevator squealing “5^th floor. The door is opening” and all. So I walked my way up 100 stairs. I even made sure to tiptoe, for Chrissake. When I finally reached my floor and was in front of the door, I was as rigid as a rock. I felt like all my body functions froze for about a minute, and it seemed that even my heart stopped pumping. It wasn’t that I was nervous or anything, because if I was, my heart would have pounded the hell out of me. I don’t know how to put it. I just felt very funny in a way, in a way I had never felt before.

Anyway, it took me about half an hour until I managed to get the goddam door open with my key, quiet as hell. Then very, very careful and all, I went inside and opened Kevin’s door.

The room stunk like Kevin. I could see him right away since the moonlight lit up his bed. As always, old Kevin kicked away half his blankets and slept with his mouth way open. It’s funny. You take adults and they look lousy when they sleep with their mouth hanging open. But kids don’t. Kids still look all right. I sat on the ground, right next to his bed and all, and very quietly, stroke his hair. I mean, I just sat there for 10 minutes and just played with old Kevin’s hair. He looked adorable. That killed me.

Then I whispered, “Kevin, it’s me. Holden. Wake up, now” right in his ear. He squirmed around a bit but didn’t seem to fully wake up. I did it again, this time patting his arm, too. Then he sat upright on the bed and stared at me for a while. Then he yelled right away, “Holden!” Without time for me to stop this helluva dangerous situation, he yelled again. “Oh, Holden! How come you’re home already?”

That did it. He was trying to wake Mom and Dad up and have them join us or something. I whispered like a madman. “Not so loud, for God’s sake! They’re not supposed to know.” Poor Kevin seemed to quickly understand, and he said something like sorry under his breath.

He probably figured that I’d quit school again, because he asked “Holden, why did you do it?” That made me sad, for some reason. Then he kept throwing his goddam pillow on his bed over and over again. I told him to chill and tried to explain in a very quiet voice. “Listen. You don’t realize what a hell Pencey is. You need to sit there and listen to the phony teachers speak for 8 hours. 8 hours, for Chrissake! Even worse, the teachers don’t even prepare for class. I tell you you’d teach sixty times better! And you know what? I have to memorize dead Chosun king’s names and what shit they did during their lifetime. And like 13 of them! I don’t get the purpose of cramming all the crap in my brain, because for all I know, I always forget them two seconds after the exam. What’s the point of going to school if I can’t learn right?” I glanced at Kevin, but he was looking down at his stupid pillow. He was listening though, I could tell.

I just had to keep babbling on, with my voice still low. “And two days ago, I asked my goddam Science teacher why the hell we have to study all this. Ya know what she said? She told me that we needed to study for decent jobs and money. We have to study for money, for Chrissake. I just couldn’t stand all that crap, you see, Kevin?” He grunted, “Stop that swearing. And what is your plan then?”

I sighed. I didn’t feel like answering for a while. I wanted the room be completely silent, just for now. I wasn’t thinking or anything. I couldn’t concentrate. For a moment I thought about how Kevin eventually had to become a high school student like me and felt sorry for him. I really did.

“No plans.” He concluded. I still didn’t talk for a while, because I wasn’t in the mood for it. Old Kev didn’t speak anymore, either. After something like 3 minutes, I spoke. I said, “I’m going away to China to form an army. I’ll return to Korea when I’ve gathered enough men. When I return, I’ll be wearing my hunting hat and I’ll take over the Ministry of Education. I’ll blast it into pieces. Then what I’ll do, I’ll become the Education Minister and redesign schools so that students actually get something meaningful out of schools. And I’ll make school fun and all. That’s what I’ll do.”

Adaptation of Catcher in the Rye - Sumin You

Adaptation of Catcher in the Rye, chapter 20

This adaptation of the novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” which takes place in KMLA, is the part where Holden gets drunk and calls up Sally from chapter 20. In this adaptation, I also tried to show how Holden felt by the end of the book- the part where he says he misses everyone, even his memories about the school that he used to hate.

By quarter after two, I was finally finished up with my Korean presentation. Boy, was I exhausted. I looked around my desk. It was a complete disaster. It was all covered up with books stacked up like a Jenga set. All those damn books. I felt like throwing away everything on my desk. I mean EVERYTHING. I could hardly even sit on my desk so I slumped down to the floor. When I fell on the floor, I imagined myself dying from stress and all. Just like how all those mean mother-in-laws end up in dramas and stuff. My mother used to watch one of those very phony dramas every weekend. Boy, those mean mother-in-law characters- they killed me. Maybe my roommates will find me cold and all lying unconscious on the floor as they woke up for morning exercise. Wait- maybe then I won’t have to go to morning exercise. The problem was I was too healthy and all for the fainting thing. Damn.

Finally, I felt like giving old Harry a buzz. I don’t know why. I haven’t seen him in a while, and I had nothing to say to him after all. I guess I was way too exhausted for the proper process of thinking. So what I did, I reached out for my phone, dialed his number and erased it about a hundred times, and finally manage to call him.

“Hello?” I said when someone answered the phone. My voice was cracking and all and I sounded as if I haven’t spoken for a thousand years.

“Who is this?” this very hushed voice spoke.

“It’s me, Sumin. Who are you? I gotta talk to Harry. Now.”

“Well, I am his roommate, and I think he’s sleeping. Including everyone else in this dorm. Why are you calling at this hour? Do you know what time it is?”

“Yeah. I have to talk to Harry. Very important. Put him on.”

“He’s asleep. And I think you really need some too. Good night.”

“Can’t you just wake him up or something? Wake him up!”

Then, I heard another voice. A voice I could recognize. His voice seemed real sleepy and all.

“Hello?”

“Harry? Is that you?” I was partly screaming by now.

“Yes-and stop screaming. Why are you up at this time? You always slept by eleven or something.”

“Whatever. Listen. Listen. Hey, remember the day I called you on the subway telling that I was way too bored and I just headed to your house?

“Uh… Yes I do. Why did you call?”

“Well, I have to tell you. The day, the day I visited your house? You still think I was really bored for chrissake? I missed you. I wanted to see you. I was missing everything. You, school, everything. I miss the rushing-out-in-the-morning thing. I miss the stinky classrooms and the nasty lunches. I miss the morning homework copying and I miss the classroom- just filled with people. I even miss those guys who always used to throw eraser bits to my back.

“Okay, okay. You the only one waking up by now?”

“Yes, I am. Me, myself and I.”

“Well, then, I think you gotta go have some sleep. Really. Good bye”

“Good night, you. Good night.”

Jesus, was I out of my mind.

A letter from Holden's aunt....

<The Catcher in the Rye>

11v4 121036 Hyunyeon Belle Kim

I hypothesized the situation of Holden having an aunt (sister of his mother) who can understand his feelings. I imagined what letter she would write to him, after knowing Holden’s situation.

To: Holden

             My dear Holden,

Recently I heard from your mother that you were kicked out from your school. Your parents were seriously worried about your so-called misbehavior. Well- my boy, are you disappointed because I seem to be on your parents’ sides? No. I am not chiding for “being expelled”. I will not criticize any of your thoughts. For me, you are the most awaken one in your family. I myself also find this world ugly and corrupted. People are all hypocrites, aren’t they, Holden?

Yet I will chide for your behaviors, Holden. I heard from Phoebe that you were going to run away. Why were you trying to run away? Did you truly believe that it was the solution for your inner anguish? Ask yourself. You would find the answer “NO”. We all know that running away would be the ultimate solution. It is rather a coward escape. I will chide you for the attempt of running away.

Just the fact that we are old enough to abandon everything does not mean that we can actually run away. Holden, let us not blind ourselves from the ugly truth. Even though we close our eyes, the truth never disappears; what you were trying to do was blindfolding yourself.

Now I want to question one thing. Did you find your world solely disgusting? Did you only despise humans, who are all hypocrites? Now and then I look around and wonder; how come this world, so ugly that I can almost vomit, is beautiful? I even find myself loving humans, who I despise for their conspiracy.

You might not understand me now; you’re full of rebellious thoughts and are frustrated because your deeds cannot match with your thoughts. However, I think you might understand my ironic love toward this world and humans as you grow up. Let us love their imperfections, their dirty ness, and hypocrisy.

Well- it seems like I made a sermon again. Hmm. I guess I can’t help it. Well, your mother seems to find another school for you. I hope you have a good time there. Try not to mess up, Holden, for your and my sake. I do not want to see my brother-in-law beat you up to death. I give you my full love.

From: your aunt, secret comrade

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?

By Yoon Seung Jung - Saturday Sucks

There is this thing I have about Saturdays and it’s that no goddamn thing stands between me and sleep in that day. So if I were to have any bloke who barged into the room blowing on his frigging Korean traditional instrument or something during my bliss hours I would literally throw my pillow at him and pour Powerade over his laptop, and stop right there, because I’m a pacifist. My crazy roommate next door furnishes an axe the size of my printer, and my printer’s helluva lot big, so if I wanted to make my point by wrecking his bed into half, I could easily do so. But as I said, I’m like the patron saint of peace around here, and I’ve seen my axe roommate get into one of his fits before, with all those cussing and loud noises and crap, and when he’s finished, he would have lost us one of our shower doors forever, and, somehow, people don’t like that.  

So as I was saying, I wouldn’t make a whole scene out of all this Korean instrument crap, but that’s not the point. The point is that, in a sense, I’m like the reincarnation of Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, I think I’m better than him, because if Gandhi was born in KMLA in the 21^st century, he would just waste his time doing Facebook all day, posting all this crap about why the school is unjust and why the body of students and faculty alike are just a bunch of assholes. Anybody who spends time whining about how messed up their lives are are a just a bunch of phonies, and it downright depresses me to see that they should make such a fuss about things everybody confronts. So if I were to see somebody moaning about how retarded his schedules were, and to see him going on Facebook right at the next moment to moan about his busy life, I would not hesitate but one moment. I would take my crazy roommate’s axe, wreck his computer in half, and tell him to dedicate half the effort and time he pours on Facebook posts to writing his essay, because I truly love him.

After waking up at eight and wondering how I could escape being caught as a late student, it suddenly occurred to me that it was one of my sacred Saturdays and that I should waste no more time in going back to sleep. Time is gold, you see. But just about an hour later I learn a lesson about the miracles of life when my worst case scenario actually springs into action. My roommate Jim, along with some of his friends, barges into the room blowing on his taepyunso as if it’s morning assembly session, and I swear I acted like Jesus Christ in refraining from even pouring water over him. I seem to have underestimated my roommate, and I was proud of this new level of craziness he could attain.

When I actually woke up again after that, it was way past lunchtime, and I thought I would eat one of those delicacies my mother had sent me, when I found out that it was missing. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s food thieves, not necessarily because I’m fond of food, but because I couldn’t stand the sight of him munching away in a silent corner of his room, giggling about his dashing deeds, especially when another sight of my mother comes into my head at the same time, with her shopping into the mart and going through all of the wrapping trouble to send food to his beloved son, just to watch it get eaten by some gluttonous pig.

Anyways, when I climbed out of bed and started searching for food, I realized how much of a mess my room was in, and I started to tidy up. Now I say I tidied up, but in a sense it was just chucking every random thing or so into my closet or drawer, and so I started questioning the integrity of this whole process, when at that particular point I stumbled across a pair of goddamn scissors. I never saw this thing before, and I cussed at whoever was dumb enough to misplace it on my desk, and mused myself over chucking it out of the window, when I saw that it was David’s, at which point I started to cry. David left school a long time ago, but in my opinion, he was one of the grandest fellows there ever was. I was his roommate the particular semester he left, and although I loved him dearly, I could not summon up the courage to contact him afterwards, because I blamed myself for his leaving the school.

David left the school voluntarily, but in a sense it was an induced expulsion, because he had reached way over 80 penalty points the week before he left. David was intelligent, funny, kind, and sports-able and all but if there was one thing he couldn’t do, it was managing his life pattern. I still think to myself what life would have been like if David was still here, if I took the extra step and managed to reduce his penalty points, but this sensation creeps over me that even if he did not reach 80, he wouldn’t have wanted to stay at school, and that he would have left anyway. The more and more I think about it, the more it makes sense, and the more I start to understand his feelings. What kind of school kicks out a guy like David when all those phonies on Facebook, gymnasium podiums and all those piggy thieves are still intact here, receiving good grades and even getting esteemed? Why didn’t things stay the way they are, the way they should be? I wanted to see David, talk to him, and play a round of basketball with him at the gym. And so I walked out of school, wondering about where in Seoul I should go to meet him.