READ AND FIND
OUT PAGE 24-43
1. Who was Dr Sadao? Where was his house?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao Hoki was a renowned Japanese surgeon and researcher. He had spent
eight years of his youth in America, learning everything he could about surgery
and medicine. He was working on a breakthrough that would completely heal
wounds.
Dr. Sadao's house was built on a ledge high above a
narrow beach bordered by bent pines. It took place on a stretch of Japanese
coastline.
2. Will Dr Sadao be arrested on the
charge of harbouring an enemy?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao was well aware that if they sheltered a white man in their home, they
would be arrested. The wounded man was a POW who had managed to flee with a
bullet lodged in his back. Because Japan was at war with America, harbouring an
enemy was considered treasonous. If someone makes a complaint against Dr. Sadao
and accuses him of harbouring an enemy, he could be arrested.
3. Will Hana help the wounded man and
wash him herself?
Answer:
The gardener and cook were terrified that their master would treat a white
man's wound—an enemy. They believed that once he (the white man) was cured, he
would seek vengeance on the Japanese. Yumi, the maid, was terrified as well.
She was adamant about not washing the white man. Hana chastised the maid for
refusing to wash a helpless, wounded man. She then washed the white man's face
with a small dean towel dipped in the steaming hot water. She continued to wash
him until his upper body was completely dean. But she didn't dare to hand him
over.
4. What will Dr Sadao and his wife do
with the man?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao and his wife, Hana, had told the servants that all they wanted to do
was bring the man back to his senses so they could hand him over to the
authorities as a prisoner. They knew that, given the circumstances, returning
him to the sea was the best option. Dr. Sadao, on the other hand, was opposed
to handing over a wounded man to the police. He requested that he be carried
into his home. He carried out surgery on him and removed the bullet from his
body. He didn't let the white man out of his house. He and his wife took care
of him and fed him until he was able to walk on his own.
5. Will Dr Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?
Answer:
Dr Sadao had operated on the young white man for the seventh day. Their three
servants left together early the next morning. In the afternoon, a messenger
dressed in official attire arrived. He informed Dr Sadao that he needed to rush
to the palace because the old General was in pain once more.
"Is that all?" Hana inquired of the
messenger, who had assumed the officer had arrived to arrest Dr Sadao. If that
wasn't enough, the perplexed messenger inquired. She attempted to make up for
her error by expressing regret and admitting that the General's illness was
sufficient. Dr. Sadao informed the General about the white man on whom he had
performed surgery. Dr Sadao was so important to the General that he promised he
would not be arrested.
6. What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of
the man?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao had told the old General that he had operated upon a white man. The
General promised to send his private assassins to kill the man silently and
secretly at night and remove his body. Dr.the
Sadao left the outer partition of white man’s room open. He waited
anxiously for three nights. The servants had left their house. His wife Hana
had to cook, clean the house and serve the wounded man. She was unaccustomed to
this labor. She was anxious that they should get rid of the man. Dr. Sadao
informed Tom, the white man, that he was in good health at the time. He offered
to leave his boat moored on the beach that evening. Food and extra clothing
would be stored inside. Tom thought he might be able to row to a nearby small
island. It wasn't fortified in any way. There was a lot of water in there.
Because it was flooded, no one lived there. He could stay there until he saw a
Korean fishing boat pass by, because it was not storm season. He handed his
flashlight over to the man. In the event that his food ran out, he was to flash
his flashlight twice at sunset. He was supposed to signal if he was still there
and fine. In the event that his food ran out, he was to signal twice with his
flashlight at sunset. If he was still there and fine, he only needed to signal
once.
Dr. Sadao dressed the man in Japanese garb and wore a black doth over his blond hair. In short, Dr. Sadao aided the man in his attempt to flee Japan. He also got rid of the man at the same time.
READING WITH
INSIGHT PAGE
47
1. There are moments in life when we have
to make hard choices between our roles as private individuals and as citizens
with a sense of national loyalty? Discuss with reference to the story you have
just read.
Answer:
When Dr. Sadao Hoki discovers the body of an unconscious wounded white man
lying on the lonely coast near his home, he is faced with a dilemma. His
initial thought was that the individual was a fisherman who had been washed
away from his boat. He dashed down the stairwell. Hana, his wife, approached
him from behind. Sadao discovered the man was wounded and motionless as they
approached. His chin was buried in the sand. They noticed he was a white man
with long yellow hair and a rough yellow beard when they looked at his face.
Dr. Sadao, an expert surgeon, noticed the man had a gunshot wound on the right
side of his lower back. To stop the dreadful bleeding, he immediately packed
the wound with sea moss. The white man was an enemy because Japan was at war
with America. "What shall we do with this man?" grumbled Dr Sadao.
"The best thing we could do would be to put him back in the sea," he
said when asked the question. His decision was well-received by his wife.
Sadao then made a new observation. They would be
arrested if they sheltered a white man in their home, and if they turned him
over as a prisoner, he would almost certainly die. Hana was adamant about
returning him to the sea. Dr Sadao deduced that he was a sailor from an
American warship based on his battered cap. The man had been held as a prisoner
of war. He had gotten away, which is why he was shot in the back. Hana inquired
if they could return him to the sea. Sadao then stated that if the man was
healthy, he could easily hand him over to the police. He didn't give a damn
about the man. He was their adversary. They considered all Americans to be
their 'enemy.' However, since he was injured... Hana realised his predicament
and realised that in the conflict between his sense of national loyalty and his
responsibility as a doctor, the latter won out. Sadao couldn't throw him back
into the sea, so they had no choice but to carry him to their house. Sadao
inquired about the servants' reaction.
Hana stated that they would inform the servants that
the man would be handed over to the cops. They had to do it, she told Sadao.
They needed to consider the children as well as the doctor's position. If they
did not hand over that man as a prisoner of war, it would put them all in
danger.
Sadao agreed and stated that he would not consider doing anything else in the future.
2. Dr Sadao was compelled by his duty as
a doctor to help the enemy soldier. What made Hana, his wife, sympathetic to
him in the face of open defiance from the domestic staff?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao and his wife, Hana, lifted and carried the injured man to an empty
room in their home. The gentleman was filthy. Sadao advised that he should be
washed. He agreed to do so in exchange for her fetching water. Hana was
adamantly opposed. Yumi, the maid, was suggested to wash the man. The servants
would have to be informed. Dr. Sadao examined the man once more and stated that
unless he was operated on right away, he would die. He exited the room in order
to retrieve his surgical instruments. The servants disapproved of their
master's decision to heal a white man's wound. Yumi, too, was adamant about not
washing the white man. Yumi's round, dull face had such a fierce look of
defiance on it that Hana felt unreasonably afraid. Then she said, dignifiedly,
that all they wanted to do was bring him back to his senses so they could hand
him over as a prisoner. Yumi, on the other hand, was adamantly opposed to him.
Yumi was gently asked to return to her work by Hana. Hana was irritated by the
domestic staff's open defiance. She had instructed the servants to carry out
their master's orders. She was a firm believer in her own superiority. She
began to sympathise with her husband and aided him in his efforts to heal the
injured man. Despite the fact that the sight of the white man repulsed her, she
washed his face and upper body. According to her husband's instructions, she
prepared herself to administer the anaesthetic. She had never witnessed a
surgical procedure before. Her face turned sulphur-pale as she choked. She left
for a while because she felt like vomiting. After retching, she returned and
gave the man anaesthetic. As a result, she fully cooperated with her husband in
order to save the injured man.
3. How would you explain the reluctance
of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s home even when he knew he
couldn’t stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
Answer:
The young man asked Dr Sadao on the third day after the operation what he was
going to do with him and if he was going to hand him over. Dr. Sadao admitted
that he had no idea what he would do with the memory. As a prisoner of war, he
should be handed over to the police. Dr Sadao and his wife Hana stood out to
the young man as being unlike other Japanese. They were fluent in English,
looked after him, and fed him. Dr Sadao was summoned to the palace seven days after
the man's operation to see the General. Hana was under the impression that the
cops had arrived to apprehend Dr. Sadao. Dr Sadao confided in the General, who
promised to dispatch his personal assassins to assassinate the man and remove
his body. Dr. Sadao waited three nights in a row. There was no action. Then he
devised a scheme to allow the prisoner to flee. Tom, the young American, was
informed. He was stared at by the young man, who asked if he had to leave. He
appeared to be hesitant to leave. Dr. Sadao advised him to make sure he
understood everything. He wasn't hiding his presence, and this was a dangerous
situation for him, as well as the doctor and his family. Thus, it is clear that
the soldier's hesitation stemmed solely from a desire to protect himself. He
was confident that the couple would save him based on their treatment of him.
4. What explains the attitude of the
General in the matter of the enemy soldier? Was it human consideration, lack of
national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self-absorption?
Answer:
Dr Sadao told the General about the man he had successfully operated on during
their meeting. He explained that he didn't care about the man. The General
praised his abilities and assured him that he would not be arrested.
The General thought it was unfortunate that the man
had washed up on Dr Sadao's doorstep, and that it would be best if he could be
killed quietly. He promised to send his personal assassins to carry out the
assassination and remove his body. He suggested that Dr Sadao leave the white
man's room's outer partition to the garden open at night. It is clear that the
General had no regard for human life in this situation. For him, an enemy was
an enemy who had to be eliminated. To keep the doctor from being arrested, he wanted
the man to be killed quietly. His decision was guided and inspired by neither a
lack of national loyalty nor a failure to perform his duties. It was just his
sense of self-importance. "I only wanted to keep Dr Sadao safe for my own
sake," he said. He had no faith in the other doctors who had been trained
in Germany. When he had another attack, he might have to be operated on at any
time, and he had complete faith in Dr Sadao's skill and loyalty. The General's
remarks to Dr Sadao one week after the emergency operation on the General
corroborate this fact. The man had escaped, according to Dr. Sadao. The General
inquired if he had not promised Sadao that he would assassinate him.
For him, a man. Dr. Sadao said he hadn't done
anything. The General admitted that he had forgotten his promise because he was
in so much pain that all he could think about was himself. He told the whole
story. He admitted that forgetting his promise was a careless mistake. However,
he added that it was not due to a lack of patriotism or a failure to perform
his duties on his part.
5. While hatred against a member of the
enemy race is justifiable, especially during wartime, what makes a human being
rise above narrow prejudices?
Answer:
A sensitive soul responds to the call of his duty as a professional doctor to
attend to the wounded human being regardless of whether or not he is an enemy
because he is aware of the demands of his calling.
Dr Sadao Hoki discovers a prisoner of war washed
ashore and thrown to his doorstep in the story "The Enemy." It is his
duty as a patriot to turn him over to the authorities. If he doesn't want to be
entangled, returning him to the sea is the next best option. The surgeon in
him, on the other hand, instinctively urges him to operate on the dying man and
save him from death's clutches. To stop the dreadful bleeding, he first packs
the wound with sea-moss. Then, with the help of his wife, he brings him home.
Despite the servants' adamant opposition and open defiance, he operates on the
man and harbours him until he is able to flee. He is well aware of the dangers
of sheltering a white man—a POW—in his home. However, his compassion for the
suffering and injured allows him to rise above narrow national prejudices and
extend his assistance and services to even an enemy.
6. Do you think the doctor’s final
solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?
Answer:
Yes, I believe the doctor's final solution was the best possible under the
circumstances. Initially, the doctor and his wife believed that returning him
to the sea would be the best and most compassionate thing to do. Neither of
them, however, was able to return him to the sea. Sadao explained that if the
man was healthy, he could easily hand him over to the cops, but because he was
injured, the doctor couldn't throw him back into the water. He couldn't kill
the man he had saved from death's clutches.
The General promised to dispatch his personal
assassins to assassinate the man and dispose of his body. Sadao waited for them
for three nights, but they never arrived because the General was so preoccupied
with his own suffering that he forgot about everything else. Meanwhile, Hana,
the doctor's wife, was growing increasingly concerned that he would be arrested
for harbouring an enemy. Dr. Sadao had made up his mind to get rid of the man
because he was not only inconvenient but also dangerous to them. As a result,
he quietly devised a plan to allow the prisoner to flee using his own boat and
Japanese clothing. The servants returned as soon as the enemy left, and life
returned to normal. The General was informed by Dr Sadao that "the
man" had escaped. The General admitted that he had forgotten his promise
because he was suffering greatly and couldn't think of anything else. He
admitted that he was careless, but that it was not due to a lack of patriotism
or a failure to perform his duties. In short, under the circumstances, the
doctor's strategy of allowing the prisoner to flee was the best possible
solution to the problem.
7. Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’
by A. J. Cronin that you read in ‘Snapshots’ last year? What are the
similarities?
Answer:
Yes, Pearl S. Buck's story 'The Enemy' reminds us a lot of A. J. Cronin's
storey 'Birth.' There are some obvious parallels between the two stories. Both
stories revolve around a doctor as the protagonist. Both of them emphasise the
doctor's commitment to his profession and concern for his patient's well-being.
While attending to the patient, the doctor foregoes his own rest and comfort.
Dr Sadao Hoki performs no less a miracle than the doctor in the storey 'Birth,'
who brings a'still-born' baby back to life. He saves a man who is on the verge
of death by expertly extracting the bullet from his body and administering
medications and injections for immediate relief.
Dr. Sadao is in more danger than Dr. Andrew Mason.
While the former could be arrested and sentenced to death for harbouring an
enemy, the latter (Dr Andrew) was foregoing rest and risking his reputation as
a doctor. He had a disappointing evening with Christine, the girl he loves, but
he puts his personal feelings aside and focuses on the safe delivery of the
child, followed by the resuscitation of the middle-aged mother and the
still-born child. Dr. Sadao is similarly committed to his patient and his
issues. While concentrating on the operation, he forgets everything else. His
servants have defied him by fleeing for sheltering an enemy.
Hana, his wife, is forced to work menial jobs while caring for the patient, and her retching irritates him. He becomes irritable and impatient as a result of her distress and his inability to attend to her, but he does not abandon the man who is under his knife. To sum it up, both doctors have the same amount of zeal, dedication, and effort. Although the risk factor differs in degree, their commitment to humanity's suffering is undeniably the same.
8. Is there any film you have seen or
novel you have read with a similar theme?
Answer:
'Dr Kotnis ki Amar Kahani,' an old Hindi film with a similar theme, comes to
mind. The eminent doctor abandons his practice and travels to the front lines
of the war to care for wounded and ailing soldiers and provide medical
assistance. In carrying out his duties, he spares no effort. He disregards his
own body's needs for sleep, rest, and comfort. His sole motivation is to help
suffering humanity, and in his zeal to bring as many victims back to health as
possible, the doctor suffers from physical and mental exhaustion and eventually
dies. The film, which is based on the life of Florence Nightingale, the lady
with the lamp, also honours a medical professional's spirit of service and
sacrifice. Florence Nightingale elevates the role of a nurse to a high pedestal
through her tireless efforts and dedication to duty.
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