The Enemy | Class 12 English

The Enemy

Table of Contents

Very Short Answer Type Questions: (1 Marks)

1. Where was Dr Sadao Hoki’s house built?
Ans: Dr Sadao Hoki’s house was built on a spot of the Japanese coast. It was set upon the rocks above a narrow beach outlined with pine trees.

2. Where did Sadao’s father often take him when he was a little boy?
Ans: When he was a little boy, Sadao’s father often took him to the South Seas islands.

3. What did Sadao’s father tell him during their visits to the islands?
Ans: During their visits to the South Seas islands, Sadao’s father told him that these islands were the stepping stones to the future for Japan.

4. What was his father’s chief concern?
Ans: Sadao’s education was the chief concern of his father.

5. What was the name of Dr Sadao’s wife?
Ans: The name of Dr Sadao’s wife was Hana.

6. How many children did Sadao and Hana have?
Ans: Sadao and Hana had two children.

7. Where did Sadao meet Hana for the first time?
Ans: Sadao met Hana for the first time in America at the house of Professor Harley.

8. What did Dr Sadao and Hana see coming out of the mists?
Ans: Dr Sadao and Hana saw something black coming out of the mists. It was a man who was flung up, out of the ocean.

9. What was the best thing that Dr Sadao and Hana could do about the man?
Ans: The best thing that Dr Sadao and Hana could do about the man was to put him back into the sea.

10. Who was the white man found by Dr Sadao and Hana?
Ans: The white man found by Dr Sadao and Hana was a sailor from an American warship. He was a prisoner of war.

11. Who was Yumi?
Ans: Yumi was employed by Dr Sadao and Hana to look after their children.

12. What did Hana observe about the white man, just under the ear?
Ans: Hana observed that the white man had deep red scars on his neck, just under the ear.

13. “Ignorance of the human body is the surgeon’s cardinal sin, sirs!” Who said this?
Ans: This statement was made by Dr Sadao Hoki’s Professor of Anatomy, to the students in his class.

14. What was the name of the white man?
Ans: The white man’s name was Tom.”

Short Answer Type Questions: (2 Marks)

1. Sadao’s father used to refer to the islands near the Japanese coast as ‘the stepping stones to the future for Japan’. Explain the statement.
Ans: Sadao’s father used to refer to the islands near the Japanese coast as stepping stones to the future for Japan. For Japan to develop further, the people had to step out, explore the world outside, learn from it and bring back home well-honed talent.

2. How did Sadao’s father show his concern for him?
Ans: Sadao’s father was very concerned about his son’s education. He showed his concern for Sadao by sending him to America at the age of twenty-two to learn all that could be learned about surgery and medicine. Sadao spent eight years there in pursuit of this knowledge.

3. Why was Dr Sadao not sent abroad with the troops?
Ans: Dr Sadao was not just a surgeon but also a scientist. He was involved in perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean. Apart from this, there was one more reason for which he was kept behind. He might be required to operate upon the old General, who was being treated for a certain medical condition.

4. How did Dr Sadao meet Hana? How did their marriage take place?
Ans: Sadao met Hana at the house professor Harley, an American professor. He waited to fall in love with her till he was sure that she was Japanese. When his father had seen her, the marriage was arranged in the traditional Japanese way, though Sadao and Hana had talked everything over beforehand.

5. What shows that Dr Sadao’s father, despite his concern for his son’s education, was of a conservative nature?
Ans: Two things show that Dr Sadao’s father, despite his concern for his son’s education was of a conservative nature. He would not have accepted anyone other than a Japanese girl as Sadao’s wife. This is why Sadao waited to fall in love with Hana until he was sure that she was Japanese. Everything in Sadao’s father’s bedroom was Japanese; in his own home, he would never sit on a chair or sleep in a foreign bed.

6. What was the best thing that Dr Sadao and Hana could do about the man? Why?
Ans: The best thing that Dr Sadao and Hana could do about the man was to put him back into the sea. World War II was going on at the time. The person was an American and an escaped prisoner of war. If they handed him over to the police, he would certainly die. If they did not hand him over, they would be arrested.

7. What was the cause of the white man’s wound?
Ans: The white man, washed up on the beach near Sadao’s home was badly wounded. When Sadao and Hana discovered him, he was bleeding badly. On examining the wound, Sado found that he had been shot in the right side of his lower back. The wound was not tended, and it had been struck again by a rock.

8. How did Dr Sadao tend to the wound of the white man?
Ans: Dr Sadao and Hana discover a white man washed up on their beach. He was badly wounded. Though Sadao knows that the man is an American and an escaped prisoner of war, his trained hands seemed to be acting on their own will to stop the bleeding, and he packed the wound with sea moss that liberally strewed(cover) the beach.

9. How did the servants react when they came to know about the wounded man?
Ans: The servants were frightened when they came to know about the wounded man. The gardener said that their master should not care for the white man and tend to his wounds. The man should die since he first had been shot, after which he was also wounded by the rocks. If the master healed the wounds inflicted by the gun and the sea, they would take revenge on them. Yumi also was defiant and refused to wash the white man and said that it was none of her business.

10. Why did the servants leave Dr Sadao’s house?
Ans: The servants left the employment of Dr Sadao because they felt that it was wrong on his part to treat the wounded white man and nurse him back to health. According to them, it was treacherous on his part to save the life of the white man. World War II was going on at the time, and the Americans were the enemies of Japanese.

11. What was Hana’s reaction in the face of open defiance from the servants?
Ans: Hana was very graceful in the face of open defiance from the servants. When they left, she paid them and thanked them for their service. Though she was dismayed and terrified, she did not show it. The servants cried while leaving, but she did not cry.

12. How was Hana affected while helping Dr Sadao in operation?
Ans: Dr Sadao asked Hana to help him and give the man anaesthetic. Hana was rather distressed at the sight of the wound and the blood. The sight of blood made Hana choke. Her face turned pale. She rushed out of the room and Sadao could hear her vomit in the garden.

13. What did Hana think of when she was giving the wounded man anaesthetic?
Ans: While giving the wounded man anaesthetic, she wondered if the stories they had heard of the sufferings of prisoners were true. These used to be told by word of mouth and were usually contradictory. However, the newspapers used to report that the Japanese armies were received with joy wherever they went.

14. What did Hana think of General Takima while she saw the wounded man on the operation table?
Ans: When Hana saw the wounded man on the operation table, thoughts of the sufferings of prisoners came to her mind. She remembered General Takima, who was a cruel man and used to beat his wife. No one openly mentioned it now as he had fought a victorious battle in Manchuria. Hana wondered if he could be so cruel to his wife, would he not be cruel to a poor prisoner of war.

15. “All thought left him. He felt only the purest pleasure.” When did Dr Sadao feel so? What does it show of him as a great surgeon?
Ans: While operating on the wounded white man and extracting the bullet lodged in his body, all thought left him, and he felt only the purest pleasure. He probed the man’s body and was familiar with every atom of his body. His anatomy professor had emphasised that complete knowledge of the human body was essential to operate and carry out the surgery.

16. What did Dr Sadao do when he pulled out the last stitches and thought that the man would be well in a fortnight?
Ans: After pulling out the last stitches and thinking that the young man would be well in a fortnight, Dr Sadao went to his office and typed a letter to the Chief of Police. The letter was a detailed report of the finding of the prisoner washed up onshore. After typing it, he kept the unfinished report in a secret drawer of his desk.

17. Why did the General not want anything bad to happen to Dr Sadao?
Ans: The General was suffering from a certain medical condition, and he was being treated for the same. He might require urgent surgery and the General trusted Dr Sadoa alone to carry out the operation on him. Dr Sadao was very skilled in his work. Hence he did not want anything bad to happen to Dr Sadao.

18. Why would it be best if the American was secretly killed as proposed by the General?
Ans: The General offered to send his private assassins at night, to Dr Sadao Hoki’s house, to kill the American quietly. The assassins would not make any noise, and they would also dispose of his body. Thinking of Hana, Sadao agreed that this would be the best way out of the situation.

19. What secret plan did the General make for the American? Why couldn’t it be executed?
Ans: The General was to send his private assassins to Dr Sado’s house to quietly kill the American, and get rid of his body. He had asked Sadao, to leave open the door, from the man’s room to the garden, at night so the assassins could enter. The plan could not be executed as the health of the General worsened, and he could not think of anything else and forgot the promise he had made to Sadao.

20. What plan did Dr Sadao make for the man to escape when the General’s assassin did not come to get rid of him?
Ans: Dr Sadao made an escape plan for the white man to escape when the General’s assassins did not come to get rid of him. He planned to put food, water and extra clothing in his boat and put it to the shore that night. The man could row out to the secluded little island close to the coast. He could be on the island until he saw a Korean fishing boat pass by and take their help to leave the island.

21. What did Dr Sadao tell the American to do in case his food ran out?
Ans: Dr Sadao told the American to send a signal to him with two flashes of the flashlight at the same time as the sun dropped over the horizon. He warned him not to signal in the dark as that would be seen by others. He also advised him to catch fresh fish and eat them raw, since fire would be seen and noticed.

22. How did the General regret that he had not carried out his plan to get rid of the American? What was Dr Sadao’s reaction to it?
Ans: The General regretted that he could not carry out the plan to get rid of the American. The plan could not be executed as the health of the General worsened, and he could not think of anything else and forgot the promise he had made to Sadao. He assured Dr Sadao that the negligence was not on account of lack of patriotism or dereliction towards his duty. Sadao understood that the General was under his complete control, and as a result of that, he was perfectly safe.

23. “But Sadao searching the spot of black in the twilighted sea that night had his reward.” What was Dr Sadao’s reward?
Ans: Dr Sadao’s reward was that the American soldier was no longer on the island. There was no flash of light in the dusk. His prisoner had gone and was safe. He must have sought help from a Korean fishing boat.

24. What did Dr Sadao think of the American prejudice against Japanese like him when he had lived in America?
Ans: Dr Sadao had gone to America at the age of 22 to study all that he could about surgery and medicine. The Americans were prejudiced against the Japanese, and it was very difficult for him to find a place to live in. It was a bitter experience to endure their prejudice when he knew that he was superior to them.

25. What message does ‘The Enemy’ give?
Ans: ‘The Enemy’ sends out a message through the character and actions of Dr Sadao Hoki. Dr Sadao can rise above petty human behaviour which has become the norm today. He follows the calling of his duty as a doctor and saves the life of the wounded young American. He also arranges for him to hide on a nearby island and escape from there to freedom. ‘The Enemy’ gives us the message of peace, empathy, belief in one’s ideals and humanism.

26. Explain how Dr Sadao becomes a rare example of sheer devotion to one’s professional duty while at the same time upholding his duties towards his country.
Ans: Dr Sadao is a rare and shining example of sheer devotion to one’s professional duty while at the same time upholding his duties towards his country. He is a skilled surgeon and scientist. He was perfecting a discovery that would render wounds completely clean. As a doctor, he believes that he must do whatever he can to save a person’s life. He knows that the prisoner is American, and the Americans were their enemies, yet he doesn’t hesitate to operate on him and save his life.

27. Why did the messenger come to Dr. Sadao? [2020]
Ans: The messenger had come to Dr Sadao’s house to inform him that the old General was in pain again and had to be attended to. When Hana first saw the uniformed messenger, she got frightened, for she thought that he had come to arrest her husband for harbouring an enemy in their house.”

Long Answer Type Questions: (7 Marks) (120-150 words)

1. Describe how Dr Sadao treated and nursed the wounded soldier?
Ans: Dr Sadao operated upon the wounded man and extracted the bullet from his body. The man washed up on their shore was a young American, and he was an escaped prisoner of war. On the shore itself, he packed the wound with sea moss, after which he and Hana took the man to their home, to the bedroom which had been his father’s. He operated immediately as any delay would result in the death of the injured man. After the successful operation, he used to carefully examine the man’s wound daily.

He removed the stitches when it was time to do so. When the man was slightly better, he told him to remain on his feet for five minutes at a time. Finally, when the young man was well enough, he made an escape plan for him and arranged for him to remain hidden on the island nearby till he could get help from a passing Korean fishing boat.

2. Explain the role of Hana in the recovery of the wounded soldier.
Ans: When the man was brought into the room and laid on the mat, Hana washed him since the servants were not willing to touch the white man and felt that he deserved to die. Hana helped Sadao while he was operating on the white man. She gave him anaesthetic. She anxiously hoped that he had not been tortured like prisoners were, according to the stories that she had heard.

Then she noticed the red scars on his neck below his ear. When he was recovering, she served him food herself since the servants were defiant and did not help in anything involving the wounded soldier. She told him not to be afraid and fed him with a spoon. She felt moved to comfort him and encouraged him, saying that soon he would be strong.

3. How did the marriage between Dr Sadao and Hana come to materialise? What impression do you form of both of them as husband and wife?
Ans: Dr Sadao met Hana for the first time at Professor Harley’s house. He waited to fall in love with her till he was sure that she was Japanese. When his father had seen her, the marriage was arranged in the traditional Japanese way, though Sadao and Hana had talked everything over beforehand.

Though they have been married for several years and have two children, they are a perfect couple. There are love and mutual respect in their relationship. Both are very supportive of each other’s decisions. As a husband, Sadao is caring and protective. Most of the decisions he takes about the American soldier are to relieve her anxiety. When the servants leave work, he helps her with the children. As a wife, Hana supports her husband in his decisions. She is also traditional in some aspects like, she doesn’t eat with him but serves him first. She is graceful in difficult and intimidating situations. Sadao and Hana can rise above petty prejudices and be compassionate human beings.

4. How do the servants oppose the nursing of the wounded American at their master’s house? What does it show of them?
Ans: The servants were frightened when they came to know about the wounded man. The gardener said that their master should not care for the white man and tend to his wounds. The man should die since he first had been shot, after which he was also wounded by the rocks. Yumi also was defiant and refused to wash the white man and said that it was none of her business.

They were openly critical about Sadao treating the white man. The gardener, cook and Yumi left the employment of Dr Sadao because they felt that it was wrong on his part to treat the wounded white man and nurse him back to health. According to them, it was treacherous on his part to save the life of the white man. World War II was going on at the time, and the Americans were the enemies of the Japanese.

The servants’ reaction shows their narrow mindedness and inability to see beyond their prejudices. They do not display humanitarianism or compassion.

5. What did Dr Sadao think of American prejudice vis-a-vis the Japanese humanism?
Ans: Dr Sadao had gone to America at the age of 22 to study all that he could about surgery and medicine. He spent eight years there before coming back to Japan. In America, he faced discrimination and was subject to people’s prejudiced behaviour. The Americans were prejudiced against the Japanese, and it was very difficult for him to find a place to live in.

It was a bitter experience to endure their prejudice when he knew that he was superior to them. Though he had been a victim of racial prejudice in America, Dr Sadao is not prejudiced against the American soldier. He shows compassion and humanity towards him and saves his life.

6. Draw a character sketch of Dr Sadao as depicted in ‘The Enemy’. [2019]
Ans: Dr. Sadao Hokieis, a skilled surgeon and scientist. He is a compassionate human being and dares to stand by his principles. He is an obedient son and listened to his father. As a husband, he is caring and considerate. As a doctor, he believes that he must do whatever he can to save a person’s life. He was not sent along with the troops as he was perfecting an invention to render wounds completely clean. Besides this, he was also required to carry out an emergency operation on the old General, if needed.

He operates the General with success. He deftly carries out surgery on the American soldier and saves his life. He knows that he would be arrested for harbouring a prisoner of war, yet he takes this risk to save the American soldier’s life. He brings him home, operates on him and nurses him back to health. He is a man of courage and rises above the narrow-minded norms set by society and followed by the vast majority of people.

7. Explain how Hana proves to be an example of great humanism and an able companion to Dr Sadao.
Ans: Hana is a compassionate human being and not bound by the norms that govern the vast majority to be prejudiced. She doesn’t want to put the wounded American soldier back into the sea through both Sadao, and she knows that it would be the best thing to do. She hopes that he was not subject to torture like how prisoners were usually tortured according to stories that she had heard.

She is an able companion to Dr Sadao as seen in the story. She supports him in his decision to operate on the soldier and save his life. She helps him in the operation by giving the anaesthetic. When the man was recovering, she served him food herself since the servants were defiant and did not help in anything involving the wounded soldier. She told him not to be afraid and fed him with a spoon. She felt moved to comfort him and encouraged him, saying that soon he would be strong. When the servants leave work, she does not complain but faces the situation with grace. She stands by her husband and supports him in his decisions.

8. Describe in detail how Dr Sadao and Hana tended to the American soldier, nursing him to recovery.
Ans: Dr Sadao and Hana took a lot of care of the wounded American soldier tending to him and nursing him to recovery. Dr Sadao operated upon the wounded man and extracted the bullet from his body. The man washed up on their shore was a young American, and he was an escaped prisoner of war. On the shore itself, he packed the wound with sea moss, after which he and Hana took the man to their home, to the bedroom which had been his father’s.

He operated immediately as any delay would result in the death of the injured man. After the successful operation, he used to carefully examine the man’s wound daily. He removed the stitches when it was time to do so. When the man was slightly better, he told him to remain on his feet for five minutes at a time. Finally, when the young man was well enough, he made an escape plan for him and arranged for him to remain hidden on the island nearby till he could get help from a passing Korean fishing boat.

Hana too had a large part in the recovery of the American soldier. When the man was brought into the room and laid on the mat, she washed him since the servants were not willing to touch the white man and felt that he deserved to die. Hana helped Sadao while he was operating on the white man. She gave him anaesthetic. She anxiously hoped that he had not been tortured like prisoners were, according to the stories that she had heard.

When he was recovering, she served him food herself since the servants were defiant and did not help in anything involving the wounded soldier. She told him not to be afraid and fed him with a spoon. She felt moved to comfort him and encouraged him, saying that soon he would be strong.

9. How is ‘The Enemy’ a great moral lesson in spreading love all over the world by transcending narrow prejudices of hatred and animosity?

Ans: Pearl Buck’s short story, ‘The Enemy’ is indeed a great moral lesson in spreading love all over the world by transcending narrow prejudices of hatred and animosity. When Dr Sadao sees the American soldier washed up on the beach near their house, he does not see him as an enemy, but as a badly wounded human being in need of immediate help. While operating on Tom, Dr Sadao calls him, “my friend as that was his way of referring to all his patients. Sadao and Hana show compassion and humanity instead of practising animosity and hatred.

Their actions should induce readers to overcome barriers of prejudice and be good human beings. They also dared to offer refuge to a prisoner of war. If it was discovered Dr Sadao could have been arrested. However, Dr Sadao and Hana tend to the prisoner and nurse him back to health. Once he is well enough, Dr Sadao makes arrangements for him to reach the secluded island close to the coast from where he could take help from a passing Korean fishing boat.

10. While hatred against a member of the enemy is justifiable, especially during a war, what makes a human being rise above narrow prejudices?
Ans: Hatred against a member of the enemy is justifiable, especially during war. However, at times a human being rises above narrow prejudices. There are occasions in life when a choice has to be made between one’s duty as a patriotic citizen and duty towards a higher calling, humanitarianism.

On finding the wounded man, Sadao cannot put him back into the water or hand him over to the authorities. His training as a doctor has taught him to save a life and not endanger it. Though he is in a conflict between his duties as a citizen and as a doctor, he chooses to save the man’s life. His empathy for the suffering and wounded person helps him rise above narrow prejudices and extend help to an enemy.