THE ENEMY(Pearl S.

Buck)
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March
6, 1973; also known by her Chinese name Sai
Zhenzhu; was an American writer and novelist.
As the daughter of missionaries, Buck spent most
of her life before 1934 in Zhenjiang, China. Her
novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction
book in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and
won the Pultizer Prize in 1932. In 1938, she was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her
rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life of
China and for her biographical masterpieces She
was the first American woman to win the Nobel
Prize for Literature.
THE ENEMY(Pearl S.Buck)
 THEME
 ‘The Enemy’ gives the message
that humanism transcends all man
made prejudices and barriers. 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.The story is a great lesson
of peace, love, sympathy, fellow
feeling and humanism.
Chapter Sketch
This lesson is set at the time of Second
World War. It is a heart rendering
portrayal of the conflict between man’s
head and heart. An American sailor is
washed ashore in a dying state and is
found at the doorstep of a very eminent
surgeon and scientist, Doctor Sadao
Hoki. Sadao is torn between his duty as a
doctor and as a Japanese. His heart is
telling him to save the prisoner while his
mind is fighting to turn him over to
police. It is a difficult choice to decide
whether one should allow oneself to be
governed by emotion or by reason.
 Appropriateness of the Title
 The Enemy is an apt title for the story that has Second
World War as the background.The political situation at
that time had made America and Japan sworn
enemies. The writer weaves episodes to set the
reader thinking about the concept of ‘enemy’,
‘patriotism’, and the validity of war. Although the
doctor treats the American sailor as a
patient,still,neither he nor his wife consider him to be
their friend. So the author succeeds in his efforts in
forcing the readers to re-describe an enemy.
Characters
Dr. Sadao Hoki: A Japanese doctor trained
by Americans in America.
Sadao’s father: much concerned about his
son’s education, a true patriot.
Hana: Wife of Dr. Sadao, met in America,
became friends and got married in Japan.
Tom: An American prisoner of war, a soldier
of U.S. Navy.
The old General: a sick Japanese army
General, needed an operation, trusted only
Dr. Sadao.
An officer: A messenger of the General.
Gardener: an old gardener in the house of
Dr. Sadao.
Yumi: Hana’s maid servant.
Sadao’s Education----
 Sadao ' s education - His
father's main concern
 Dr.Sadao 's house was built
on the Japanese coast.
 Sadao knew that his
education was his father's
chief concern.
 For this he had sent him to
America to learn surgery and
medicine
 Before his father died he had
seen Sadao become a famous
Surgeon and scientist.
Sadao Married Hana
 Sadao had met Hana in America at a
professor’s house.
 He did not fall in love with her until
he was sure that she was Japanese.
 His father would have never
accepted her unless she had been
"pure in race".
 They came home to Japan. Their
marriage had been arranged in the
old Japanese tradition.
Wounded American Soldier Tom
 Found Crawling
 Sadao and Hana found something coming out
of the mist.
 A man seemed to be on his hands and knees
crawling. Then they saw him fall on his face and
lie there.
 He was wounded and lay motionless on the
sand. A gun wound had reopened on the right
side of his lower back and was bleeding.
 Sadao packed the wound with sea moss. The
cried but didn't wake up.
 They read the faint letters on his cap: US Navy.
The American was a prisoner of war.,an enemy Who
i
of the Japanese. that? s
Dilemma started---

 If they sheltered a white man in

their house they would be arrested.
“But
h
 But if they turn him down as a woun e is
d ed
prisoner, he would certainly die. ”
 The couple was in a fix. If he were
healthy they could hand him over “A W h
ite
to the police. Man!”

 But he was wounded. He would

die unless he was operated on.
“What shall
 At any rate, something was to be we do with
done with him. this man? ”
Dilemma contd-----
hite t he ma n
w “If o le I
e r e d a we a w h
t “But what
e shel r house and were turn him
“If w n in ou rested r as about the d
coul r to the
ma d be ar m ove servants?” ove t h out
l hi d i
shou turned e woul p o l i c ew ”
l ty
e h cu
if w risoner y die” dif fi
a p rtainl
ce
not
c an k to
t t h i ng a lso bac him
k i n d es h i m o u h i m a rry e ”
“T he t op u t Y
SADAO “ hrow et’s c hous
b e
would to the sea”
t . L he
t
sea into
in
back HANA
The couple was patriotic to the core and duly considered Americans as their enemy.
But the humane side in them did not allow them to toss back a wounded man into
the wild rocky ocean
Takes the POW Home--
 Knowing fully well that it would
affect Sadao’s reputation,they still
decided to go ahead and treat the
POW.
 Hana and Sadao took the man into
the house
 There was an empty bedroom- the
room belonged to his father.
 Everything there had been Japanese
to please the old man. No chairs or
a foreigner’s bed
 Decided to tell the servants that
they would just treat the soldier
and hand him over to the police.
Servants frightened and didn’t approve--
 The two servants were frightened at
what their master had just told them.
 They thought that their master should
not heal the wound of that white man.
 Hana herself washed Tom' s body and
face with steaming hot water carefully
as Yumi refused to wash him.
 The gardener being an old
superstitious man, warned them that
they should not try to help the enemy.
Tom Operated on :
Checking the man’s pulse and heart beat which
was faint,he decided that he had to operate
immediately.
Sadaoasked Hana to help him turn the man. She
obeyed.
 She
was asked to give him the anaesthetic if
needed.
Thebullet was still there and he had lost much
blood.
Hana came with a bottle and cotton in her hand.
Hana choked seeing the operation,went out and
retched.
Sadao became impatient and irritable(why)(imp)
Hana observing the man’s scar-
 Watching the man she recalled the
stories about the suffering of prisoners
and also wondered what she had read
in newspaper about glorification of
Japanese army.
 Flickers of rumours that Japanese are
kind hearted, contradicted seeing the
badly wounded man.
 She recalled general Takima beating
his wife .
 Then she concluded that Japanese can
also be cruel if the General can be.
Sadao- a skilled doctor
 Felt the tip of the bullet near the kidney
 Felt the purest pleasure.
 Remembered his Professor in Anatomy, “
Ignorance of human body is cardinal sin.”
 “It is not quite at the kidney ,my friend” said
Sadao(Irony)
 Sadao went on with his work and a very clean
and precise incision, the bullet was taken out.
 The man quivered but was still unconscious.
He only muttered a few words in English.
 Dr. Sadao declared that the man would live
despite all.
The Youngman woke up Terrified
 The Youngman woke up. He was very weak.
 He was terrified when he thought where he was.
 Hana consoled him not to be afraid. She
comforted him saying that he would soon be
strong.
 Tom asked what they were going to do with
him. For a moment, Sadao didn't answer.
 Tom was a prisoner of war. He should have
been handed over to the police.
 He typed a letter addressed to the Chief of
Police, that on the twenty first day of February
an escaped prisoner was washed up on the shore
in front of the house. He kept this unfinished
letter in a secret drawer.
SEVENTH DAY-----(IMP)
 On the seventh day two things happened-
 after having taken in the POW by the
Sadaos,the servants of their household
decided to leave as a mark of protest for
giving shelter to an enemy.
 Sadao,even though accepting ,that the
American was his enemy, refused to turn his
patient away because he had been trained to
save lives.
 However the servants left with their
belongings. Hana and Sadao managed the
household chores and taking care of their
children.
Seventh day---
 On the same day, a messenger in
uniform came.
 Terrified Hana ran to Sadao thinking
that the servants must have disclosed
the information about the POW.
 But the messenger had actually come
to fetch Sadao to treat the General
who was in pain.
 Seeing Hana in distress,Sadao decided
to get rid of the POW as soon as
possible.
Sadao goes to the General--
 The old general was sick.
 He knew that Sadao was indispensable to him.
He didn't want Sadao to be arrested.
 Suppose what would happen if he were
condemned to death and the next day he had to
have his operation?
 He didn't trust other surgeons.
 German Ruthlessness and American
sentimentality.(Page No-40)
 The General hit upon a plan. It would be best
if the American could be quietly killed.
 He had his own private assassins. Sadao
agreed(because of Hana) that it would be very
natural.
Arrival of Assassins-
 Tom thanked Sadao for saving
his life.
 Sadao’s conscience pricked him.
 He could not sleep for three
nights.
 Waited for the assassins for three
nights, but they didn’t come.
 Unable to take it any more, he
devised a plan for Tom’s escape.
Sadao plans for the Enemy’s escape-
 Revealed to Tom that the authorities knew of
his presence in his house and that he would
plan for his escape.
 Told him to take his boat and row to an
uninhabited ,submerged, and unprotected
island nearby.
 Also gave him food,extra
clothing,quilts,bottled water.
 Warned him not to take help from anyone
except a korean fishing boat.
 Didn’t let Hana know anything about the
escape plan.
 Also gave him his own flash light asking to
signal two flashes at the instant the sun
dropped over the horizon, in case he ran out
of food.
Sadao goes to meet the General-
 Sadao then went to the General and after
operating upon him informed that the
prisoner had escaped.
 The General said that he had been unwell
and had not been able to think about
anything other than his health, he had
forgotten to send the assassins.
 Sadao didn’t tell him about the escape of
the POW as the General was suffering.
General’s repentance– Sadao relieved
“It was certainly careless of me.
But you understand, it was not
lack of patriotism or dereliction “I can swear to your
of duty. If the matter should excellency”
come out you would understand
that. Wouldn’t you?”

Sadao
“You are a
General
good man. You
will be
rewarded”

Sadao suddenly comprehended that the General was in the palm of his
hand.
Sadao Saved Tom but Wondered Why?
 There was no prick of light in the dark.
 The prisoner had gone.Sadao had his reward.
 Stood in the veranda, gazing out to the sea from whence
the young man had come.
 Remembered all the white people

he met in America-old teacher of

Anatomy, land lady, professor and his
wife and finally the youthful “I wonder
haggard face of his prisoner. why I could
not kill him.”
MESSAGE
 It is an Anti-War story. It de-glorifies war and awakens
feelings against the horrors of wars.
 The story also conveys that if at all war becomes
inevitable,one should not let the negative sentiments of
hatred overpower the positivity of humaneness.
 The soldier at the front, suffering the bullets should be
treated as a human being first and an enemy later.
 The service of the wounded and ailing is the best example
of patriotism. The doctors of the world should rise above
nationality,religion.caste or creed to serve mankind as
Sadao did.