NCERT Solution for class 12 -chapter The Enemy , Explanation, Question and answer
The Enemy by
Pearl,s Buck
The Enemy class 12 Introduction to the chapter
japan and America are at war during world war II Dr, Sadao is a japanese surgeon trained in America one day he and his wife, hana find a wounded American solider, Perhaps an escaped prisoner on the beach near his house, sadao and hana are apprehensive about the idea of the solider, being taken care of in their house at the time of war, yet they take him in and sadao risks his honour, career and life by treating the sailor, operating on him and saving the life of the enemy, However being a loyal japanese he reports about the solider to the General of the japanese military the general assures sadao that he would arrange for assassins to eliminate the American solider the general was sick and needed sadao as he was the best surgeon in japan the assassination doesn’t take place and with a sigh of relief, sadao helps the solider escape,
The Enemy class 12 Points to Remember
- Dr, sadao hoki’s house was near the coast in japan
- his father was a great patriot
- Dr, sadao was sent to America to learn surgery and medicine
- Dr, sadao was not sent along with the troupes because the general was under his treatment and needed his services,
- One day Dr, sadao saw an injured young solider
- Dr, sadao brought the white solider inside his house and started treating him which offended the servants and they decided to leave his house
- Dr, sadao and his wife decided to treat the solider in spite of the opposition from the servants,
- Dr, sadao’s wife hana was tensed about the presence of an enemy in her house ,
- Dr, sadao informed the general about his patient who promised to send his assassins to kill him
- Dr, sadao was tensed about the assassination of his patient,
characters The Enemy class 12
- Dr, sadao–japanese surgeon
- Hana--wife of Dr sadao
- yumi and servants–workers
- old general –japaneses Army
- Tom–American Prisoner
Explanations The Enemy class 12
Dr sadao Hoki’s house was built on a spot of the japanese coast where as a little boy he had often played the low square stone house was set upon rocks well above a narrow beach that was outlined with bent pines as a boy sadao had climbed the pines supporting himself on his bare feet, as he had seen men do in the south seas when they climbed for coconuts his father had taken him often to the islands of those
seas and never had he failed to say to the little brave boy at his side, those islands yonder they are the stepping stones to the future for japan” , where shall we step from them?”sadao had asked seriously , who knowns?” his father had answered who can limit our future ?” it depends on what we make it”
sadao had taken this into his mind as he did everything his father said his father who never joked or played with him but who spent infinite pains upon him who was his only son, sadao knew that his education was his father’s chief concern for this reason he had been sent at twenty-two to America to learn all that could be learned of surgery and medicine he had come back at thirty and before his father died he had seen sadao become
Famous not only as a surgery but as a scientist, Because he was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean, he had not been sent abroad with the troops, also he knew there was some slight danger that the old general might need an operation for a condition for which he was now being treated medically and for this possibility sadao was being kept in Japan,
Clouds were rising from the ocean now the unexpected warmth of the past few days had at night drawn heavy fog from the cold waves, sadao watched mists hide outlines of a little island near the shore and then come creeping up the beach below the house wreathing around, the pines In a few minutes fog would be wrapped about the house too then he would go into the room where hana his wife ,
would be waiting for him with the two children but at this moment the door opened and she looked out, a dark blue woollen haori” over her kimono, she came to him affectionately and put her arm through his as he stood, smiled and said nothing he had met hana in America but he had waited to fall in love with her until he
was sure she was japanese, his father would never have recieved her unless she had been pure in her race, he wondered often whom he would have married if he had not met hana and by what luck he had found her in the most casual, way by chance literally at american professor’s house, the professor and his wife had been kind people anxious to do something for their few foreign students, and the students though bored, had accepted this kindness, sadao had often told hana how nearly he had not gone to professor harley’s house that night–the rooms
The Enemy class 12
were so small, the food so bad the professor’s wife so voluble but he had gone and there he had found hana, a new student and had felt he would love her if it were at all possible ,Now he felt her hand on his arm and was aware of the pleasure it gave, him even though they had been married years, enough to have the two children , for they had not married heedlessly in America, they had finished their work at a school and had come home to japan, and when his father had been her the marriage had been arranged In the old japanese way although sadao hana had talked everything over beforehand, they were perfectly happy she laid her cheek against his arm,
It was at this moment that both of them saw something black come out of the mists, it was a man he was flung up out of the ocean –flung it seemed to his feet by a breaker he staggered a few steps, his body outlined against the mist his arms above his head , then the curled mists hid him again, who is that?” hana cried she dropped sadao’s arm and they both leaned over the railing of the veranda, now they saw him again the man was on his hands and knees crawling, then they saw him fall on his face and lie there, A fisherman perhaps sadao said”: washed from his boat he ran quickly down the steps and behind him,
Hana came her wide sleeves flying A mile or two away on either side there were fishing villages, but here was only the bare and lonely coast, dangerous with rocks the surf beyond the beach was spiked with rocks somehow the man had managed to come through them —he must be badly torn ,
They saw when they came toward him that indeed it was so the sand on one side of him had already a stain of red soaking through, he is wounded sadao exclaimed he made haste to the man who lay motionless his face in the sand an old cap stuck to his head soaked with sea water, he was in wet rags of garments sadao, stopped hana at his side and turned the man’s head they saw the face,
A white man! hana whispered yes, it was a white man the wet cap fell away and there was his wet yellow har, long as though for many weeks it had not been cut, and upon his young and torured face was a rough yellow beard, he was unconscious and knew nothing that they did for him, Now sadao remembered the wound and with his expert finfers he began to search for it blood flowed freshly at his touch, on the right side of his lower back sadao saw that a gun wound had been reopened the flesh was blackened with powder sometime not many days ago, the man had been shot and had not been tended it was bad chance that the rock had struck the wound,
The Enemy class 12
Oh” how he is bleeding! hana whispered again in a solemn voice the mists screened them now compeltely and at this time of day no one came by the fishermen had gone home and even the chance beachombers would have considered the day at an end, what” shall we do with this man?” sadao muttered but his trained hands seemed of their own will to be doing what they could to stanch the fearful bleeding he packed,
The wound with the sea moss that strewed the beach the man moaned with pain in his stupor but he did not awaken the best thing that we could do would be to put him back in the sea,” sadao said answering himself now that the bleeding was stopped for the moment he stood up and dusted the sand from his hands,
yes” undoubtedly that would be best hana said steadily but she continued to stare down at the motionless man “if we sheltered a white man in our house we should be arrested and if we turned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die, sadao said the kindest thing would be to put him back into the sea” hana said but neither of them moved they were staring with a curious repulsion upon the inert figure,” what ” is he?” hana whispered
there is something about him that looks American,” sadao said he took up the battered cap yes there almost gone was the faint lettering A sailor” he said from an American warship” he spelled it out ,” U.S. Navy the man was a prisoner of war! he has escaped hana cried softly and that is why he is wounded ” In the back sadao’ agreed they hesitated looking at each other then hana said with resolution
come are we able to put him back into the sea?” if I am able are you?” sadao asked No” hana said but if you cam do it alone ,, sadao hesitated again the strange thing is he said that if the man were whole I could turn him over to the police without difficulty I care nothing for him he is my enemy all Americans are my enemy and he is only a common fellow you see how foolish his face is but since he is wounded …
you also cannot throw him back to the sea hana said then there is only one thing to do we must carry but the servants?” sadao inquired we must simply tell them that we intend to give him to the police as indeed we must sadao we must think of the children and your position it would endanger all of us if we did not give this man over as a prisoner of war, certainly sadao agreed I would not think of doing anything else,:
Thus agreed together they lifted the man he was very light like a fowl that had been half-starved for a long time until it is only feathers and skeleton so his arms hanging they carried him up the steps and into a passage and down the passage they carried the man towards an empty bedroom it had been the bedroom of sadao’s father and since his dead it had not been used they laid the man on the deeply matted floor everything here had been japanese to please the old man, who would never in his own home sit on a chair or sleep in a foreign bed hana went to the wall
cupboards and slid back a door and took out a soft quilt she hesitated the quilt was covered with flowered silk and the lining was pure white silk he is so dirty she murmured in distess yes he had better be washed sadao agreed if you will fetch hot water I will wash him ,” I cannot bear for you to touch him she said we,” shall have to tell the servants he is here I will tell yumi
Now she can leave the children for a few minutes and she can wash him “; sadao considered a moment “let it be so he agreed you tell yumi and i will tell the others ” but the utter pallor of the man’s unconscious face moved him first to stoop and feel his pulse it was faint but it was there he put his hand against the man’s cold breast the heart too was yet alive he will die unless he is operated on sadao said considering ” the question is whether he will not die anyway”
Hana cried out in fear Don’t try to save him! what if he should live?” what if he should die”? sadao replied he stood gazing down on the motionless man this man must have extraordinary vitality or he would have been dead by now but then he was very young perhaps not yet twenty five, You mean die from the operations?” hana asked yes sadao said
Hana considered this doubtfully and when she did not answer sadao turned away at any rate something must be done with him he said and first he must be washed he went quickly out of the room and hana came behind him she did not wish to be left alone with the white man, he was first she had seen since she left America and now he seemed to have nothing to do with those whom she had known there here he was her enemy a menace living or dead,
she turned to the nursery and called Yumi! but the children heard her voice and she had to go in for a moment and smile at them and play with the baby boy, now nearly three months old over the baby’s soft black hair she motioned with her mouth, Yumi–come with me! I will put the baby to bed ” yumi replied he is ready” she went with yumi into the bedroom next to the nursery and stood with the boy in her arms while yumi spread the sleeping quits on the floor and laid the baby between them,
Then hana led the way quickly and softly to the kitchen the two servants were frightened at what their master had just told them the old gardener who what their master had just told them the old gardener who was also a house servants pulled the few hairs on his upper lip the master ought not to heal the wound of this white man” he said bluntly to hana the white man ought to die, first he was shot then the sea caught him and wounded him with her rocks if the master heals what the gun did and what the sea did they will take will take revenge on us”
The Enemy class 12
I will tell him what you say hana replied courteously but she herself was also frightened although she was not superstitious as the old man was could it ever be well to help an enemy?” Nevertheless she yumi to fetch the hot water and bring it to the room where the white man was
she went ahead and slid back the partitions sadao was not yet there yumi following put down her wooden bucket then she went over to the white man when she saw him her thick lips folded themselves into stubornness I have never washed a white man she did said and I will not wash so dirty a one now, hana cried at her severely you will do what your master commands you!”
there was so fierce a look of resistance upon yumi’s round dull face that hana felt unreasonably afraid after all if the servants should report something that was not as it happened?” very well she said with dignity you understand we only want to bring him to his senses so that we can turn him over as a prisoner?” I will have nothing to do with it yumi said I am a poor person and it is not my business ,”
then please hana said gently return to your own work ” At once yumi left the room but this left hana with the white man alone she might have been too afraid to stay had not her anger at yumi’s stubbornness now sustained her stupid yumi she muttered fiercely is this anything but a man?” In the conviction of her own superiority she bent impulsively and untied the knotted rugs that kept the white man covered when she had his breast bare she dipped the small clean towel that yumi had brought into the steaming hot water and washed his face carefully the man’s skin though rough with exposure was of a fine texture and must have been very blond when he was a child
The Enemy class 12
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 saw that he had brought his surgeon’s emergency bag and that he wore his surgeon’s cost, 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 towel he said she went obediently but how anxious now to the linen shelves and took out the towel there ought also 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 ,
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, 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 surgen’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 is not too deep it may be that I can get the bullet but the bleeding is not sperficial he has lost much blood
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 foregotten 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,
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 know why I am doing, it
The Enemy class 12
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 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”,
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 suffering of prisoners were true they came like flickers of rumour told. by word of mouth and always contradicted In the newspapers the report 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 mentined 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?”
The Enemy class 12
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 kindly 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 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” 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 patient and so now he did forgetting that this was his enemy then quickly with the cleanest and most precise of Incision the bullet was out the man quivered but he was still unconscious nevertheless he muttered
Important Notes of the chapter The Enemy class 12
- Dr sadao hoki’s house was built on the japanese coast
- his father never joked or played with him
- sadao knew that his education was his father;s main concern
- for this Reason he had sent him America at twenty two to learn surgery and medicine
- He came back at thirty
- sadao became a famous surgeon before his father died
- sadao had met hana In America but didn’t fall in love with her until he was sure she was japanese
- his father would never have accepted her unless she had been pure in her Race
- sadao met her at an American professor;s house
- they came home to japan
- their marriage had been Arranged In the old japanese way they were perfectly happy and had two children
- both they saw a man crawling on his hands and knees
- then they saw him fall on his face and lie there
- the man was wounded and was a white man with Rough yellow beard
- On the right side of his lower back sadao saw that A gun wound had Reopened
- he was bleeding
- he packed the wound with the sea moss
- the man cried but didn’t Awaken
- they Read the faint letters on his cap :U:S Navy
- The American was A prisoner of was
- if they sheltered the white man in their house they would be Arrested
Question and answers The Enemy class 12
Question:1 why did the general overlook the matter of the enemy soldier?
Answer: The general had an attack and according to Dr, sadao he could he could not survive the second attack so if Dr, sadao was arrested no other doctor was capable of performing the operation so for furthering his selfish needs he overlooked the matter and promised to send his assassins but he was so self-absorbed he forgot about it
Question:2 why was Dr, sadao not sent with the troops?
Answer: the general thought that Dr, sadao was indispensable to his life and could can save anyone as he was very skilled, he also does not trust anyone except Dr, sadao so he was not sent with troops,
Question:3 how was the plan of the patient’s escape executed in the story?
Answer: The prisoner was successful in his escape only because of the right guidance and help from Dr, sadao he provided him his boat gave him food made him wear japanese clothes and also helped him to comfortably sail to a nearby island ,
Question:4 why did the servants leave Dr, sadao’s house?
Answer: they were not in favour of keeping the American prisoner hidden in the house they also did not want Dr sadao to save his life as he was the enemy also if the police came to know of it all their lives would be in danger so they left the house ,
Question:5 how did hana help Dr, sadao?
Answer: hana was very helpful while the operation was on she dipped a small clean towel into the steaming hot water washed the face of the soldier herself she was requested to give the anesthetic if needed with the help of instruments from his emergency bag sadao made a clean and precise incision the bullet was out and the doctor declared that the man would live,
MCQ’s Question and answer The Enemy class 12
Question;1 who is the author of the lesson the enemy?
- william Douglas
- Pearl s buck
- Anees jung
- colin Dexter
Answer: (2) Pearl s buck
Question:2 who did Dr sadao and hana think was swept Ashore?
- A soldier
- A fisherman
- A Terrorist
- None of these
Answer:(2) A fisherman
Question:3 who was Dr, sadao ?
- American Doctor
- japanese Doctor
- German Doctor
- None of these
Answer:(2) japanese Doctor
Question;4 where was the woud mark on the prisoner’s body
- left side of his lower back
- Right side of his lower back
- A and B both
- None of these
Answer:(2) Right side of his lower back
Question:5 what were the words written on the Battered cap?
- Indian Navy
- U.S Navy
- U.S Army
- None of these
Answer:(2) U.S Navy
Question:6 what did Dr give to the soldier?
- His Boat
- food
- Flashlight
- All of these
Answer:(4) All of these
Question:7 why did the general want to keep Dr sadao In japan?
- he could save the general
- he was patriot
- he was his close friend
- he had always lived there
Answer: (1) he could save the general
Question:8 why did Dr sadao go to America?
- For Graduation
- For Engineering
- To study surgery and medicine
- None of these
Answer: (3) To study surgery and medicine
Question:9 why did Dr sadao hesitate before Giving the Prisoner A flashlight?
- The flashlight could break
- the flash could be seen
- the flashlight could be lost
- None of these
Answer:(2) The flash could be seen