Summary of the story , " The Enemy"
‘The Enemy’ is a story written by Pearl S. Buck. Since the setting of the story is of WW-II, in Japan, so it’s apparently a war-time conflict fiction. However, one of the consistent themes of the story is humanism and the call of the duty.
Dr Sadao Hoki was a renowned surgeon of Japan. He lived near the coast with his family – though it was war-time but he was happy and leading a comparatively better life. Most of doctors and surgeons in Japan were with the troops due to the ongoing war. Dr Sadao was a terrific, skilled and responsible surgeon. For this reason, Dr Sadao was made to stay back, so that he could treat the ailing old army General, who was known for brutality even against his own wife in his youth. Another reason for his not going with the troops that he was working on a medicinal discovery which would heal the wound.
Sadao learned medicine in America – he was in America for his medical studies and there he met Hana, also a doctor and his wife.
One night Dr Sadao and his wife Hana found a white man who was washed ashore. The man was badly wounded. He was hit by a bullet and later got injured by rocky shore. He was a man from the navy. Since Japan and America are at war, taking that man inside his home for treatment means being disloyal to Japan and there was always a fear of being arrested by the police.
As a doctor, he was torn apart between his choice to help that man and at the same time being loyal to his own country. So he was in dilemma. What to do? Should he help that wounded American or not? Finally, being overpowered by his human instinct – forgetting about war and hatred – he took that man in. This action upsets all his servants and maids and fearing the arrest they left the home, leaving Dr Sadao and his wife alone. But he operated on him and makes him almost livable.
Soon afterwards, Dr Sadao was operating on the General. The General came to know about that American enemy but he instead appreciated Dr Sadao for saving a man’s life by rising above war related hatred and criminality. That is why the General trusted him. The General assured that no action would be taken against him. The General promised to send his assassins to get rid of that American enemy. Dr Sadao agreed to his plan. Every night Dr Sadao left the patient’s door open to the garden-side and waited for assassins but they did not appear for five nights.
So finally on his own, he took the decision again to save Tom – the American prisoner. Next, Dr Sadao arranged a boat, food, water bottles and a tiny torch. He instructed Tom to go to a nearby island by rowing a boat in the dark and from there he can catch either a Korean or American ship. He instructed Tom to flash the torch twice just after the sunset in case he run out of water or food supply.
When Dr Sadao met the General next time, the General said that he forgot to send the killers for that American sodier. Dr Sadao informed him about Tom’s escape. The General said nothing.
The story sheds light on the grim misery of the war and it also tells us about the humanitarian aspect of doctors. The doctor was right with his duty and dedication – he thought about getting rid of that enemy when he recovered fully.
Points to Remember
1. Dr. Sadao Hoki's house was near the coast in Japan.
2. His father was a great patriot. His only concern was Sadao’s education.
3. Dr. Sadao was sent to America to learn surgery and medicine
4. Dr. Sadao was not sent along with the troops because the General was under his treatment and needed his services.
5. One day Dr. Sadao saw an injured young soldier staggering and crawling.
6. Dr. Sadao brought the white soldier inside his house and started treating him which offended the servants and they decided to leave his house.
7. Dr. Sadao and his wife decided to treat the soldier in spite of the opposition from the servants.
8. Dr. Sadao's wife Hana was tensed about the presence of an enemy in her house.
9. Dr. Sadao informed the General about his patient who promised to send his assassins to kill him.
10. Dr. Sadao was tensed about the assassination of his patient, had restless night.
11. Assassins didn’t turn up so he decided to help the American soldier by providing him with a boat, food and other necessary articles.
12. He promised to provide him more food in case he was not able to go back beyond the island.
13. The next day when Dr. Sadao went to treat the General he told him that the man had escaped.
**********************************************
Why did the General overlook the matter of the enemy soldier?
Or
Why did the General spare the American soldier?
Or
Why did the General not order immediate arrest of Dr Sadao who had sheltered a Whiteman?
The General had an attack and according to Dr. Sadao he could not survive the second attack. So if Dr. Sadao was arrested, no other doctor would be capable of performing the operation. So for furthering his selfish needs he overlooked the matter and promised to send his assassins to kill the American soldier. But he was so self-absorbed, he forgot about it.
Why was Dr. Sadao not sent with the troops?
The General thought that Dr. Sadao was indispensable to his life and could save anyone as he was very skilled. He trusted no one except Dr. Sadao. Apart from this the doctor was about to discover a medicine that would clean the wound entirely. That is why the doctor was not sent with troops.
How was the plan of the patient's escape executed in the story?
Or
How did Dr Sadao get rid of the enemy soldier?
Dr Sadao planned out everything beforehand. He put the boat on the shore with food, bottled water and extra clothing. He carefully checked the prisoner's temperature, wound and his heart and pulse. He asked the American prisoner of war to row to a little island near the coast and then wait for a Korean ship to pass. He also gave the American his flashlight, gave him instructions on how to signal him in a time of distress.
Why did the servants leave Dr. Sadao's house?
They were not in favour of keeping the American prisoner hidden in the house. They also did not want Dr. Sadao to save his life as he was the enemy. Also, if the police came to know of it, all their lives would be in danger and Dr Sadao could be considered traitor. They were also worried about the future of the family.
How did Hana help Dr. Sadao?
Hana was a perfect wife and stood by her husband in all his decisions. She nursed and washed the prisoner herself when the servants had flatly refused to do so.She dipped a towel into the steaming hot water washed the face of the soldier herself . She gave the anesthetic to the rescued soldier as per the instruction of his surgeon husband. When the doctor brought the bullet out of the soldier's body and declared that the soldier would live, Hana served the patient with intensive care.
Why did Dr Sadao treat the American soldier even though, it was an unpatriotic act on his part?
Dr Sadao treated the American prisoner of war because as a doctor, he was trained to save lives. He could not have let the injured soldier die even though he was the enemy of Japan, as that would have been against his professional values & ethics.
What forced Dr Sadao to be impatient and irritable with his patient?
The critically wounded white man urgently needed an operation. Hana was with Sadao when he started operating on the prisoner. Hana had never seen an operation in her life so she vomited at the sight of blood. Sadao wanted to help her in her distress but he could not leave his patient. This made him impatient and irritable.
What made a cool surgeon like Sadao speak sharply to his wife and what was her reaction?
Hana had never seen an operation before. When Sadao started operating on the white man , blood began to flow. Hana choked at this moment. Sadao sharply told her not to faint because if he had stopped, the wounded man would surely have died. Hana clasped her hands to her mouth and ran out. Sadao heard her vomit.
Why had Hana to wash the wounded man herself?
Hana had to wash the wounded man herself because her servants and maidservant flatly refused to wash an enemy American soldier out of superstition, hatred and fear.
How did Dr Sadao ensure that the American sailor left his house and he himself remained safe and secure?
The night the man escaped as per the plan, Dr Sadao slept well. One evening standing on the verandah, Dr Sadao looked towards the island. There was no signal of the flashlight. It meant that the man had gone, safe on a Korean fishing boat. In this way, he ensured the American’s safe departure and his own safety and security.
How does the writer indicate that Dr Sadao’s father was a very traditional and conventional man?
Sadao’s education had been his father’s chief concern. He sent him to America at the age of twenty-two to study surgery and medicine. As s staunch patriot, he took great pride in Japanese culture and traditions. That is why Sadao married Hana only after confirming that she was a Japanese, as he did not want to upset his father. This suggests that Sadao’s father was a very traditional and conventional man.
Why did the messenger come to Dr Sadao? What did Hana think about it?
The messenger came to Dr Sadao’s house to inform him that the old General was in pain again and had to be attended to. When Hana first saw the uniformed messenger, she got frightened, for she thought that he had come to arrest her husband for sheltering an enemy in their house.
What secret plan did the General have about the American soldier staying under the care of Sadao?
The General planned to get the American soldier staying under the care of Dr Sadao assassinated by his private assassins. He assured the doctor about the removal of the dead body also.
Hana told Yumi to wash the soldier.How did Yumi react?
When Hana asked Yumi to wash the soldier, she bluntly refused to do so, saying that she had never washed a white man and she would not wash a dirty one. Yumi told Hana that she was a poor person and it was not her business to clean him.
What was the General’s plan to get rid of the American prisoner? Was it executed?
What traits of General’s character are highlighted in the lesson?
The General planned to get the American soldier staying under the care of Dr Sadao assassinated by his private assassins. He assured the doctor about the removal of the dead body also. However the General’s assassins did not arrive for the next three days. As a result the General’s plan was not executed. Sadao spent three restless nights waiting for the assassins. Finally he helped the prisoner escape. When Sadao informed the General about the escape of the prisoner, the General replied that he was sick and thus forgot about the the plan. He further wanted that Sadao must not inform anybody about this.
This shows that the General was very selfish. He had concern only for his own safety and pride. Also, he did not send Sadao to the battlefield as he needed his services himself. He considered himself more important than the life of thousands of soldiers.
What conflicting ideas arise in Dr Sadao’s mind after he has brought the wounded American soldier home? How is the conflict resolved?
Since the day Dr Sadao found the wounded soldier outside his house, he had been caught up in between conflicts and difficulties.
When Sadao decided to operate upon the soldier. He was caught between his duty as a doctor and as a true patriot loyalty towards his nation. But, Sadao's humanism as a doctor won. He saved the life of the soldier and as a responsible citizen, he also informed the General about the presence of the soldier. But, when the General’s men did not arrive to kill the enemy, Sadao was again caught in a conflict as to how to get rid of the white man. His innate virtues of empathy and humanism prevented him from killing the man. Lastly, he decided to let the prisoner escape by sending him off to an unguarded island. This is how Dr Sadao successfully resolved the conflict.
Do you think Dr Sadao’s final decision was the best possible one in the circumstances? Why/Why not? Explain with reference to the story, ‘The Enemy’.
Dr Sadao’s final decision was the best possible one in the given circumstances. He has the instincts of a doctor that is to save the life of a person. He did save the life of Tom, the prisoner of war. Next, being loyal to his nation he informed the General about the presence of the prisoner.He agreed to the General's plan to get the prisoner of war killed. He waited for three nights for the General ‘s assassins to come and kill Tom. But assassins did not come. Then humanism and empathy again overpowered Dr. Sadao. He helped the enemy escape. His compassionate heart rose above the narrow confines of hatred and war.
What impression do you form about Dr Sadao as a man and as a surgeon on your reading the chapter The Enemy.
After going through the chapter, ‘The Enemy’, we come to the conclusion that Dr Sadao was an excellent surgeon and nice human being. He risked the life of his family members and his life by sheltering and operating upon the wounded prisoner of war. He appeared to be a man of compassion and surgeon in the truest sense.
Although he had a bitter experience of Americans being prejudiced when he was a student in America, he did not let that bitterness defeat his humanism and a true doctor within him.
His conscience did not permit him to let a human being die before his eyes, especially when he was capable of saving him.He took the risk of being called a traitor. But he was not a traitor.He informed the General about the whole incident when the American soldier got well. It showed that he was a man of bold conscience. He was ready to face the consequences.
Why did Sadao Hoki go to America? Narrate his experiences there.
Sadao Hoki 's father sent Sadao to America to study surgery and medicine . His experience of living in America was not very good but he was grateful to have some good professors who taught him well. He was grateful to the professor at whose home he had met Hana and immediately liked her. But he did not like the smell of their food, their small room and the wife of his professor, who was very talkative, although she tried hard to be kind.
Initially, he had faced great difficulty in finding a place to live in America because he was a Japanese. He perceived that Americans were full of prejudice and for him it was a bitter experience to live with them.
Dr Sadao was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help the enemy soldier. What made Hana, his wife, sympathetic to him in the face of open defiance from the domestic staff?
As a doctor, it was Dr Sadao’s moral responsibility to save Tom, the American prisoner of war, but Hana was under no such compulsion. In spite of this she supported her husband through the most difficult times because she was aware of her husband's quality.
Hana was soft-hearted. She could not see a wounded person being left dying. When the servants of the house left them, Hana kept her cool and managed the things as a perfect homemaker. Apart from this she cleaned the prisoner when her maid was unwilling to do so. She also assisted her husband in the operation on the American, despite the fact that she could not stand the blood. She was nervous fearing what if Sadao got caught and charged with sedition for helping the prisoner of war but she never blamed her husband for the situation they were in. She stood by her husband in the most difficult times. She had faith in her husband. She proved to be an understanding and empowered woman.
Do it yourself
How did Dr. Sadao rise above narrow prejudices of race and country to help a human being in need?
OR
Describe how Pearl Buck's story "The Enemy" show that basic human goodness overpowers all other factors.
Comments
Post a Comment