Updated
on 06/10/2025
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.
The servants were angry as
Dr. was helping an American soldier. and they had gone to leave the house.
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 cook/housemaid
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 while he
was studying surgery and medicine
Q. 9
Where was Dr. Sadao house?
Ans. On a narrow beach
Q. 10
What did Hana refuse to do?
Ans. She refused to wash
the white man’s wound, as he was an enemy.
Q. 11 Who
washed the wounds of the injured American soldier?
Ans. Hana, Dr. Sadao’s wife
Q. 12
What did Dr. Sadao arrange for the escape of the American soldier?
Ans. A boat, food, extra
clothing and a flashlight
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 enemy got recovery
soon. But still he was very weak. So Dr. Sadao decided to help him to escape.
He provided him a boat, food, water, and extra clothes and a torch, instructed
him to flash a signal in the urgency.
*Q. 4 Who
was Hana? Where had Sadao met her?*
Ans. Hana was Dr. Sadao’s
wife. She was a Japanese girl whom he had met in America. He had been come to
America to learn surgery and medicine. Sadao had met Hana in America first
time. Dr. Sadao did not marry her until his father had approved of her.
*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
servant in Sadao’s house who looks after their children. She refused to wash
the wounded American soldier. She said that she had never washed a white man
and he was their enemy. 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 rocks. It showed the
man was fated 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 theme in these chapters 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 him providing
him a boat, food, water, and extra clothes and a torch, instructed him to flash
a signal in the urgency. Thus he got rid of the enemy without having him
killed.
*Important
Spellings*
|
Humanism |
Patriotism |
Surgeon |
Japanese |
American |
|
Soldier |
Operate |
Operation |
Gardener |
Revenge |
|
Emergency |
Anesthetic |
Messenger |
General |
Seriously |
|
Peacefully |
Medicine |
Prisoner |
Satisfied |
Possibility |
|
Kimono |
Sterilized |
Superstitious |
Obediently |
Sympathy |
|
Patient |
|
|
|
|
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 |