Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 4 – The Enemy (Pearl S Buck) Long question answers

 

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English

Vistas

Chapter 4 – The Enemy

(Pearl S Buck)

Long question answers

 

Q1. Why did Sadao Hoki go to America? What do you learn about his experiences there?
Ans. Sadao's father placed paramount importance on his education. Consequently, at the age of twenty-two, he was dispatched to America to acquire the utmost knowledge in surgery and medicine. He dedicated eight years to his studies before returning to Japan at the age of thirty. By the time his father passed away, Sadao had garnered fame, not merely as a skilled surgeon but also as a reputable scientist.

His time in America was marred by considerable challenges in securing accommodation due to his Japanese heritage. Enduring the pervasive prejudice, living among individuals he deemed inferior, proved a bitter experience. Ultimately, he reluctantly found lodging in the home of an ignorant and unclean elderly woman, whose kindness failed to diminish his repulsion towards her.

Amidst this adversity, there were a few kind souls among his American acquaintances. One of his professors and the professor's wife harbored genuine concern for their handful of foreign students. However, their quarters were notably cramped, the quality of food unsatisfactory, and the professor himself unremarkable in demeanor, while his wife tended towards trivial and incessant chatter.

Q2. What was the dilemma that Sadao faced when he saw a wounded, young white man washed to his doorstep? What solution did his wife, Hana, offer to resolve his (Sadao’s) predicament?
Ans. The young Caucasian man was bleeding from a bullet wound on his lower back, urgently requiring medical attention. Dr. Sadao, a renowned surgeon, possessed the skills to provide aid. However, harboring a white man in their residence risked their arrest. Conversely, turning him over as a prisoner meant certain death. Neither option of returning him to the sea to dispose of him was tenable. Bound by their true humanistic values, they found themselves in a quandary.

Sadao acknowledged the man's American origin as his adversary, admitting that, under normal circumstances, he would have handed him to the authorities. Yet, the man's injury altered the situation. He hesitated, conveying his training as a doctor, highlighting his ethical duty not to let a wounded man perish if he could assist.

Hana proposed bringing the man inside the house, suggesting they inform the servants of their intent to surrender him to the police. She underscored the potential risk to Sadao's professional standing and their family's safety if they didn't turn him in as a prisoner of war. Her arguments assuaged Sadao's reservations, leading them to decide to bring the injured man into their home.

Q3. How did the servants initially react to the presence of a white man in their masters house?
Ans. When Dr. Sadao divulged to the cook and gardener about the wounded young Caucasian man they had ushered into the house, both servants appeared alarmed and perplexed. The superstitious old gardener, visibly irritated, tugged at the few hairs on his upper lip. He forthrightly conveyed to Hana that their master should not tend to the white man's injury, suggesting that the man should meet his demise. He rationalized that the white man had been shot and then harmed by the sea's rocks; healing him might provoke retribution from both the gun and the sea.

Even the maid, Yumi, declined to attend to the man, despite Hana's stern rebuke and insistence that she follow the master's directive. The servants appeared obstinate, and Yumi's passive resistance alarmed Hana. She feared that the servants might misreport the situation. Retaining her composure, Hana explained that their intention was to facilitate the man's surrender as a prisoner of war. However, this rationale failed to sway Yumi, and she adamantly refused to assist the injured white man.

Q4. Write the charactersketch of Hana.

Ans. Hana embodies the complement of her husband, Dr. Sadao Hoki. She seamlessly adapts to his mannerisms and recognizes that saving lives is his paramount mission, often causing him to immerse himself fully in his patients' care, even to the extent of forgetting her existence. Despite years of marriage, their love and affection for each other remain steadfast.

She demonstrates deep care for her husband, ensuring he doesn't endure the cold, foggy February night outside. While somewhat sentimental, she maintains a pragmatic approach. Insightful about her husband's thoughts, she swiftly offers solutions and maintains her composure amid the servants' resistance and defiance. As a devoted and obedient wife, she dutifully carries out her husband's directives, including tending to the wounded white man, administering anesthesia, and providing nourishment.

Her paramount concern lies in safeguarding her husband's safety, status, and reputation. Initially, she tentatively suggests disposing of the man into the sea out of fear of potential misreporting by the servants. Her apprehensions heighten notably when a uniformed messenger arrives from the palace. To allay her fears, Dr. Sadao resolves to find a way to eliminate the white man. In essence, she epitomizes an ideal life partner.

Q5. What impression do you form of Dr Sadao as a man and as a surgeon from your reading of the story ‘The Enemy’?

Or write the charactersketch of Sadao.
Ans. Dr. Sadao Hoki epitomized a true Japanese individual, following in the footsteps of his father. A courageous and obedient youth, he held deep respect for Japanese culture, traditions, and its people. Renowned for his intelligence and diligence, he pursued an extensive eight-year study in surgery and medicine in America. His marriage to Hana, a fellow Japanese he met in America, followed the traditional Japanese arrangement once they returned home, later blessing them with two children. Despite the passage of time, his affection for his wife remained as fervent as ever, maintaining a disciplined routine of returning home at consistent hours.

As an esteemed surgeon and scientist, Dr. Sadao earned the complete trust of the elderly General, who refrained from sending him overseas with the troops due to the potential need for an operation. His dedication to his profession was unwavering, often being summoned at unusual hours from the palace. Driven by his fundamental belief in saving lives, he chose to treat an injured "enemy" rather than surrendering him to the authorities, despite the grave risk this posed to his own safety and reputation.

Facing a dilemma when unable to execute the man himself, he sought assistance from the old General to dispose of the prisoner. However, when this plan failed, he allowed the man to escape, prioritizing calming his wife's fears and ensuring the smooth functioning of their household. While some might perceive this action as a stain from a narrow patriotic perspective, Dr. Sadao, with a sensitive soul, found it impossible to retract a gift once given.

Q6. Under what circumstances did Dr Sadao let the wounded white man escape? Was it lack of national loyalty, professional ego and sentimentality, human consideration or just an attempt to save his skin?

Ans. Hr Sadao had no love for the repulsive Americans and he considered them his enemies. Unfortunately, the sea-waves pushed a wounded white man to his doorstep. He knew that the best possible thing was to throw him back into the sea. He could not handover a wounded ‘enemy’ to police because he would certainly die. Being a doctor, he could save him and not kill him. His efforts to get him removed with the help of the old General’s private assassins did not bear fruit.
He was under a severe strain. His domestic servants had left him. His wife had to do unaccustomed labour and run the household. Moreover, his wife was anxious about his safety. They might be arrested for harbouring an enemy prisoner of war and condemned as traitors.
Dr Sadao let the man escape in the larger interest of professional ethics and human consideration. He rose above narrow national loyalty and sentimentality. He did not think of himself as the General had already assured him that no harm would be caused to him. The matter remained unreported and closed from public eyes and ears. The servants returned after the white man had “left”. Everything became normal again.

Q7. Comment on the role of the old General in the story ‘The Enemy’.

Ans. The old General plays an important role in the story. He is being treated medically for a condition which might need an operation any time. Since he has full faith in Dr Sadao, he is kept back in Japan. Dr Sadao is indispensable to the General. He assures Sadao that nothing will happen to him and he will not be arrested.
The arrival of the messenger rouses Hana’s worst fears. She thinks that police has come to arrest her husband. Dr Sadao gets distressed at her anxiety and decides to get rid of the white man for her sake. When Dr Sadao confides in the General, the latter promises to send two of his private assassins to remove the man from the scene.
The old General has an unsual sense of humour as well as frankness and ability to admit his mistake. Dr Sadao keeps on waiting for three nights for the assassins who fail to turn up. He loses sleep and rest. Finally he lets the white man escape.
When Dr Sadao tells the General that the man has escaped, the General admits that he forgot his promise. He was suffering a great deal and thought of nothing but himself. It was careless of him but not lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty, It is his self-absorption and instinct of preserving himself that saves Dr Sadao and his family from being arrested.

Q8. What was the General’s plan to get rid of the American prisoner ? Was it executed ? What traits of the General’s character are highlighted in the lesson ‘The Enemy’?[All India 2014]

Ans. The General devised a plan to eliminate the American prisoner by dispatching his personal assassins for the task, intending to remove the prisoner's body from Sadao's residence. Regrettably, this scheme failed to materialize; the assassins were not sent, and the plan remained unexecuted.

The General, known for his unconventional humor, forthrightness, and willingness to acknowledge errors, exhibited an uncommon sense of humor. Dr. Sadao, anticipating the assassins' arrival for three consecutive nights, suffered from sleepless nights and restlessness as they failed to appear. Eventually, he made the decision to allow the white man to escape.

Upon informing the General of the man's escape, the General conceded to forgetting his pledge. Acknowledging his lapse as an act of carelessness rather than a lack of patriotism, the General's preoccupation with self-preservation inadvertently shielded Dr. Sadao and his family from potential arrest.

Q9. What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of the man?

Ans. Dr. Sadao had disclosed to the old General that he had performed surgery on a white man. In response, the General pledged to dispatch his clandestine assassins to eliminate the man under the cover of darkness and dispose of his body. Dr. Sadao left the partition of the white man's room ajar, eagerly anticipating action for three consecutive nights. During this time, the servants vacated the house, leaving Dr. Sadao's wife, Hana, to undertake unfamiliar tasks of cooking, cleaning, and attending to the wounded man, causing her considerable anxiety to rid themselves of the man.

Informing the white man, Tom, that he had sufficiently recovered, Dr. Sadao offered to assist in placing his boat ashore that very night. Equipped with provisions and additional clothing, Tom could potentially row to a nearby uninhabited island, unfortified and typically submerged during storms. As the stormy season was not imminent, Tom could reside there until he sighted a passing Korean fishing boat. Dr. Sadao provided Tom with a flashlight, instructing him to signal twice at sunset if in need of assistance. If all was well, a single signal would suffice.

In aiding the man's escape from Japan, Dr. Sadao also managed to rid himself of the man. He clothed Tom in Japanese attire and concealed his blonde hair with a black cloth, facilitating the man's departure while simultaneously ensuring his removal from their lives.