Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood

PREFACE-SCENE 2

Reading Check

1. “[I]nconvenient” (Preface)

2. “I” in Korean refers to a subservient “we.” (Preface)

3. As a “patriot” (Scene 1)

4. That Kim was awake the whole time (Scene 1)

5. Japanese students (Scene 2)

6. The Japanese Emperor in his Palace in Tokyo (Scene 2)

Short Answer

1. Kim explains that term Han in Korean refers to emotions and reactions toward unkindness, injustices, and atrocities. Kim views Han as an “iron grip” that he has freed himself of through his writing; in the mid-20th century, Han caused Koreans to yield more easily to colonizers and foreign powers. (Preface)

2. On a train moving into Manchuria, a Japanese Thought Police detective and a Japanese Military Policeman ask Kim’s father and mother questions about their reason for leaving Korea. Kim’s father responds that he received employment as a biology and chemistry teacher at a Christian school; Kim’s mother will teach music and the kindergarten there. The guards tell Kim’s father to leave the train for more questioning, leaving Kim’s mother alone with baby Kim on the train. (Scene 1)

3. As the train starts to move, Kim’s mother is faced with the predicament of following her husband off the train or staying on and waiting for him across the border. She decides to disembark the train and wait for him on the platform, standing for many hours in the cold, until he joins her and they make the journey across the river. (Scene 1)

4. In the classroom, Kim as a student reflects on the increased hostilities globally. The narration shifts to Kim as a narrator, where he makes an aside regarding the changing landscape of pre-WWII, including the war in Manchuria, the invasion of Austria by Nazi Germany, and the rise of fascism in Italy. (Scene 2)

5. Kim’s teacher, a young Korean man, asks Kim to sing his favorite song for his classmates. He chooses “Danny Boy,” and he recalls his days in the missionary school in Manchuria where he learned the song. Due to the political situation the school is likely to close its doors soon. (Scene 2)

6. Over the course of the day, Kim becomes more excited about his school, as he made two friends who ask him to go swimming in the river; however, after singing the “foreign” song in the class, he is physically assaulted by a Japanese teacher and two students. Kim is rescued by his Korean teacher, who argues with the Japanese teacher; the two begin a physical fight. Kim and the Korean teacher sustain significant wounds, and later, while Kim is resting, he learns about the death of one of his new friends, who drowned in the river. The narrator Kim ends the scene by noting the eventual death of the Korean teacher, who would die at the Manchurian-Mongolian border. (Scene 3)

SCENES 3-4

Reading Check

1. Kim’s paternal uncles are all “down to earth.” (Scene 3)

2. From third grade onwards, Kim learns and speaks in Japanese at school; however, he still speaks Korean and learns Korean history at home. (Scene 3)

3. He compares the dormancy of nature during winter to Japanese control: “But, of course, life has not come to an end; it is, simply, in captivity, in the grips of a very cruel season….” (Scene 4)

4. Most of his peers cannot afford rice, so Kim is teased and/or questioned for bringing it, or it is stolen and replaced with other grains. (Scene 4)

5. Kim’s father urges Kim to closely observe the surroundings and circumstances so that he can remember it forever. (Scene 4)

6. Koreans are required to take Japanese names and abandon their Korean names: “[On this day], we all lost our names.” (Scene 4)

Short Answer

1. Unlike his family members, who attend their local church on Sunday, Kim is required to attend an assembly for his school. This regulation ensures that Christian children are unable to attend their church services. Although Kim does not enjoy attending the assembly, he is happy to see his friends and have the opportunity to discuss news of the week. (Scene 3)

2. Kim’s Korean teacher asks if Kim’s father will be at the bookstore late that day, to which Kim replies in the affirmative. At the bookstore, Kim sees his father, his teacher, and the bookstore owner speaking in Korean about political matters. Kim as the author switches to a historical aside about the changing political situation in Europe. In seeing both the adults speak as well as his teacher become emotional, Kim recognizes that he is witnessing something significant that he cannot share with peers. (Scene 3)

3. Kim’s education under Japanese occupation is less about the studies of the world and more about supporting the Japanese government, such as gathering wood outside for warmth in the classes. This type of “practical” education is seen again in the next section, where Kim and his classmates are no longer in school but instead building an airstrip for Japanese pilots. (Scene 4)

4. Kim is pulled out of school to change his name officially from Korean to Japanese. In the snow, he, his father, and other notable members of the Korean community wait to change their names. His father is given special treatment to cut the line, and when they go inside, Kim’s father tells them that their new name is “Iwamoto,” which translates to Foundation of Rock from the Christian Bible. (Scene 4)

5. As a part of the name change process, all students must visit the local Japanese shrine weekly. In this vein, the students are spending most of their time paying respects to the Japanese occupants as opposed to their Korean ancestors. (Scene 4)

SCENES 5-7

Reading Check

1. The Americans and the British soldiers (Scene 5)

2. The Americans dropped leaflets indicating they would not bomb Korean towns and villages. (Scene 5)

3. The student can never attend another school again. (Scene 6)

4. The teacher asks if Kim’s family will hide him once the Japanese lose the war. (Scene 6)

5. “Survival” (Scene 7)

Short Answer

1. All of the Korean community must participate in drills; the students practice attacking American soldiers; families prepare for attacks with air raids and by building shelters. (Scene 5)

2. Children are given rubber balls from the government after Japan colonized the rubber-producing regions of Malaya and Borneo. However, as the war progresses, Kim and his classmates are asked for their rubber balls back, as the government now needs the rubber for war-time supplies. (Scene 5)

3. After Kim collects and deflates the rubber balls, the teacher beats Kim for not following directions and sends him in to talk to the principal. An inspector is there from the Higher Police and tries to convince Kim that he is his father’s friend; Kim denies this and as a result is beaten by a teacher. He is bruised and in pain, but he still decides to show up to his performance, surprising all the teachers, in order to make a point. He is only able to say the first few lines of his speech, however, before beginning to cry. (Scene 5)

4. Students are forced to live in tents next to the airfield where they are working to support the kamikaze pilots. The conditions are difficult, as many students are sick from the damp environment and the nauseating smell. In the evenings, they are forced to study the progress of the Japanese army. (Scene 6)

5. Kim’s mother visits Kim while he is on the airfield, using the excuse that there is a family emergency. She brings him treats and various items to help his living conditions; she also reports to him the news that the Japanese are hiding from the Koreans, that Germany has surrendered, and that Americans have dropped bombs on Japanese cities and invaded Okinawa. Kim says that he wants to come home, and his mother hands him a withdrawal notice approved from the school. (Scene 6)

6. After Kim and his grandfather hear that the Japanese surrendered to the Americans, the power dynamics in the town change immediately; suddenly, the Japanese are fearful for their safety, and the Koreans are intent on taking back their town. After Kim’s father returns from the detention camp, he and Kim are important leaders in the movement; their house becomes a safe haven for Koreans planning how to take control of their town again. The last scene is Kim’s father receiving a public surrender of the Japanese police chief. (Scene 7)