CBSE Class 12 English The Enemy Notes Set B

About The Author

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Pearl had begun to publish stories in 1920. Her novel ‘Good Earth’ became the best selling and won Pulitzer Prize and the Howells Medal. Pearl was the first American lady to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Buck had a humanistic attitude to the problems of life. She felt that while nations were at war, individuals were humans.

Summary

‘The Enemy’ tells the story of a Japanese doctor who hates Americans because of his patriotism. Dr. Sadao Hoki, a Japanese surgeon and scientist, lived with his wife Hana and two children at the Japanese sea-coast. His house was located on the sea-coast where he had spent his childhood. He was greatly influenced by his father whose chief concern was Sadao’s education. When he was twenty two Sadao Hoki was sent to America to study surgery and medicine. Sadao fulfilled his father’s desire and became a famous scientist and surgeon. He returned to serve his nation and people.

Even though there was a war going on Dr. Sadao was not sent as he was perfecting a discovery on wounds and the old general might need him for an operation. Hana whom he met in America. They had two children. Hana was a Japanese lady and had full faith in Japanese values and customs. She was a sympathetic lady.

One night as the two of them stood in verandah, they saw something being washed ashore into the close proximity of their house and on closer inspection found that it was an American prisoner of war. The American seemed to have lost a lot of blood due to a bullet wound. Sadao and Hana were in a perplexed situation. Their human instincts demanded them to take care of the wounded person but their patriotic self wanted them to leave the injured person there only. Sadao realised, being a doctor, that the man needed an urgent medical attention. They thought that the servants would oppose their action and may give them away to the authorities. Dr. Sadao requested Hana to allow him to get the man in the house and also to disclose it to the servants. The children’s nanny, Yumi, refused to help in cleaning a white man.

Therefore, Hana not only cleaned him but also administered anaesthesia which she had never done before. Hana assisted her husband in the surgery. She wondered if the prisoner of war was tortured in the same way as she heard in the stories. Dr. Sadao successfully took out the bullet which was lodged close to the kidney. Hana saw three red scars on his neck. Dr. Sadao tried his best to keep the prisoner alive. Meanwhile, he thought the reason behind his earnest attempts. He, out of habit, called the man “my friend” forgetting that he was the enemy. Sadao looked after the patient till he regained his consciousness. When the young man realised where he was, he got extremely scared. Hana consoled him. He was surprised to listen them talking in English. She informed him that she was in America for some time. The young man who was about seventeen years old got up after the third day of the operation. He asked what they would like to do with him to which Dr. Sadao replied that he was also not sure if he will hand over the young man to the authorities or not.

The servants in the house protested that they would not stay if the American would be there in the house. Dr. Sadao said that it was his professional ethics that made him take care of the young man. He loved the country equally like they did. Though the servants were polite but they showed a callous behaviour as the days passed. The servants made sure that Hana could hear when they spoke within themselves. The gardener said that the man should have been left bleeding, the cook said that it was Sadao’s pride due to which he treated the American soldier. Yumi said that the kids would suffer if Sadao was caught. He would be declared a traitor. The prisoner’s name was Tom. He started recovering and in a fortnight recovered completely. Sadao wrote a letter to the chief of police but then put the unfinished letter in his drawer.

Hana was not able to understand why she and her husband were in a dilemma about the next step for the prisoner. The General sent out a messenger in an official uniform. Hana got extremely scared and thought the servants would have informed the police. But she took a sigh of relief when the messenger told that he came to call the doctor as the General was suffering from chest pain. Tensed and tired of hiding the enemy, Dr. Sadao revealed the secret to the General when he went to examine him. Looking at his present medical conditions, General realised that he would require Sadao’s medical expertise at any time. So, he was selfish enough to not let Sadao get into any trouble. He assured Sadao that he would send his personal assassins to kill the American and remove his body from Sadao’s house.

Dr. Sadao kept this plan a secret and did not disclose it to Hana as he did not want her to be troubled. He could not sleep for two nights as he expected assassins to come at night and kill the American. But each morning he found Tom alive. After three nights of restlessness, panic, anxiety and terror, Sadao decided to get rid of the stranger and the uneasiness his presence caused. He packed him off on a boat, loading the boat with basic necessities like food, water, quilts and he also gave him a flashlight so that he could send signals if required. He sent him to a nearby island to wait for a Korean ship. Thus, Tom departed safely.

Sadao then operated the General. When he recuperated after a week the General said that he was apologetic for not being able to send assassins to kill the American. The General admitted to have forgotten his promise to send the assassins because of his own pain. One night, Sadao saw there was no flashlight from the island, so Sadao understood that the prisoner must have been safe and would have boarded the Korean ship. Sadao was left wondering that though he hated Americans and treated them to be enemies why he couldn’t kill the young Soldier

About the Author
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892 – 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. She wrote about Chinese people, their attitude and customs.

Her novel ‘The Good Earth’ won a Nobel Prize in literature for her. Buck had a humanistic attitude to the problems of life.

She felt that while nations were at war, individuals were humans and they could feel for others. After returning to the United States in 1935, she continued writing prolifically and became a prominent advocate of the rights of women and minority groups.

Theme
The Enemy deals with the conflict between Man’s humane feelings and the prejudices created by nations at war. It deals with the universal human values which must take precedence over narrow considerations like nationalism. The bond uniting all human beings must transcend the difference between nations.

Justification of the Title
‘The Enemy’ is an apt title with the Second World War as the background. Dr. Sadao, being a skilled surgeon saved the life of an escaped American prisoner of war, his enemy, who was wounded seriously and had been washed ashore. Torn between his duty and his integrity as a doctor, he chooses to save the enemy’s life first and then hand him over to the police. His inner conflict and professional ethics makes him choose the first option. His servants too, desert him for fear of getting into trouble. He is fully aware of the fact that harbouring a prisoner of war would endanger his own life as well.
The docor’s professional ethics urge him to treat the ‘enemy’as a patient. Neither Dr. Sadao nor Hana, at any stage consider him their friend. Yet they treat him as a fellow human being should be treated. The title is therefore appropriate.

Message
The author advocates universal brotherhood and highlights that service to the wounded is the best service to humanity. The story underlines the message that doctors have no nationality. They must rise above all petty issues like Sadao did and make all possible efforts to save human life. It highlights the dilemma faced by the doctor between his professional duty and his loyality to his country.
The theme of racism is reflected in the story in several ways. When Sadao recalls how he met Hana, he remembers that he didn’t become serious with her until he was sure that she “had been pure in her race” because otherwise his father wouldn’t have approved. Yumi refused to touch the American, let alone wash him before the operation, and when he left she “cleaned the guest room thoroughly…to get the white man’s smell out of it.” Sadao has strong feelings about white people. He thinks that they are “repulsive” and that “it was a relief to be openly at war with them at last.” He also believed that Americans were full of prejudice, and it had been bitter to live there, knowing himself their superior. With the backdrop of Second World War, the author highlights the horrors of war by portraying the helpless American sailor,who was tortured.

Summary
‘The Enemy’ tells the story of a Japanese doctor who hates Americans as a patriotic Japanease as America and Japan were at war. One day an American prisoner of war is washed ashore in front of a Japanese doctor’s house. The soldier is wounded and has evidently escaped from prison.
Dr. Sadao’s house was a solitary house on the seashore.
Dr. Sadao and Hana ran to help. The American sailor was bleeding. They thought of throwing him back into the sea. But they could not do so. Dr. Sadao carried him home. Hana washes the soldier as Yumi, the servant, refused to do so.Sadao operates on the American. He returned with his surgeons’s emergency bag. He turned over the wounded soldier who lay unconscious. He washed his back and asked Hana to help him. He wanted Hana to give the patient the anesthetic. Hana had never seen an operation and she felt like vomiting. Sadao saw the bullet in the wound. Hana observed that there were red scars on the soldier’s neck and realised that he had been tortured. Sadao removed the bullet from the wound and declared that the American would survive.

Sadao and Hana look after the American. But the servants were becoming restless. The gardener felt the prisoner should have been allowed to bleed to death.
On the seventh day the servants leave Sadao’s house.
They did not work that morning.Hana paid them their wages.
They cried as they left. Hana held back her tears. The gardener was there since he was a boy. Yumi was attached to the children. Hana had to do all the household work on her own. Hana wanted Sadao to get rid of the American quickly. Sadao promised to do something about it. In the evening a messenger in uniform arrived. Hana was paralysed with fright. She felt the servants must have complained and the messenger had come to arrest Sadao. The fears were unfounded as the old general had been suffering from an ailment. Sadao had been treating him and the general was in pain and had sent for him.
The general trusted Sadao. He knew he might need to be operated upon. That is why Sadao was not sent away with the troops. Sadao told the general about the American. The general replied that Sadao was indispensable and could not be arrested.
Then the General suggested a way out. He would send two of his private assassins to his house to kill the American quietly and remove the body. Sadao agreed to the plan.
Sadao waited for three nights. No assassins arrived. The American was getting better. He thanked Sadao. Sadao found it difficult to keep the American in his house any longer.
He was tired of waiting for the assassins to do away with the American prisoner.Dr Sadao decided to help him to escape. Sadao provided him with his boat. He put food water, and a quilt in his boat. He also gave the American his flashlight. There was an uninhabited island very close to the shore.
He told the American to sail to the island. He could live there till he found a Korean fishing boat pass by the island.
Then he could seek help and escape to freedom. He warned the American not to make any fire. He could catch fish and eat it raw.
It was a moonless night when the American sailed away to the island. Sadao was again called by the general. He operated on the general. Sadao told the general that the prisoner had escaped. The general recalled that he had failed to send the assassins as he had forgotten to keep his promise.He added that it was not because of lack of patriotism nor dereliction of duty. He was simply absorbed in his own affairs. Sadao realized that he was safe. But he assured the general that he would ever remain loyal to him. As the American had left, all the servants returned. Things came back to normal.Sadao remembered the American and hated him. But did not know why he had saved the prisoner’s life.CHAPTER IN A NUTSHELL

Dream of Sadao’s Father
Took him to the islands and said they were ‘stepping stones’ to the future of Japan. Sadao realized education is important. At 22 went to America to study surgery and medicine. Returned at 30, as a famous surgeon and scientist.Trusted by general-so not sent with troops.

Meeting between Hana and Sadao By chance.
At professor Harley’s house in America. Professor and wife kind, helped foreign students. Sadao met Hana there. Married after completion of studies. Marriage finalised in the traditional way, after his father had seen her. Happy together.

Appearance of American Soldier
Hana and Sadao leaning on railing, one foggy evening, saw man crawling on hands and knees. Fell on face. Rushed thinking –fisherman. Saw a white man with reopened gun shot wound, badly hurt. US Navy insignia on tattered uniform- realised he was a prisoner of war.

Dilemma of Sadao
As a doctor he should attend to a dying man and stop the bleeding.
As a patriotic person he should put him back in the sea or hand him over to the authorities.
Decided not to be callous and took him in.

Risks
Would be arrested for sheltering an enemy- a white man, would endanger the lives of their children.

Reaction of Servants
Frightened. Felt they should not heal him – gardener felt he should die or he’d take revenge. Cook felt pride in his skill made him save the American soldier. Felt their years in America had made forget to think of their country first. Left on the seventh day.

Hana’s Role
Washed him. Helped Sadao operate. Gave anaesthesia.Felt nauseated but continued.

General Takima— Cruel Man
Known to beat his wife mercilessly. Hana feared how he would deal with an enemy. Retained Sadao in Japan as he could need an operation.

Reaction to Information about the Fugitive
Felt reassured Sadao had capability to save. Wanted to save doctor as he would need his services. Suggested he would send two private assassins at night-capable men, familiar with the trick of inward bleeding, would take the soldier’s body away too. Sadao waited three nights, realised General had forgotten.

General party to guilt
Sadao gets hold on him. Convinces Sadao- not lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty – was self absorbed as he was suffering. Promised to reward Sadao.

Sadao helps American Escape
Put his boat on the shore at night, with food, bottled water, extra quilts and extra clothing. Told him to row to an island near the coast. He instructed him to stay there till a Korean fishing boat was seen passing by. Gave him a flashlight- Instructed him to signal with two flashes before sunset, if he ran out of food. Warned him to eat fish raw, as cooking over fire would be noticed. Wrapped a black cloth about his blond head and dressed him in Japanese clothes.

Sadao’s Recollection of Americans
Recalled other white faces:
(i) professor at whose house he met Hana.
(ii) his teacher of Anatomy.
(iii) his fat landlady. Recalled how difficult it was to find a place to live in as Americans were prejudiced-had been difficult to live amidst such feelings. As a Japanese he felt he was superior. Hated the ignorant, dirty woman who rented him a room and looked after him when he was sick. He despised her and could not feel grateful to her. He felt he found all white faces, disgusting and wondered why he could not kill the prisoner.Humanitarian considerations override man made barriers of culture and nationality.

Difference in the reaction of Sadao, Hana and the Servants
Servants – simple, superstitious, patriotic-consider harbouring an enemy to be a crime.
Fear for lives, insular. Do not understand higher level of reasoning, humanitarian considerations.
Sadao and Hana – Had been exposed to other nationalities, more tolerant. Feel it is unethical for a doctor to let a person die if he can be saved. Even an enemy is a human being first.