CH 4.

THE ENEMY
- PEARL S. BUCK
LEARNING OUTCOME:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to-
 Summarize the story in a gap-filling exercise. (Understand)
 Recall the important points of the story through a questionnaire, fill-in, reference to the
context and MCQ quiz. (Remember)
 Write the character sketch of the main characters with the help of the STEAL characterization
technique. (Create)
 Infer the meaning of some important statements in the story; writing a short note on them.
(Analyze)
 Debate if Dr. Sadao’s act of saving the POW is justified by writing a short note on it. (Evaluate)

ACTIVITY
Patriotism or national pride is the feeling of love, devotion and sense of attachment to a
homeland and alliance with other citizens who share the same sentiment. This attachment
can be a combination of many different feelings relating to one's own homeland, including
ethnic, cultural, political or historical aspects.

Think of WORDS that can be associated with Patriotism.

FLAG
D _ _O_ _ _ N C_ L_ _ R_

H_N _ _R PATRIOTISM N_ _ I_ _AL _ S_

S_ RV_C_ L_ _ A_ _ Y

H_M_L_ _D

PLOT
Would YOU risk your reputation, your safety, and your family’s well-being to help a wounded
enemy? It is wartime and a doctor needs to make a life or death decision.

In “The Enemy,” a story set in Japan during World War II, an American-trained Japanese surgeon
pulls a wounded American sailor, presumably an escaped POW, from the surf behind his home.
At first, he and his wife cannot decide what they should do with him. They are unable to put
the man back into the sea although they realize he is an enemy and that for fear of the
authorities they should do just that.

Against the advice of his wife, and at great risk to his honor, career, position and life, Dr. Hoki
hides the wounded American, operates on him, and saves his life. The surgery is successful, and
the couple settle into a period of hope and fear as they await the patient’s recovery. As the days
and nights pass, Dr. Hoki finds his traditional attitude transformed by the encounter with the
American.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892 – 1973) was an American writer and
novelist. She had a Chinese name – Sai Zhenzhu as she spent her
childhood in China, being the daughter of missionaries. She was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and the Nobel Prize in Literature
in the year 1938. She wrote prolifically and became a prominent
advocate of the rights of women and minority groups, and wrote
widely on Chinese and Asian cultures. Some of her best-known
words are The Good Earth, East Wind West Wind, Sons, A
House Divided, The Big Wave and many others.

THEMES IN THE TEXT

 Ethics of medical profession
 Realization of the essential worth of human being.
 Humanitarianism transcends all manmade prejudices and barriers.
 Story as a great lesson of peace, love, duty, honour and sympathy
 Making choices between our roles as private individuals and citizens with a
senseof national loyalty.
 Self – centeredness, dereliction of duty (General Takima)
 Sense of superiority (of both the Americans and Sadao)
 Logic and reasoning against desire.
  Significance of professional ethics and social obligation in sensitive times.

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JUST TO PONDER UPON:

Borders are scratched
Across the hearts of men
By strangers with a calm ,
Judicial pen,
And when the border bleed
we watch with dread
The lines of ink across the
Map turned red"

Chapter at a glance:
 TEXTUAL QUESTIONS
Q1. Who was Dr. Sadao? Where was his house?
Ans. Dr. Sadao Hoki was an eminent Japanese surgeon and scientist. He had spent eight valuable
years of his youth in America to learn all that could be learnt of surgery and medicine there. He
was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean.
Dr. Sadao’s house was built on rocks well above a narrow beach that was outlined with bent
pines. It was on a spot of the Japanese coast.

Q2. Will Dr. Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?

Ans. Dr. Sadao knew that they would be arrested if they sheltered a white man in their house.
The wounded man was a prisoner of war who had escaped with a bullet on his back. Since Japan
was at war with America, harbouring an enemy meant being a traitor to Japan. Dr. Sadao could
be arrested if anyone complained against him and accused him of harbouring an enemy.

Q3. Will Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself?
Ans. The gardener and the cook were frightened that their master was going to heal the wound
of a white man—an enemy. They felt that after being cured he (the white man) will take
revenge on the Japanese. Yumi, the maid, was also frightened. She refused to wash the white
man. Hana rebuked the maid who had refused to wash a wounded helpless man. Then she
dipped a small dean towel into the steaming hot water and washed the white man’s face. She
kept on washing him until his upper body was quite dean. But she dared not turn him over.
Q4. What will Dr. Sadao and his wife do with the man?
Ans. Dr. Sadao and his wife, Hana, had told the servants that they only wanted to bring the man
to his senses so that they could turn him over as a prisoner. They knew that the best possible
course under the circumstances was to put him back into the sea. However, Dr. Sadao was
against handing over a wounded man to the police. He decided to carry him into his house. He
operated upon him and extracted the bullet from his body. He kept the white man in his house.
He and his wife looked after him and fed him till he was strong enough to walk on his legs.

Q5. Will Dr. Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?

Ans. It was the seventh day since Dr. Sadao had operated upon the young white man. Early that
morning, their three servants left together. In the afternoon, a messenger came there in official
uniform. He told Dr. Sadao that he had to come to the palace at once as the old General was in
pain again.
Hana, who had thought that the officer had come to arrest Dr. Sadao, asked the messenger, “Is
that all?” The baffled messenger enquired if that was not enough. She tried to cover her mistake
by expressing regret and admitted that the General’s illness was enough. Dr. Sadao told the
General about the white man he had operated upon. Since Dr. Sadao was indispensable to the
General, he promised that Dr. Sadao would not be arrested.

Q6. What will Dr. Sadao do to get rid of the man?

Ans. Dr. Sadao had told the old General that he had operated upon a white man. The General
promised to send his private assassins to kill the man silently and secretly at night and remove
his body. Dr. Sadao left the outer partition of white man’s room open. He waited anxiously for
three nights. The servants had left the house. His wife Hana had to cook, clean the house and
serve the wounded man. She was unaccustomed to this labour. She was anxious that they
should get rid of the man.
Dr. Sadao told Tom, the white man, that he was quite well then. He offered to put his boat on
the shore that night. It would have food and extra clothing in it. Tom might be able to row to
the little island which was not far from the coast. It had not been fortified. The water was quite
deep. Nobody lived there, as it was submerged in storm. Since it was not the season of storm, he
could live there till he saw a Korean fishing boat pass by. He gave the man his flashlight. He was
to signal twice with his flashlight at sunset in case his food ran out. In case, he was still there
and all right, he was to signal only once.
Dr. Sadao gave the man Japanese clothes and covered his blond head with a black cloth. In short,
Dr. Sadao helped the man to escape from Japan. At the same time, he also got rid of the man.
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 with reference to the story
‘The Enemy’.
Ans. Dr. Sadao Hoki faces a dilemma when he finds the body of an unconscious wounded white
man lying on the lonely coast with dangerous rocks near his house. His first reaction was that
the person was perhaps a fisherman who had been washed from his boat. He ran quickly down
the steps. His wife, Hana came behind him. When they came near, Sadao found that the man
was wounded and lay motionless. His face was in the sand. As they saw his face, they found
that he was a white man with long yellow hair and a rough yellow beard.
Being an expert surgeon, Dr. Sadao saw that the man had a gun-wound on the right side of his
lower back. He at once packed the wound with sea moss to stanch the fearful bleeding. Since
Japan was at war with America, the white man was an enemy. Dr. Sadao muttered, “What shall
we do with this man?” He answered the question himself, “The best thing that we could do
would be to put him back in the sea.” His wife approved of his decision.
Then Sadao made another observation. If they sheltered a white man in their house they would
be arrested and if they turned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die. Hana still insisted
on putting him back into the sea. From his battered cap, Dr. Sadao concluded that he was a sailor
from an American warship. The man was a prisoner of war. He had escaped and that was why
he was wounded in the back.
Hana asked if they were able to put him back into the sea. Sadao then said that if the man was
whole he could turn the man over to the police without difficulty. He cared nothing for the
man. He was their enemy. All Americans were their ‘enemy’. But since he was wounded… Hana
understood his dilemma and realized that in the conflict between his sense of national loyalty
and his duty as a doctor, it was the latter which proved dominant. Since Sadao too could not
throw him back to the sea, the only course left for them was to carry him to their house. Sadao
enquired about the reaction of the servants.
Hana said that they would, tell the servants that they intended to give the man to the police.
She told Sadao that they must do so. They had to think of the children and the doctor’s position.
It would endanger all of them if they did not give that man over as a prisoner of war.
Sadao agreed and promised that he would not think of doing anything else.
Q2. 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. Dr. Sadao and his wife, Hana, together lifted the wounded man and carried him to an
empty bedroom in their house. The man was very dirty. Sadao suggested that he had better be
washed. He offered to do so if she would fetch water. Hana was against it. She suggested that
the maid, Yumi, could wash the man. They would have to tell the servants. Dr. Sadao examined
the man again and remarked that the man would die unless he was operated upon at once. He
left the room to bring his surgical instruments.
The servants did not approve of their master’s decision to heal the wound of a white man. Even
Yumi refused to wash the white man. There was so fierce a look of resistance upon Yumi’s
round dull face that Hana felt unreasonably afraid. Then she said with dignity that they only
wanted to bring him to his senses so that they would turn him over as a prisoner. However,
Yumi refused to have anything to do with him. Hana asked Yumi gently to return to her work.
The open defiance from the domestic staff hurt Hana’s feelings. She had told the servants to do
what their master commanded them. She was convinced of her own superiority. She now
became sympathetic to her husband and helped him in his efforts to heal the wounded man.
Though the sight of the white man was repulsive to her, she washed his face and his upper body.
She prepared herself to give him the anaesthetic according to her husband’s instructions. She
had never seen an operation. She choked and her face turned pale like sulphur. She felt like
vomiting and left for a while. She returned after retching and administered anaesthetic to the
man. Thus, she co-operated with her husband fully to save the wounded man.

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. On the third day after the operation, the young man asked Dr. Sadao what he was going to
do with him and if he was going to hand him over. Dr. Sadao said that he did not know himself
what he would do with the mem. He ought to hand him over to the police as he was a prisoner
of war.
The young man saw that Dr. Sadao and his wife Hana were different from other Japanese. They
spoke English well, looked after him and served him food. Seven days after the operation of the
man, Dr. Sadao was called to the palace to see the General. Hana thought that the police had
come to arrest Dr. Sadao. Dr. Sadao confided in the General and he (General) promised to send his
personal assassins to kill the man and remove his body. Dr. Sadao waited for three nights.
Nothing happened. Then he planned to let the prisoner escape. He told Tom, the young
American, about it. The young man stared at him and asked if he had to leave. It seemed he was
reluctant to leave. Dr. Sadao told him that he should understand everything clearly. It was not
hidden that he was there and this situation was full of risk for himself as well as for the doctor
and his family. Thus, it is quite clear that the reluctance of the soldier was caused by the single
motive of self-preservation. He knew from the treatment he had received from the couple that
they would save him.

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, it is his duty 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.

Q6. Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the
circumstances?
Ans. Yes, I think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the
circumstances. Initially, the doctor as well as his wife thought that the best as well as kindest
thing would be to put him back into the sea. But neither of them was able to put him back into
the sea.
Sadao explained that if the man was whole he could turn him over to the police without
difficulty, but since he was wounded, the doctor could not throw him back to the sea. He could
not kill the man whom he had saved from the jaws of death.
The General promised to send his private assassins to kill the man and remove his dead body.
Sadao waited for three nights for their arrival, but they never came as the General being
preoccupied with his own suffering, forgot everything else.
Meanwhile the fear of Hana, the doctor’s wife, that he would be arrested on the charge of
harbouring an enemy kept on mounting. Dr. Sadao made up his mind to get rid of the man as it
was not only inconvenient but also dangerous for them to have him there any longer. He,
therefore, quietly devised the plan of letting the prisoner escape by using his own boat and
Japanese clothes.
As soon as the enemy left, the servants returned and life became normal once again. Dr. Sadao
informed the General that “the man” had escaped. The General admitted that he had forgotten
his promise as he thought of nothing but himself as he was suffering a great deal. He confessed
that it was careless of him but it was not his lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty. In short,
the doctor’s strategy to let the prisoner escape was the best possible solution to the problem
under the prevailing circumstances.
Q7. Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’ by A. J. Cronin that you read in ‘Snapshots’ last year?
What are the similarities?
Ans. Yes, the story ‘The Enemy’ by Pearl S. Buck certainly reminds us of the story ‘Birth’ by A. J.
Cronin. Both the stories have certain obvious similarities. Both the stories revolve around the
protagonist who is a doctor. Both of them focus on the doctor’s devotion and dedication to his
duty and his concern for the well-being of his patient. The doctor sacrifices his own rest and
comfort while attending to the patient. If the doctor brings a ‘still-born’ baby back to life in the
story ‘Birth’, Dr. Sadao Hoki performs no less a miracle. He saves an almost dying man from the
jaws of death by skilfully extracting the bullet from his body and giving him medicines and
injections for quick relief.
Dr. Sadao runs a greater risk than Dr. Andrew Mason. While the former could be arrested on the
charge of harbouring an enemy and condemned to death, the latter (Dr. Andrew) was foregoing
rest and staking his reputation as a medical practitioner. He had had a disappointing evening
with Christine, the girl he loves, but he forgets his personal feelings and concentrates on the safe
delivery of child and then of reviving the middle-aged mother and the still-born child. Similarly,
Dr. Sadao is dedicated to his patient and his problems. He forgets everything while
concentrating on the operation. His servants have defied him for sheltering an enemy and run
away. His wife, Hana, has to do menial jobs while attending to the patient and her retching
disturbs him. Her distress and his inability to attend to her make him impatient and irritable,
but he does not desert the man who is under his knife. To conclude, we may say that the zeal,
dedication and efforts of both the doctors are similar. There is difference of degree in the risk
factor, but their devotion to suffering humanity is undoubtedly of the same kind.

Q8. Is there any film you have seen or novel you have read with a similar theme?
Ans. I remember an old Hindi film ‘Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani’ that deals with a similar theme.
The eminent doctor gives up his practice and goes to the war front to look after the wounded
and ailing soldiers and render them medical help. He spares no pain in performing his duties. He
ignores the demands of his own body that is sleep, rest and comfort. Service to suffering
humanity is his sole motivation and in his zeal to restore the maximum number of victims back
to health, the doctor suffers from physical and mental exhaustion and ultimately dies.
The film based on the life of Florence Nightingale, the lady with the lamp, also glorifies the
spirit of service and sacrifice of a member of the medical profession. It is through her sheer hard
work and dedication to duty that Florence Nightingale raises the job of a nurse to a high
pedestal.

ASSIGNMENT
 1. To choose between patriotism and professional loyalty was a dilemma for Dr. Sadao. How
did he succeed in betraying neither?
2. What makes a human being rise abovenarrow prejudices?
3. Why was the soldier reluctant to leave the Doctor’s house in spite of being in the enemy
territory?
4. Why did Sadao Hoki go to America? Narrate his experiences there.

EXTRA QUESTION AND ANSWERS

1. Why did Dr. Sadao treat the American soldier even though, it was an unpatrioticact on his
part?
Ans. 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 eventhough he was his national
enemy, as that would have been against his professional ethics.

2. How did Hana help Dr. Sadao?

Ans. Hana was an impeccable wife and stood by her husband in all his decisions. She helped Dr.
Sadao when he was operating upon the enemy and alsonursed and washed the prisoner herself
when the servants had flatly refused to do so.
3. Why did the General not order immediate arrest of Dr Sadao who had sheltered a
Whiteman?
Ans. The General did not usually keep in good health and trusted no other surgeon but Dr Sadao
in his time of need and could have needed his services anytime. This is why he did not order
immediate arrest of the doctor for harbouring an enemy in his house.

4. What forced Dr. Sadao to be impatient and irritable with his patient?
Ans. The wounded white man urgently needed an operation as he was critically injured. Hana
was with Sadao when, he started operating on the prisoner. Hana, who had never seen an
operation in her life, vomited at the sightof blood Sadao wanted to help her in her distress but
he could not leave his patient. This made him impatient and irritable.

5. What made a cool surgeon like Sadao speak sharply to his wife and what was her
reaction?
Ans. Hana had never seen an operation before. When Sadao started operating, 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. Sadaoheard her vomit.
 6. How did Dr. Sadao ensure that the American sailor left his house but hehimself
remained safe and secure?
Ans. 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 departure and his own safety and security.

7. How does the writer indicate that Dr. Sadao’s father was a very traditional and
conventional man?
Ans. Sadao’s education had been his father’s chief concern, who even sent him to America at
the age of twenty-two to study surgery and medicine. Sadao’s father was a true patriot and
took immense 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.

8. How did Dr Sadao get rid of the enemy soldier?

Ans. Dr Sadao planned out everything beforehand. He put his boat on the shore with food and
extra clothing. 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 complete
with instructions on how to signal him in a time of distress.

9. Why did the servants leave Dr Sadao’s house?

Ans. The servants left Dr Sadao’s house because they did not approve of the white man
staying in the surgeon’s house. They thought that Sadao’s stay in America during his
education had erased all his sentiments for his country. Also,they did not want to be in trouble
with the authorities if Sadao was arrested as a traitor.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. What traits of General’s character are highlighted in the lesson?
Ans. Dr Sadao informed the General about the presence of the American prisoner at his house.
The General decided that his private assassins would take care of him and even take his body
away Sadao agreed to the General’s proposal. However, the General’s assassins did not
arrive for the next threedays. Consequently, the General’s plan was not executed. Sadao spent
threerestless nights in waiting for the assassins; ultimately, 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 whole affair. He further wanted that Sadao must
not inform anybody about this. This shows that the General was highly selfish. He
had regard 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 lives of thousands
of soldiers.

2. What conflicting ideas arise in Dr Sadao’s mind after he has brought the wounded
American soldier home? How is the conflict resolved?
Ans. From the day Dr Sadao found the wounded soldier outside his house, he had been
caught up in a web of conflicts and difficulties. The first difficulty arose when
Sadao decided to operate upon the soldier. He was caught between his duty as a doctor and
loyalty towards his nation. Nonetheless, Sadao emerged a champion in this regard. As an
ethical and sincere doctor, he saved the life of the soldier and as a responsible citizen, he
also informed the General about the presence of the soldier. Next, 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 compassion and benevolence forbade him from killing the
man. Thus, he decided to let the prisoner escape by sending him off to an unguarded island.
This is how Dr. Sadaosuccessfully resolved the conflict.

3. What impression do you form about Dr Sadao as a man and as a surgeon on your reading
the chapter The Enemy’?
Ans. After going through the chapter, ‘The Enemy’, we conclude that Dr. Sadao was an
excellent surgeon and a human being per excellence. He appeared to be a man full of;
compassion and a surgeon in the truest sense of the word.
Although he had a bitter experience of Americans being prejudiced when he wasa student in
America, he did not let that bitterness overwhelm him and the doctor and fine human being in
him prevailed. He knew that, if being found that he had harboured an American POW in his
own house, tie would be labelled a traitor.
His conscience did not permit to let a human being die before his eyes and he took the risk of
being called a traitor. It was not that he was a traitor. Hepromptly informed the General about
the whole incident. It showed that he was not a coward. He was ready to face the
consequences.