VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY READER) 2. THE ENEMY

VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY READER)

2. THE ENEMY

TEXTUAL SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q.1. Who was Dr Sadao? Where was his house?

Ans:- Dr Sadao was a famous  Japanese surgeon and scientist. His house4 was on a spot of the Japanese coast where as a little boy he had often played. It was set upon rocks. It was well above a narrow beach that was outlined with pine trees.

Q.2.Will Dr Sadao is arrested on the charge of harboring an enemy?

Ans:-Dr Sadao could be arranged on the charge of harboring an enemy. But he was a patriot to the backbone. He did not want to give shelter to the enemy. He merely did his duty as a doctor. He told everything plainly to the old general. He was a renowned and respected citizen of his country. Therefore, the possibility of his arrest was very remote.

Q.3. why does Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself? Or Will Hana helps the wounded man and wash him herself?   (2011)

Ans:- Hana knows her husband perfectly well. She knows that her husband is not helping an enemy but merely doing his duty as a doctor. So she lends him a hand in his work. When Yumi, the maid, refuses to wash the wounded man, Hana washes him herself.

Q.4. What do Dr. Sadao and his wife do with the man?

Ans:- After Dr Sadao has operated on the man, he seems to be out of danger. Now they decide to hand him over to the police. But the man is very weak. So they decide to keep him till he recovers, and then decide what to do with him.

Q.5. What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of the man?

Ans:- Dr.  Sadao tells everything to the general who promises to get the enemy soldier in his house killed. When the general fails to fulfill his promise, he puts the enemy soldier in a boat and asks him to reach a nearby island from where he may be picked up by a Korean boat. Thus, he gets rid of the man who may prove to be dangerous to him any time.

Q.6. Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’ by A.J. Cronin that you read in Snapshots last year? are the similarities ?

Ans:- Both the stories — ‘Birth’ by A.J. Cronin and ‘The Enemy’ by Pearl S. Buck — have the theme. In both the stories, the main character is a doctor who does all he can to save a human life. The common element in both the stories can be summed up in the words of Dr Sadao “I have been trained not to let a man die if I can help it.”

Q.7. Is there any film you have seen or novel you have read with a similar theme?

Ans:- Dil Ek Mandir’ was a film with a similar theme. There the late actor Rajendra Kumar

The role of a doctor who sacrifices his own life to save the life of a man who was his rival

love. He cures his rival of cancer but himself contracts the same disease and dies of it.

EXAMINATION STYLE QUESTION(SHORT-QUESTIONS & ANSWER)

Q. 1. Who was Hana? Where had Sadao met her?

Ans:- Hana was Sadao’s wife. Sadao had met her in America at the house of a professor where some foreign students lived. But he had waited to fall in love with her until he was sure she was Japanese.

Q. 2. How did the foreign students feel at Professor Harley's house?

Ans:- Professor Harley and his wife were kind people. They were anxious to help their few foreign students. But the students felt bored there. The rooms there were very small and the food was also no good. And the professor's wife was very talkative.

Q.3. How did Sadao’s marriage with Hana come to take place?

Ans:- Sadao met Hana in America. He liked her but he waited to fall in love with her. He Wanted to be sure that she was a Japanese. His father was very particular in such matters. Both Sadao and Hana came back to Japan after finishing their studies. Their marriage was arranged in the old Japanese way.

Q.4. What role did the American professor play in bringing Hana and Sadao together?

Ans:- When Sadao went to America for his further studies of surgery and medicine, he stayed there at the house of Mr. Harley who was an American professor. A few other foreign students also lived there. Hana was one of them. Sadao fell in love with her. But he married her only when he was sure that she was a Japanese.

Q. 5. Where did Sadao’s father often take him when he was a little boy? What would he do there?

Ans:- There were some little islands near the Japanese coast. Sadao’s father often took him te islands. There he would point towards the islands and say to the little boy, “Those islands j they are the stepping stones to the future for Japan.”

Q.6. What was the chief concern of Sadao’s father and what did he do for it?

Ans:- Sadao’s education was the chief concern of his father. He never joked or played with the boy. He worried about his education only. When Sadao was twenty-two, he .was sent to to learn all he could of surgery and medicine.

Q.7. What was the dream of Sadao’s father? How did Sadao realize it?

Ans:- Sadao’s father had a dream to see his son as a highly educated man. Sadao realized his dream. He went to America to learn surgery and medicine. He became famous not a surgeon, but as a scientist also.

Q.8. Why was Sadao not sent to the battlefield?

Ans:- Sadao was a famous ‘surgeon and scientist. He was perfecting a discovery that could wounds entirely clean. Moreover, he was treating the old General medically, and he could need an operation also. That was why Sadao was not sent abroad with the

Q.9. How does the writer indicate that Dr Sadao’s father was a very traditional and conventional man?

Ans:-  Like a traditional and conventional person, Sadao’s father did all he could for the education of his son. Even in the marriage of his son, he was very traditional and conventional. He accepted Hana as his daughter-in-law only when he found that she was of the pure Japanese race. He arranged the marriage in the old Japanese way.

Q.10. What did Sadao and Hana see when they were standing at their door one misty night ?

Ans. They saw something black come out of the mists. It was a man. He was flung out of the ocean. A breaker put him to his feet. He staggered a few steps then they fell down on his hands and knees. Then he fell on his face and lay there.

Q.11. In what condition did Dr Sadao find the American soldier on the seashore ?

Ans:- The man was wounded. The sand on one side of him had a stain of blood soaking through.

He lay motionless. His face was in the sand. He was in wet rags. An old cap stuck to his head. Sadao turned the man’s head. He saw that it was a white man.

Q.12. What did Sadao notice about the white man’s wound? How did he step its bleeding?

Ans. Sadao noticed that it was a gun wound that had reopened. The man had been shot some days ago and had not been tended. Now a rock had struck the wound and it had started bleeding. Sadao took some sea moss lying on the beach. He packed the wound with it and thus stopped the bleeding.

Q.13. What did Sadao and his wife want to do with the white man after he had stopped his bleeding? Why ?

Ans:- Japan was at war with America. Thus if Sadao and his wife sheltered the white man in their house, they would be arrested. But if they turned him over as a prisoner, he was sure to be killed. Therefore, they thought the best thing would be to put him back into the sea.

Q.14. How did Sadao conclude that the white man was an American and a prisoner of war who had escaped?

Ans:- Sadao looked at the man’s battered cap. He could read the words ‘U.S. Navy’ on it. Thus it was clear that he was a sailor from an American warship. He had a gunshot in his back. It showed that he was a prisoner of war who had escaped.

Q.15. Hana told Yumi to wash the soldier: How did Yumi react?

Ans:- Yumi refused to wash the soldier. She said that she had never washed a white man. And she said that she would not wash as dirty a man as he was.

Q.16. How did the gardener react when Dr Sadao told him about the wounded American soldier?

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 fated to die and they had no business to save him.

Q.17. Why did the ‘servants leave Dr Sadao’s house?

Ans:-  Dr. Sadao had given an enemy soldier shelter in his house. None of his servants liked it. They

Looked upon all white Americans as their enemies. When they saw that Dr Sadao was not going to hand over the man to the police, they left his house.

Q.18. Who was it that washed the wounded man before the operation?

Ans:- Yumi had refused to wash the white man. After she had gone, Hana herself started doing it. She washed his face and the upper part of his body. But she dared not turn him over. In the meantime, Sadao came in with his surgeon’s bag. With Hana’s help, he turned the man over and washed his back carefully.

Q.19. 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.20. How did the old General offer to help Sadao in’ getting rid of the white man?

OR

What secret plan did the General have about the American sailor staying under the care of Dr Sadao?

Ans:- The General said that he had his private assassins. He would send two of them any night. He said, “They are very capable assassins — they make no noise and they know the trick of inward bleeding. If you like, I can even have them remove the body.”

LONG QUESTIONS

Q.1. Dr. Sadao was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help the soldier. What made Hana, his life, sympathetic to him in the face of open defiance from the domestic staff?

Ans:-  Dr Sadao had been trained as a doctor not to let a man die if he could help it. That is why he feels it his moral duty to help the wounded white man though he is an enemy. His wife also no different from him. She has spent a good part of her life with her husband and loves him deeply. She knows the feelings of her husband and fully cooperates with him in whatever he does. She helps Sadao during the operation and even feeds the man with her own hands. Yet she hates him as an enemy. She hates the very touch of him. She wants him to be handed over to the police. She wants to get rid of him as soon as possible. But she is a soft-hearted woman. She sees the red scars on the man’s neck. She can understand that he has been tortured. She also knows that if he is handed over to the police, he is sure to be killed. Like her husband, she wants to get rid of the man but doesn't know how.

Q.2. Why did Sadao go to America? Narrate his experience there.

Ans:- When Sadao was twenty-two, he was sent to America to learn all he could of surgery and medicine. In America, Sadao lived at the house of an American professor. A few other foreign students also lived there. The rooms there were very small and the food also was no good. Moreover, the professor’s wife was very voluble. But Sadao continued to live there because here he met a Japanese girl named Hana whom he wanted to love if it were at all possible. The two fell in love but did not marry heedlessly in America. Sadao’s father would never have accepted her unless she had been pure in her race. After finishing their studies, they came back to Japan. When Sadao’s father saw Hana, he at once agreed to their marriage. The marriage was arranged in the old Japanese way.

Q.3. Do you think the doctor's final solution to the problem was the best possible in the circumstances?

Ans:- In the very beginning of the story, Sadao agrees with Hana when she says, “The best thing that we could do would be to put him back into the sea.” But he finds that the man is badly wounded. He has a gunshot in his back. As a doctor, he has been trained not to let a man die if he can help it. And this is what he does. He takes the man into his house and does all he can to save his life. At the same time, he never forgets that he is an enemy. He wants to get rid of him as soon as possible. He thinks of handing him over to the police but can't do so. He is certain that they would kill him. He is in a fix what to do. At last, he adopts a course that could be the best under the circumstances. He helps the man to escape in a boat. Thus he gets rid of him without having him killed. Dr. Sadao rises above narrow prejudices and acts in a truly humanitarian manner.

Q.4. Describe the difficulties faced by Dr Sadao when he decided to help the enemy soldier.

Ans:- Dr. Sadao had to face many difficulties as a result of his decision to help the enemy soldier. His maid Yumi refused to wash the soldier. She said that she had never washed a white man. Dr Sadao's wife herself had to wash the soldier. The old gardener said the soldier was fated to die and they had no business to save him. When the servants saw that Dr. Sadao was not going to hand over the man to the police, all of them left his house. Dr Sadao knew that by harbouring the white soldier, he had put himself in a grave danger. He could be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy. Fearing this, he told everything to the General. The General assured the doctor that he would send his private assasins to kill the soldier and Dr. Sadao accepted this offer most unwillingly. He could not sleep for two nights. But when the assasins did not come, he helped the man to get away from there in a boat. In this way, the doctor saved the man’s life after facing many difficulties.

Q.5. Why did Sadao help the American soldier to escape ? How did he do it?

Ans:- Dr. Sadao was a famous Japanese surgeon and scientist. One night, he found a wounded man on the seashore. The man was an American. At that time, Japan was at war with America. But he was so badly wounded that he would certainly die without medical aid. As a doctor, Dr Sadao had been trained not to let a man die if he could help it. And this was what he did. He took the man into his house and did all he could to save his life. When the soldier became quite healthy, Dr Sadao didn’t want to hand him over to the police. He had done so much to save his life that he couldn’t’ let all his labour go vain. Therefore, he helped the man to get away with his boat. He also provided him some food and a flashlight.

Q.6. There are moments in the life when we have to make hard choices between our roles as private individuals and as citizen with a sense of national loyalty. Discuss with reference to the story, “The Enemy”.

Ans:- As private individuals, we have our own ideas. We have our own likes and dislikes. But as citizens of a state, we have a duty to be loyal and law-abiding. But sometimes a conflict arises in our mind. There is one thing want to do as an individual. But our national loyalty demands from us quite the opposite. The choice becomes hard to make on such occasions. This is what happens with Sadao in the story, ‘The Enemy’. As a doctor, he has been trained not to let a man die if he can help it a doctor is not supposed to kill a patient even if the patient happens to be his enemy. But as a loyal CITIZEN OF JAPAN, HE MUST NOT GIVE SHELTER TO AN ENEMY. HE MUST HAND HIM OVER TO THE POLICE AT ONCE. ALL THROUGH the story, Sadao struggles with this he himself admits, “In fact, I do not know why I am doing it.”

Q.7. 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 ?

Ans:- The soldier was an American. He was a prisoner of war who had escaped. He had a gunshot in his back. As a doctor, Sadao felt it his duty to save the man’s life. But when he came to know that the white man was an American enemy, he wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Giving shelter to an enemy soldier could cost him dearly. However, he continued giving him proper treatment and at last the man was almost normal. He was deeply impressed by the way the doctor and his wife had nursed him. He knew his staying there could be a risk to the doctor and himself. Yet he was reluctant to leave the place. He said to Sadao, “If all the Japs were like you, there wouldn't have been a war.” The soldier had become almost certain that the doctor would not hand him over to the police. So he seemed to have left it to the doctor to find a way of his escape from there.

Q.8. What impression do you form about Dr. Sadao as a man and as a surgeon on your reading the story, ‘The Enemy?  OR Write a character-sketch of Dr. Sadao Hoki as depicted in The Enemy”.   2019

Ans:- Dr Sadao: was a very noble human being. He was true to his duty. As a doctor, he had been trained not to let a man die if he could help it. Therefore, he performed an operation on the American who was a prisoner of war who had escaped. He saved the American's life at the risk of his own life. But he was also a loyal citizen of Japan. Therefore, he told the General everything about the American. Since the General forgot all about the American, Dr Sadao himself helped the American to escape from his house. Dr Sadao was also a famous Japanese surgeon and scientist. He was the best surgeon of Japan. Therefore, he was not sent to the battlefield. The General told him, “Evidently, you can save anyone — you are so skilled.”

Q.9. Dr Sadao was a patriotic Japanese as well as a dedicated surgeon. How could he honour both the values?

Ans:- Patriotism means devoted love for one’s country and the willingness to defend it against any harm. And a dedicated surgeon is one who does his best not to let a patient die on whom he performs an operation. On the face of it, there seems nothing very difficult to be patriotic as well as to be a dedicated surgeon. But when the surgeon has an enemy soldier as his patient, it is not easy to keep up the feelings of patriotism at the same time. That Dr Sadao honours both the values is no ordinary feat on his part. He knew that the wounded man he had found on the shore was an enemy soldier. But his duty as a surgeon demanded that he should not let the man die if he could help it. And this is what he did. He took the man into his house and did all he could to save his life. His duty as a patriot demanded that he should inform the police about the presence of the enemy soldier. Accordingly, he told the General everything about the enemy soldier. The General told the surgeon that he would send his private assasins to kill the soldier. Dr Sadao could not sleep for two nights. But when the assasins did not come, he helped the man to get away from there in a boat. Thus Dr Sadao honored both the values of a patriot and of a dedicated surgeon.

Q.10. Dr. Sadao faced a dilemma: Should he use his surgical skills to save the life of a wounded person or hand an escaped American P.O.W. over to the Japanese police? How did he resolve this clash of values?

Ans:- Dr. Sadao is certainly faced with a clash of values. He has with him a wounded person, and it is his duty as a surgeon not to let the man die if he can help it. But at the same time, he knows that the wounded person is an enemy soldier and it becomes his duty to his country to hand the man over to the police. Thus there is a clear clash of values. As a surgeon, he is supposed to save the man, while, as a loyal citizen, he is supposed to have an enemy soldier arrested and punished. Dr Sadao succeeds in resolving this dilemma in a very graceful manner. He does his duty both as a surgeon and as a loyal citizen. He treats the wounded soldier and saves his life. But then he does his duty to his country also. He informs the General of the foreigner’s presence in his house. And when the General fails to do anything about it, the best way out was what Dr Sadao did. He helps the man escape in a boat.

Q 11.What explains the attitude of the ruthless General in the matter of the enemy soldier

Was it human consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self- absorption?

Ans:- The General was a ruthless person. He had private assassins to have anyone killed. He told Sadao that he would send two of them to get rid of the American soldier. But later he says that he forgot his promise. He does not think it was a lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty. Then what was it? I think it was pure selfishness and self-absorption. The General thought of nothing but his own life. He needed Sadao for his operation and didn’t want any trouble should come to him. I don’t think he forgot his promise. He did not want to involve himself in the matter. That is why he says to Sadao, “If the matter should come to light, you would understand that.” In fact, he wanted Sadao to kill the soldier himself and have his body removed. He wanted Sadao to have the German ruthlessness in the case of the soldier but American sentimentality in his own case. He was surely a very self-absorbed person.