In Our Twisted Hero, Om Sokdae’s strategy for maintaining power demonstrates the power of the adage, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” Han Pyongt’ae, a transfer student, initially challenges Sokdae’s authority, but he ultimately succumbs after enduring months of persecution. Once Pyongt’ae stops resisting, Sokdae elevates him to the role of his right-hand man. Yet, despite this promotion, Pyongt’ae remains fundamentally excluded from Sokdae’s inner circle.
Sokdae’s exerts his control in three phases. First, he punishes Pyongt’ae for attempting to expose him to the teacher, enlisting “the other boys” to harass him and creating an atmosphere of dread that leaves Pyongt’ae powerless to fight back without evidence (62). Next, once Pyongt’ae admits defeat, Sokdae offers relief from the bullying. This reprieve, after prolonged isolation, feels more like a gift than a simple cessation of violence. Finally, Sokdae rewards Pyongt’ae’s submission with a “taste of power” by integrating him superficially into the leadership structure while maintaining control (84).
Sokdae’s gestures of kindness, however, are inseparable from his authoritarian tactics. Pyongt’ae initially sees these “various privileges” as signs of acceptance, but they ultimately cost him his “belief in the principle of freedom and… the necessity of reason” (80, 73). The privileges are not gifts but strategic tools to neutralize dissent. Sokdae’s acts of inclusion become covert mechanisms of exclusion, binding Pyongt’ae to the system while denying him genuine belonging.
Aware that Pyongt’ae’s loyalty is incomplete, Sokdae deliberately keeps him close yet at arm’s length. He withholds information on his cheating tactics, knowing that full transparency might reignite Pyongt’ae’s rebellious impulse (77). This calculated distance allows Sokdae to project a more respectable image to Pyongt’ae than he shows the rest of the class, ensuring Pyongt’ae’s complicity without granting true power. Thus, Sokdae’s relationship with Pyongt’ae embodies a delicate balance: he offers just enough privilege to suppress opposition, but never enough to inspire full trust. In keeping his enemy close, Sokdae maintains dominance—not by transforming Pyongt’ae into a friend, but by ensuring he remains dependent, isolated, and ultimately powerless.