LUCKNOW INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL (2024-25)

CLASS-XII
ENGLISH LITERATURE (VISTAS)
CH 4- THE ENEMY
BY- PEARL S. BUCK
Introduction:

The story highlights how a Japanese doctor saves the life of an American prisoner of war and rises above
narrow national prejudices. He risks his honour, career, position and life by sheltering a war prisoner of the
enemy camp and saving his life. The author has beautifully portrayed the conflict in the doctor’s mind as a
private individual and as a citizen with a sense of national loyalty.
It gives the message that humanism transcends all man made prejudices and barriers.

READING WITH INSIGHT

Q1. There are moments in life when we have to make hard choices between our roles as private
individuals and as citizens with a sense of national loyalty. Discuss.
Ans. As private individuals, we have our own ideas. We have our own likes and dislikes. As citizens of a
country, we have a duty to be loyal and law-abiding. But sometimes a conflict arises in our mind - there is
one thing we want to do as an individual but our national loyalty demands quite the opposite from us. The
choice becomes hard to make on such occasions. This is what happens with Sadao in the story, ‘The
Enemy. As a doctor, he had been trained not to let a man die. A doctor is not supposed to kill a patient even
if the patient happens to be his enemy. But as a loyal citizen of Japan, he must not give shelter to an enemy.
He must hand him over to the police at once. All through the story, Sadao struggles with this conflict. He
himself admits, “In fact, I do not know why I am doing it.”
Ques 2. 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?
Ans. Hana firmly followed her husband’s sense of duty although she knew that her husband’s decision was
being questioned by everyone. She was humanitarian and compassionate and went beyond her duty to
perform the tasks that she was not supposed to do. It was her care that helped the man recover quickly. She
respected her husband and had a sense of duty towards him.
Q3.How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s home even
when he knew he couldn’t stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
Ans. Though the Doctor and his wife were Japanese, they had displayed extreme kindness towards him. He
was an American prisoner of war who had escaped and was given refuge by the kind doctor and his wife
even though this act was fraught with danger for the two of them. He had obviously suffered at the hands of
the Japanese while in prison and the scars on his neck were the evidence of the torture that he had
undergone. He was afraid that if he left their house he would be discovered and would have to face the dire
consequences, possibly further and even worse torture.
Q4. What explains the attitude of the General in the matter of the enemy soldier? Was it human
consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self-absorption?
Ans. During his meeting with the General, Dr Sadao told him about the man he had operated on
successfully. He explained that he cared nothing for the man. The General appreciated his skill and
efficiency and promised that he would not be arrested.
The General thought it quite unfortunate that the man had been washed up to Dr Sadao’s doorstep and
thought it best if he could be quietly killed. He promised to send his private assassins to do so and remove
his dead body. He suggested that Dr Sadao should leave the outer partition of the white man’s room to the
garden open at night.
It is evident that the General had no human consideration in this matter. For him an enemy was an enemy
and must be wiped out. He wanted the man to be eliminated silently to save the doctor from being arrested.
It was neither lack of national loyalty nor dereliction of duty that guided and inspired his decision. It was
simply his sense of self-absorption. He “wanted to keep Dr Sadao safe only for his own sake. He had no
faith in the other Germany trained doctors. He might have to be operated upon anytime when he had
another attack and he had full faith in the skill and loyalty of Dr Sadao only.
This fact is further corroborated by the General’s remarks to Dr Sadao, one week after the emergency
operation upon the General. Dr Sadao informed him that the man had escaped. The General asked whether
he had not promised Sadao that he would kill the
man for him. Dr Sadao replied that he had done nothing. The General admitted that he had forgotten his
promise as he had been suffering a great deal and he thought of nothing but himself. He revealed the whole
truth. He admitted that it was careless of him to have forgotten his promise. But added that it was not lack
of patriotism or dereliction of duty on his part.
Q5. While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during wartime, what
makes a human being rise above narrow prejudices?
Ans. It is the consciousness of the demands of one’s calling that make a sensitive soul respond to the call of
his duty as a professional doctor to attend to the wounded human being regardless of his being an enemy.
In the story ‘The Enemy’ Dr Sadao Hoki finds a prisoner of war washed ashore and in a dying state thrown
to his doorstep. As a patriot, he has to hand him over to the police. If he does not want to be entangled, the
next best thing is to put him back to the sea.
However, the surgeon in him instinctively inspires him to operate upon the dying man and save him from
the jaws of death. First, he packs the wound with sea-moss to stanch the fearful bleeding. Then he brings
him home with the help of his wife. In spite of stiff opposition and open defiance of the servants, he
operates upon the man and harbours him till he is able to leave. He knows fully well the risk of sheltering a
white man—a prisoner of war—in his house. But his sentimentality for the suffering and wounded person
help him rise above narrow national prejudices and extend his help and services even to an enemy.

Question 6. Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the
circumstances?
Ans. The doctor had harboured an enemy soldier in his house. All the servants of the house had left their
job. It was a grave crime to shelter an enemy soldier. Dr Sadao could be arrested for that. Therefore, Dr
Sadao wanted to get rid of that man as soon as possible. He did not want him to hand him over to the
police. He knew that they would certainly kill the man. He was in a fix on what to do.
When the man had gained sufficient strength. Dr Sadao adopted the method that could be the best in the
given circumstances. He provided the soldier with his boat. He also loaded the boat with sufficient
provisions. In this way, Dr Sadao rose above the narrow considerations and acted in a true humanitarian
form. His solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances.

Question 7. Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’ by A.J. Cronin that you read in Snapshots last year?
What are the similarities?
Ans. Both the stories have one common theme. They both deal with the doctors who have great passion for
their profession. In the story ‘Birth’, Dr Andrew Manson brought back life into the still born child with
great effort. He knew that for the Morgans that child had great value. It was their first child after twenty
years of their marital life.
In this story, Dr Sadao saved the enemy American soldier though it was a great crime to shelter an enemy
soldier. He operated on him and gave him proper care and treatment. In the end he helped him to escape by
providing his own boat. Thus in both stories it has been shown that for a doctor his true job is to save the
life of his patient. He is above the considerations of caste, creed or nationality.

Question 8. To choose between professional loyalty and patriotism was a dilemma for Dr Sadao. How
did he succeed in betraying neither?
Ans. As a doctor, Sadao was taught that he should never let a person die if he could help. One evening, he
found a badly injured enemy soldier on the sea beach near his house. The man could die if not given proper
medical aid. Now, Dr Sadao decided to perform an operation on the man though he was an enemy soldier.
He tended him well and took great care of him.
In this way Dr Sadao was able to maintain his professional loyalty. But Dr Sadao was patriotic from the
core of his heart. He knew it was an act of treason to harbour an enemy soldier. Therefore, he wrote a letter
to the authorities about it and put it in his drawer. He even told the old General everything about the enemy
soldier. It is another thing that the General did not take any action against the enemy soldier. But Dr Sadao
was able to maintain a perfect balance between his professional loyalty and patriotism.
Q9. Is there any film you have seen or novel you have read with a similar theme?
Ans. he story “The Enemy” is built on the pillars of selflessness, sense of duty, kindness, and generosity.
There have been many films and novels based on this theme. One such example is the film “My Name is
Khan”, where the protagonist, with a sense of duty and generosity, goes to the flooded Georgia to save the
lives of his friends, Mama Jenny, Joel, and other natives. He selflessly works to save the town without
thinking twice about the possible dangers to his own life.Read more on Sarthaks.com -
https://www.sarthaks.com/3105208/is-there-any-film-you-have-seen-or-novel-you-have-read-with-a-
similar-theme
(i) Unconscious
(ii) Right side of lower back
(iii) US Navy

(A) Hana, working hard on unaccustomed..............................must have told already.(page-39)

i. Why is Hana working hard on unaccustomed labour?
ii. Why did the 'messenger ' come?
iii. Who is the author of the above-mentioned lines?
iv. What servants must have told?
Answer-
i. All the servants had left the job
ii. To take Dr. Sadao, as General was in pain
iii. Pearl S. Buck
iv. Dr. Sadao had given shelter to an American soldier