Updated on 30/08/2024
4. The Enemy (Pearl
S. Buck)
Main Points of the
chapter:
Ø This story is about the kindness of a
Japanese Dr. Sadao Hoki.
Ø Dr. Sadao was a skilled and famous
surgeon of his region as well as a scientist.
Ø The name of Sadao’s wife was Hana who
met him in America first time.
Ø He lived with his wife and two
children in a house near the sea.
Ø One day, when Dr. Sadao and his wife
were standing in the verandah of their house.
Ø They saw a man coming out of the mist
to the shore who was crawling on his knees and hands.
Ø They found that he was an American
and was injured.
Ø This incident was During Second World
War, when Japan was at war with America.
Ø So if they sheltered him they would
be arrested and if they turned him over the police, he would certainly die.
Ø His wife wanted to put the man back
into the sea.
Ø But Dr. Sadao as a doctor had the moral
duty to treat him.
Ø He said his wife to wash the enemy
wound, but she did not want to touch him.
Ø So she asked Yumi, the maid servant
to wash the enemy’s wound.
Ø The gardener also said that the
master should not heal the wounds of the enemy.
Ø Then Hana decided to wash the man
herself. She washed the man with hot water carefully.
Ø Dr. Sadao operated him and took out
the bullet from the soldier’s body.
Ø Now the American grew stronger day by
day.
Ø Dr. Sadao kept the man in his house
for ten days until he was quite normal.
Ø He helped the man to escape in a
boat. Thus he got rid of the enemy.
Ø At last Sadao felt very happy and
satisfied.
Very Short Type Q-Ans.
Q. 1 Who is the writer of the story
‘The Enemy’?
Ans. Pearl S. Buck
Q. 2 Who is the Japanese doctor in
the story ‘The Enemy’?
Ans. Dr. Sadao Hoki
Q. 3 Who is the enemy in the story
‘The Enemy’?
Ans. An American soldier
Q. 4 What was the name of Dr. Sadao’s
wife?
Ans. Hana
Q. 5 How many children does Dr. Sadao
have?
Ans. Two children
Q. 6 How many servants does Dr. Sadao
have?
Ans. Two servants a gardener and a maid
Q. 7 Who was Yumi?
Ans. A maid to look after their children
Q. 8 Where had Dr. Sadao met Hana for
the first time?
Ans. In America
Q. 9 Where was Dr. Sadao house?
Ans. On a narrow beach
Q. 10 What did Hana refuse to do?
Ans. To wash the injured soldier’s wounds
Q. 11 Who washed the wounds of the
injured American soldier?
Ans. Dr. Sadao’s wife
Q. 12 What did Dr. Sadao arrange for
the escape of the American soldier?
Ans. A boat
Short Type Q-Ans.
*Q. 1 Who was Dr. Sadao? Where was his house?*
Ans. Dr. Sadao was a famous Japanese surgeon and scientist. His house was on a spot of the Japanese coast. It was built upon rocks above a narrow beach.
*Q. 2 What will Dr. Sadao and his wife do with the man?*
Ans. Dr. Sadao performed his duty as a doctor and saved the life of enemy. Now they decided to hand over him to the police but the man was very weak. In this way, they saved his life.
*Q. 3 What will Dr. Sadao do to get rid of the man?*
Ans. The man got recovery soon. But still he was very weak. So Dr. Sadao decided to help him in escaping from there. He provided a boat to run away from there.
*Q. 4 Who was Hana? Where had Sadao met her?*
Ans. Hana was Dr. Sadao’s wife. She was an American lady. He had been come to America to learn surgery and medicine. Sadao had met Hana in America first time.
*Q. 5 In what condition did Sadao and Hana find the wounded man on the
beach?*
Ans. The man was wounded. The sand on one side of him had a stain of blood soaking through. He lay motionless. He was in wet rags. An old cap struck on his head. Sadao turned the man’s head. He saw that it was an American.
*Q. 6 Who was Yumi? What did she refuse to do and why?*
Ans. Yumi was a maid in Sadao’s house who looks after their children. She refused to wash the white man. She said that she had never washed a white man. And she said that she would not wash so dirty man as he was.
*Q. 7 What did the old gardener say about the white man?*
Ans. The old gardener was a superstitious person. He said that the white man ought to die. First he was shot. Then the sea caught him and wounded him with her rocks. It showed the man was feted to die and they had no business to save him.
*Q. 8 How did Sadao take the bullet out of the white man’s body?*
Ans. Sadao performed an operation. His wife helped him with anesthetic while probing. Sadao felt the tip of his instrument strike against something hard. It was dangerously near the kidney. Then he probed with his fingers and took the bullet out in the cleanest manner.
*Q. 9 Describe the time in which the story ‘The Enemy’ is set?*
Ans. The story had been set in the time of the second world war (1939-45). An American prisoner of war is washed ashore in a dying state. He is found at the doorstep of a Japanese doctor. The story revolves round the doctor’s way to treat the enemy.
*Q.10 Will Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself ?*
Ans. Hana asked her maid servant Yumi to help them. She asked her to wash the wounded man. But she refused to help them. At this Hana herself washed the wounded soldier.
*Q.11 Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’ by A.J. Cronin that you read in
Snapshots last year? What are the similarities in both stories?*
Ans. Both the stories ‘Birth’ by A.J.
Cronin and ‘The Enemy by Pearl S. Buck have the same theme. In both stories,
the main character is a doctor who does all he can do to save a human life. The
common element in the world of Dr. is, “I have been trained not to let a
man die if I can help him”.
Essay Type Q-Ans. of ‘The Enemy’
*Q. 1 Why and how did Dr. Sadao help the prisoner of war to escape?*
Ans. As a doctor, Sadao had been
trained not to let a man die if he could help him. Dr. Sadao and his wife Hana found a man on the
beach who was badly wounded. Dr. Sadao saw that the man was an American
prisoner of war who had escaped. It was a crime to give shelter to an
enemy soldier. Dr. Sadao didn’t want to help him. But he
couldn’t ignore his duty as a doctor. So he took the man in his house and did
all that he could do to save his life. He even thought of handling him over the police
but couldn’t do so. He was certain that they would kill him. In last he helped the man to escape in a boat. Thus he got rid of the
enemy without having him killed.
*Important Spellings & word-meanings*
Humanism
Patriotism
Surgeon
Japanese
American
Soldier
Operate
Operation
Gardener
Revenge
Emergency
Anesthetic
Messenger
General
Seriously
Peacefully
Medicine
Prisoner
Satisfied
Possibility
Kimono
Extraordinary
Superstitious
Sterilized
Obediently
Patient
Sympathy
Word-meanings
mist - fog
Creeping - crawling
Unconscious - fainted
Expert - specialist
Fetch - bring
Menace - danger
Irritate - annoyed
Whence - from where
Scars - marks of wounds
Sentimental - emotional
Merely - only
Ruthlessness - cruelty
Wail - cry
Dragged - pulled
Zeal - enthusiasm
Dusk - evening