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1. THE ENEMY
Pearl S. Buck

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pearl S. Buck, June 26, 1892 - March 6,
1973 Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was an
American author, best know for her
novels about China. Buck was born on
June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia,
but as the daughter of Presbyterian
missionaries she was taken to China in
infancy.

3. INTRODUCTION
It is the time of World War. An American prisoner of war is washed
ashore in a dying state and is found at the doorstep of a Japanese
doctor. Should he save him as a doctor or hand him over to the Army as
a patriot?The story is set during the Second World War. A Japanese
doctor finds an American POW at his doorstep. He is in a dilemma that
being a doctor, should he save the wounded man or being a Japanese,
should he hand over the enemy to the army.

4. THEME
• The short tale “The Enemy” by Pearl S. Buck tackles the subject of
prejudice and its damaging impact on interpersonal relationships. The
plot centres on the connection between a Chinese doctor and an
American soldier, who are originally strangers, amid a period of
American war on Japan during the second world war. Despite their
difference in nationality, the Japanese has to remain loyal to his
profession and thus, saves the life of the injured enemy soldier.
However, this does not go well with his fellow men who consider him
not to be loyal towards his country. The narrative shows us how the
Japanese doctor, Sadao balances these two duties and emphasizes on
the importance of humanity over everything else.

5. CHARACTERS
• Dr. Sadao Hoki
The doctor is a skilled surgeon and scientist, happily married to Hana, father to two children, and a loyal Japanese
citizen. He does not fight in the war because his medical services are needed for the General, so he is home when
a wounded American prisoner of war shows up on the beach near his home. Though his first inclination is to let
the man die, not wanting to offer aid and comfort to the enemy nor to be punished, his training takes over and he
successfully operates on the young man, saving his life. While he does not waver in his ambivalence toward the
man, constantly wondering why he acts as he does, he remains committed to his profession's expectations and
ethics.
• Hana
Hana is an intelligent, steadfast woman, wife to Sadao, and mother to their two children. She spent time in
America as well, which is where she met Sadao. She is pure-blooded Japanese, which Sadao wanted in a wife. She
has a moral compass like Sadao's, meaning she ultimately knows it is best to treat the enemy even though she
does not have to like him or help him beyond measure.

6. CHARACTERS
• Yumi
Yumi is the children's nurse. She loves them and seems like a good servant, but she is simple-
minded and stubborn. She is opposed to the American's presence in the home and quits with the
other servants, though she returns once the American is gone.
• Sadao's Father
Though he is not alive during the events of the story, Sadao thinks of his father often. The man was
elegant, exacting, and stern, and he wanted his son to be successful. He also was very nationalistic,
only wanting his son to marry a Japanese woman and requesting for everything in his room to be
Japanese in style and make.
• Gardener
The old gardener, who is also a servant, is very opposed to the American's presence and thinks
Sadao and Hana should have let him die. He quits with the rest of the servants, but he returns once
the American is gone.

7. CHARACTERS
• Tom
Tom is the "man," the "boy," the "American," and the "prisoner," among other things. He is an
escaped prisoner of war, found on the beach with a gunshot wound worsened by the rocks of the
sea that he tried to navigate in his escape. Sadao finds him "common" in appearance, and he is
probably about 17-20 years old. Upon his waking, he thanks the doctor but expresses casual racism
in his remarks, using the slur "Jap" and evincing a simplistic worldview about the war. He is grateful
for Sadao saving his life more than once, though, and follows the doctor's directions about how to
escape.
• The General
The General is an older military official whom Sadao is treating for a serious disease. The General is
weary of the obligations of his job but relishes his power. He needs Sadao to treat him and keep him
alive, so he is not angry when Sadao confesses that he has the American prisoner with him. He
promises to send assassins to take care of the matter but forgets to do so, as he is consumed with
his illness. When Sadao confesses tells him the prisoner escaped, the General agrees to keep his
secret because exposing Sadao would result in the only physician he trusts to keep him alive being
punished.

8. QUICK RECAP
• Dr Sadao Hoki is portrayed in the story as a very virtuous physician.
• He had lived life according to the dire necessities and demands of
traditional Japanese society.
• Because his father wanted Sadao to have excellent formal education,
he went to America as a student of surgery and medicine at the age
of twenty-two.
• He met his wife Hana there at a professor’s house.
• Although he liked her, he waited to confirm her pure Japanese roots
before he fell in love with her

9. QUICK RECAP
• He knew his father would not have blessed their union otherwise.
• He did not marry Hana right away in America.
• Instead, he introduced Hana to his father first after his return to
Japan, and their marriage was arranged in the traditional Japanese
way.
• Due to Sadao’s skills and extraordinary talent as a doctor, he was not
sent to fight in the World War.
• Also, the General was being treated for some condition that might
need an expert surgeon like Sadao.

10. QUICK RECAP
• One evening, as Sadao and his wife, Hana, were standing on the
veranda of their house, looking at the ocean, they saw a worn-out
man wash up against the shore.
• As he lay there, the couple went to examine him.
• They saw that he was wounded, and to their astonishment, they
discovered that he was a white man – a U.S. soldier who looked like a
tortured prisoner who had escaped somehow.
• He was an enemy to them.
• Given the political climate of their country, they knew it was illegal to
harbour a white man from America.

11. QUICK RECAP
• They pondered the situation for a long time, assessing every single
outcome of their actions.
• They knew they could be punished for saving an enemy prisoner, but
their conscience did not allow them to leave a wounded man
unattended.
• They also worried about how the servants might react to this
situation.
• They decided to take this man to their house and inform the servants
that they would hand the prisoner back to the police when he was
healed

12. QUICK RECAP
• They pondered the situation for a long time, assessing every single
outcome of their actions.
• They knew they could be punished for saving an enemy prisoner, but
their conscience did not allow them to leave a wounded man
unattended.
• They also worried about how the servants might react to this
situation.
• They decided to take this man to their house and inform the servants
that they would hand the prisoner back to the police when he was
healed

13. QUICK RECAP
• Dr Sadao started his operation and seemed wholly absorbed in his
work.
• He asked Hana to help him with certain things, but Hana had never
seen an operation and felt distressed when she saw the brutal
wounds of the man being operated on by her husband.
• Sadao felt irritated at his inability to console his wife and became
more ruthless in his task.
• When the prisoner woke up after the surgery, Hana served him
herself.

14. ;
Word meaning
Ebbing: decreasing gradually
Rose: stood up
Chilled: freeze due to cold weather
PASSAGE ;
While she was thinking these thoughts, though not really liking the man better now
that he was no longer a child, she kept on washing him until his upper body was
quite clean. But she dared not turn him over. Where was Sadao? Now her anger was
ebbing, and she was anxious again and she rose, wiping her hands on the wrong
towel. Then lest the man be chilled, she put the quilt over him.
“Sadao!” she called softly.
He had been about to come in when she called. His hand had been on the door and
now he opened it. She sawt hat he had brought his surgeon’s emergency bag and
that he wore his surgeon’s coat.

15. Explanation
 Hana kept on cleaning the man’s upper body as she had these thoughts. She
did not like the man as he was not a child anymore. She did not have the
courage to turn him over and thought of Sadao. Hr anger was decreasing and
she started becoming restless. She stood up and wiped her hands with the
wrong towel. As she did not want the man to freeze due to the cold weather,
she put the quilt on him.
 Hana called out to Sadao softly.
 He had been on the door when she called him. He opened the door. Hana saw
that Sadao was carrying his surgeon’s emergency bag and was wearing his
surgeon’s coat. He was prepared to operate upon the injured man.

16. ;
Word meaning
Sterilized: disinfected
Tokonoma alcove: The word ‘toko’ literally means “floor” or “bed”; ‘ma’ means
“space” or “room.”
PASSAGE ;
“You have decided to operate!” she cried. “Yes,” he said shortly. He turned his back
to her and unfolded a sterilized towel upon the floor of the tokonoma alcove, and
put his instruments out upon it. “Fetch towels,” he said. She went obediently, but
how anxious now, to the linen shelves and took out the towels. There ought a0lso to
be old pieces of matting so that the blood would not ruin the fine floor covering.
She went out to the back veranda where the gardener kept strips of matting with
which to protect delicate shrubs on cold nights and took an armful of them. But
when she went back into the room, she saw this was useless. The blood had already
soaked through the packing in the man’s wound and had ruined the mat under him.

17. Explanation
 Hana asked Sadao that had he decided to operate the man.
 Sadao replied that he had decided to operate him. He turned his back to Hana
as he did not want her to object to his decision. Sadao started his work. He
opened a sterilized towel on the floor of the tokonoma alcove and placed his
surgical instruments on it.
 Sadao asked Hana to get some towels.
 Hana obeyed Sadao and went out to get the towels. She was curious as
Sadao was operating upon the injured man. She thought that the blood from his
wounds could stain the fine mats which covered the floor of the room. So, she
got some rough mats from the backyard which were used by the gardener to
cover the delicate shrubs from the cold weather.
 By the time Hana reached the room she saw that blood had flowed through the
bandage on the man’s wound and had stained the mat beneath him. Her effort
was futile.

18. ;
Word meaning
Concise: short
PASSAGE ;
“Oh, the mat!” she cried. “Yes, it is ruined,” Sadao replied, as though he did not
care. “Help me to turn him,” he commanded her. She obeyed him without a word,
and he began to wash the man’s back carefully. “Yumi would not wash him,” she
said. “Did you wash him then?” Sadao asked, not stopping for a moment his swift
concise movements. “Yes,” she said. He did not seem to hear her. But she was used
to his absorption when he was at work. She wondered for a moment if it mattered
to him what was the body upon which he worked so long as it was for the work he
did so excellently

19. Explanation
 On seeing the stained mat, Hana cried that the mat had been spoiled. Sadao
agreed that the mat had been ruined in such a manner which indicated that he
was not bothered by it. Sadao ordered Hana to help him turn the man over. She
obeyed him and then Sadao started washing his back.
 Hana told Sadao that Yumi had refused to wash the injured man. Sadao asked
her that did she wash him. He did not stop cleaning him. He made fast small
movements of his hands as he cleaned him carefully. Sadao was engrossed in
work and did not seem to hear Hana. Hana wondered that Sadao was not
bothered who the injured man was. He was only concerned in performing his
work well.

20. ;
Word meaning
Anesthetic: a substance that induces insensitivity to pain
Superficial: existing or occurring at or on the surface.
PASSAGE ;
“You will have to give the anesthetic if he needs it,” he said. “I?” she repeated
blankly. “But never have I!” “It is easy enough,” he said impatiently. He was taking
out the packing now, and the blood began to flow more quickly. He peered into the
wound with the bright surgeon’s light fastened on his forehead. “The bullet is still
there,” he said with cool interest. “Now I wonder how deep this rock wound is. If it
is not too deep it may be that I can get the bullet. But the bleeding is not
superficial. He has lost much blood.”

21. Explanation
 Sadao told Hana that she would have to inject the injured man with a
substance that induces insensitivity to pain. Hana replied that she had never
done that earlier. Sadao said in a haste that it was very easy. Sadao was
removing the packing and now the blood started flowing faster. He looked at
the wound with the help of the bright surgeon’s light fixed on his forehead.
He announced that the bullet was inside the man’s body. He wondered that
how deep the wound made by the rock was. He said that if the wound was not
very deep, then he could get the bullet out. He added that the bleeding was
not from the surface of the skin which meant that the wound was deep and
the man had already lost a lot of blood.

22. ;
Word meaning
Leaped: jumped
Retching: vomiting
PASSAGE ;
At this moment Hana choked. He looked up and saw her face the colour of sulphur.
“Don’t faint,” he said sharply. He did not put down his exploring instrument. “If I
stop now the man will surely die.” She clapped her hands to her mouth and leaped
up and ran out of the room. Outside in the garden he heard her retching. But he
went on with his work. “It will be better for her to empty her stomach,” he
thought. He had forgotten that of course she had never seen an operation. But her
distress and his inability to go to her at once made him impatient and irritable with
this man who lay like dead under his knife.

23. Explanation
 her face the colour of sulphur: sulphur is a yellow coloured element. The clause
means that her face became pale – yellowish in colour.
 When Hana saw Sadao inspecting the wound, she could not see the sight and
so, she coughed. Sadao looked at her and saw that her face was yellowish in
colour like the colour of sulphur.
 Sadao reacted and ordered Hana not to faint. He did not stop his work and
continued inspecting the wound. Sadao said that if he stopped, the injured man
would certainly die. Hana put both her hands on her mouth, jumped up and ran
out of the room. Sadao heard her vomiting in the garden but he continued with
his work.
 As Sadao needed Hana’s help to operate the man, he thought that it would be
better for her to empty her stomach so that she would not feel uneasy time and
again. He was reminded that Hana was seeing an operation for the first time
and it was not a pleasant thing to see. Sadao was irritated and impatient as his
wife was under stress and he was not able to help her due to the man who lay
under his knife. He was just like a dead person.

25. ;
Word meaning
Ruthless: harsh, merciless
Moaned: made low, soft sounds due to pain
Paid no heed: did not pay attention to
beginning to stir: gaining consciousness.
Saturate: wet
PASSAGE ;
“This man.” he thought, “there is no reason under heaven why he should live.”
Unconsciously this thought made him ruthless and he proceeded swiftly. In his dream
the man moaned but Sadao paid no heed except to mutter at him. “Groan,” he
muttered, “groan if you like. I am not doing this for my own pleasure. In fact, I do
not know why I am doing it.” The door opened and there was Hana again. “Where is
the anesthetic?” she asked in a clear voice. Sadao motioned with his chin. “It is as
well that you came back,” he said. “This fellow is beginning to stir.” She had the
bottle and some cotton in her hand. “But how shall I do it?” she asked. “Simply
saturate the cotton and hold it near his nostrils,” Sadao replied without delaying for
one moment the intricate detail of his work. “When he breathes badly move it away
a little

26. Explanation
 Sadao thought that there was no reason for him to make efforts to save the man
because there was no reason for him to live.
 Sadao became merciless and started working fast. The injured man moaned in his
state of unconsciousness but Sadao kept on working without paying attention to the
man’s pain.
 Sadao said to the injured man that he was free to cry in pain. Sadao was not
concerned that the man was in pain. He did not want to operate him and did not
have any reason for doing so.
 Hana entered the room and asked Sadao for the anaesthetic which she had to
administer to the injured man. Her voice was clear which shows that now she was
prepared to help him. Sadao moved his chin to guide her to the bottle of
anaesthetic. He added that it was good that she came as the man had started to
gain consciousness and it was important to sedate him. Hana held the bottle and
some cotton in her hands. She asked what she was supposed to do. He told her to
put some anaesthetic on the cotton and to place the cotton near the man’s nostril.
He did not stop his delicate work and added that she should remove the cotton
when the man started to breathe badly.

27. ;
Word meaning
Crouched: sit in a squatting position
piteously: causing you to feel sad and sympathetic
by word of mouth: people tell it to each other rather than it being printed in written
form.
Manchuria: Manchuria (Northeast China) is the homeland of the Manchu people.
To the Chinese, the region is simply known as the Northeast.
PASSAGE ;
She crouched close to the sleeping face of the young American. It was a piteously
thin face, she thought, and the lips were twisted. The man was suffering whether
he knew it or not. Watching him, she wondered if the stories they heard sometimes
of the sufferings of prisoners were true. They came like flickers of rumour, told by
word of mouth and always contradicted. In the newspapers the reports were always
that wherever the Japanese armies went the people received them gladly, with
cries of joy at their liberation. But sometimes she remembered such men as General
Takima, who at home beat his wife cruelly, though no one mentioned it now that he
had fought so victorious a battle in Manchuria. If a man like that could be so cruel to
a woman in his power, would he not be cruel to one like this for instance?

28. Explanation
 Hana sat in a squat and went close to the face of the sleeping American man.
She felt sad and sympathetic towards him as she saw his thin face and twisted
lips. She knew that he was suffering. She wondered whether the stories that
she had heard about the torture meted out to the prisoners were true. The
stories were like rumours which spread when people told them to others. On
the other hand, in the printed media like the newspapers, it was mentioned that
the Japanese army was welcomed wherever it went, and people praised it for
their freedom. Hana recalled an officer of the Japanese army, General Takima
who was cruel to his wife and would beat her. No one talked about it anymore
as he had won the war in Manchuria. Hana thought that if a man could be cruel
towards his wife then he could also be cruel to the prisoners in his captivity.

29. ;
Word meaning
Scars: marks
Probed: searched
Anatomy: the branch of science concerned with the bodily structure of humans,
animals, and other living organisms,
Cardinal: basic, first
PASSAGE ;
She hoped anxiously that this young man had not been tortured. It was at this
moment that she observed deep red scars on his neck, just under the ear. “Those
scars,” she murmured, lifting her eyes to Sadao. But he did not answer. At this
moment he felt the tip of his instrument strike against something hard, dangerously
near the kidney. All thought left him. He felt only the purest pleasure. He probed
with his fingers, delicately, familiar with every atom of this human body. His old
American professor of anatomy had seen to that knowledge. “Ignorance of the
human body is the surgeon’s cardinal sin, sirs!” he had thundered at his classes year
after year. “To operate without as complete knowledge of the body as if you had
made it — anything less than that is murder.”

30. Explanation
 Hana hoped that the man had not been tortured by the army. Just then she saw
deep red coloured marks (injury marks) on his neck, under the ear.
 Hana mentioned the scars to Sadao and asked about them. Sadao did not
answer. At that moment, the tip of his instrument hit something hard (the bullet).
It was very close to the kidney. Sadao was not thinking of anything else. He
was happy to have finally found the bullet. He moved his fingers inside the
wound. Sadao was familiar with the tiniest part of the human body. His
professor of anatomy in America had told them that if a surgeon ignored the
knowledge of any part of the body, it was the first misdeed that he had
committed. To operate upon a body without detailed knowledge of it as much as
the person who makes it has would amount to committing murder of that body.
Sadao’s professor would repeat these words in his class often.

31. ;
Word meaning
Precise: accurate
Incisions: surgical cuts
Quivered: shivered, trembled
Muttered: spoke
Guts: informal word for bravery and determination
Profound: very great or intense
Pulse: heartbeat
Feeble: weak
PASSAGE ;
“It is not quite at the kidney, my friend,” Sadao murmured. It was his habit to
murmur to the patient when he forgot himself in an operation. “My friend,” he
always called his patients and so now he did, forgetting that this was his enemy.
Then quickly, with the cleanest and most precise of incisions, the bullet was out.
The man quivered but he was still unconscious. Nevertheless he muttered a few
English words. “Guts,” he muttered, choking. “They got...my guts...” “Sadao!”
Hana cried sharply. “Hush,” Sadao said. The man sank again into silence so profound
that Sadao took up his wrist, hating the touch of it. Yes, there was still a pulse so
faint, so feeble, but enough, if he wanted the man to live, to give hope.

32. Explanation
 Sadao spoke to the injured man. He said that the bullet had just missed his
kidney. When Sadao would get engrossed in the operation, he would start talking
to the patient. He addressed thet patient as ‘my friend’. He called the injured man
also ‘my friend’. He forgot that this man was not a friend but an enemy.
 Sadao was quick. He made a few surgical cuts on the body and removed the
bullet. The man trembled in pain but remained unconscious. He spoke a few
words in English which were an expression of the pain that he was experiencing.
 The injured man choked and said “guts,” “They got my guts”. He meant that he
was brave and courageous and the Japanese army would have a tough time
while punishing him. Upon hearing him Hana cried out to Sadao. Sadao hushed
her to keep quiet. The man became so quiet that Sadao held his wrist to check
his heartbeat. He was checking if the man was still alive. His pulse was there
although it was very weak. Sadao thought that it was enough for a person who
had a desire to live. There was still hope that the man would survive.

33. ;
Word meaning
Vial: a small container, typically cylindrical and made of glass,
used especially for holding liquid medicines.
Hypodermic: needle, syringe, injection
Thrust: pushed
Fluttered: trembled
Compelled: forced
Apologise: feel sorry
PASSAGE ;
“But certainly I do not want this man to live,” he thought. “No more anesthetic,” he
told Hana. He turned as swiftly as though he had never paused and from his
medicines he chose a small vial and from it filled a hypodermic and thrust it into the
patient’s left arm. Then putting down the needle, he took the man’s wrist again.
The pulse under his fingers fluttered once or twice and then grew stronger. “This
man will live in spite of all,” he said to Hana and sighed. The young man woke, so
weak, his blue eyes so terrified when he perceived where he was, that Hana felt
compelled to apologise. She herself served him, for none of the servants would
enter the room.

34. Explanation
 Sadao was sure that he did not want the man to live.
 Sadao stopped Hana from administering anaesthetic. He turned quickly and
chose a small bottle from the medicines. He filled a syringe with the medicine
and pushed the vaccine into the man’s left arm. Sadao placed the needle down
and held the man’s wrist. The pulse shivered once or twice and then improved.
 Sadao took a deep breathe as he told Hana that the injured man would live. He
woke up, his blue coloured eyes were full of fright as he realized were he was.
Hana felt sorry for him. She served him food as the servants refused to enter
the room where he was kept.