kiddingtown » The Enemy

http://kiddingtow n.com/the-enemy/ March 8, 2011

Sadao was a Japanese surgeon. He studied in America and returned with Hana, a Japanese girl
whom he met there, and married her in Japan and settled down comfortably. While most of the
doctors were sent to serve the Japanese army in the World War II, Sadao was allowed to stay home
because he was wanted by the old General who was dying. But one night into his uneventful life
came an American Navy-man, shot, wounded and dying. Though unwilling to help his enemy, Sadao
took the young soldier into his house and provided him with medical aid. He was in danger from that
moment. Soon his servants left him. Yet the doctor in Sadao saw that the soldier was getting well
and absolutely alright.

Once his patient was no more in need of him, the doctor turned out to be his assassin, conspiring to
kill him in his sleep. He informed the General of the American and the General promised he would
send his private men to kill the American. Sadao awaited the American’s death every morning but
to his gloom the man was still alive, healthier and posing danger to him.

At this point Sadao becomes the real man in him: a true human being who realizes the essential
worth of human life and universal brotherhood. He thinks beyond countries and continents and races
and wars. He finds no reason to believe that the American is his enemy. Sadao rescues the
American.

Why did Sadao wait to fall in love with Hana?

Both Sadao and his wife Hana were Japanese. Sadao met Hana in America where both were
students. Though he was impressed by her, Sadao hesitated to propose to her until he was sure
that Hana was pure in her race because he knew that his father wouldn’t love to have her as his
son’s wife if she were not pure Japanese.

Why was Sadao not sent with Japanese troupes that were in war with America?
Sadao was not sent with the Japanese troupes even when the country was in war. Being a
renowned surgeon, he was highly required by the old general who was under treatment. Also,
Sadao was inventing a new medicine that was supposed to clean wounds entirely.

How patriotic was Sadao’s father?

Sadao’s father lived a perfect Japanese life. He was blind about his country and loved it throughout
his life. He never used anything made in a foreign country. He could not think of a foreign daughter in
law. He wanted his son study abroad so that he could serve Japan for its growth.

What were the servants’ superstitions against keeping the American soldier at Sadao’s home?

The servants didn’t like the American soldier being helped by Sadao and Hana because they were
superstitious. According to them, first the bullet, then the sea and finally the sharp rocks in the sea
tried to kill the soldier but he escaped from all of them. Now, if Sadao helped the man then the bullet,
the sea and the rocks would turn against him and ruin him and his family.

What was Yumi’s excuse for not washing the young American?

Yumi was Sadao’s maid servant, especially in charge of the children. She, like the other servants,
had greatly disliked Sadao’s decision to take care of the American soldier. She equally disliked
washing the man because he was her enemy and she didn’t want to take risk by helping Sadao and
Hana, who she believed, would be arrested by the police.

What were Sadao’s strange habits while performing surgery?

Sadao used to talk to the patients while operating them. When the patient cried or groaned during
the operation, he used talk to him, calling him his friend.

What was the most remarkable instruction of his American professor Sadao had taken into his
heart?

Sadao’s anatomy professor used to remind his students that the biggest crime of a surgeon is his
poor knowledge in human anatomy. If a surgeon operates a patient without perfect knowledge of the
human body, he would be killing the patient.

How did the servants react to Sadao’s act of taking the American soldier into the house?

The servants were from the beginning against Sadao’s idea of taking the American soldier in for
whatever reason, to kill or to treat. They openly expressed their dissatisfaction and made clear that
Sadao should not treat the American because Americans are Japan’s enemies. When they found
that Sadao was not yielding to their wishes, the servants quitted their service at Sadao’s house
amidst great pain of separation.

Why did Sadao plot plans to kill the American?

Sadao was a kind-hearted doctor who valued life and considered saving any life to be his prime
concern. Though for this reason he admitted the American in his home and provided him with all
medical support, Sadao turned out to be plotting plans to kill him because the American was
perfectly cured and therefore the doctor-patient relation was snapped and he was the American’s
enemy.

Sadao was a perfect doctor, a pure patriot and clearheaded human being. Explain.

Sadao’s life was a happy one. He was one of the happiest men in Japan during the war. While most
of the doctors were on board with the troupes, Sadao was allowed to remain home with his family.
He was rich and enjoyed more liberty and privilege because he was the old General’s personal
surgeon. But the entry of the American soldier was going to strip all this happiness off him. Sadao
could easily have ignored the American or handed him over to the police or thrown him back to the
sea. The dedicated doctor in him behaved like a savior for the dying man. In spite of the servants’
protest, he took the man in his house and gave him all the medical aid. He continuously attended to
the man and made sure he was getting better. Once the American was perfectly out of danger, the
doctor in Sadao died and a perfect, patriotic Japanese took birth. Suddenly he became the enemy
and began to plot plans to kill American enemy. He awaited the private killers of the General every
night and grew disappointed in the morning to see that the American was still alive. His nights
became sleepless. Having passed through this disappointing time, Sadao finally shifted to the next
and last of his person; he once again wanted to rescue the American. This time it was not for the fun
of exhibiting his surgical skills, nor to get rid of his enemy. This time he did so because he realized
that the concept of ENEMY was abstract. He broke the barriers of narrow mindedness and became
a universal brother. Thus, Sadao was a perfect doctor, a perfect enemy and a perfect human being.

Did Sadao show the equal degree of honesty in rescuing the American at the end of the story as in
operating him? Give instances.

Sadao was very honest towards rescuing the American soldier. It was not for the sheer pleasure of
showing his surgical skills to a small audience of his wife and servants that Sadao did it. Keeping all
his fears and anxieties, he cured the American for humanitarian reasons. The same degree of
honesty was shown when he rescued him, too. Sadao was not getting rid of a menace. He made
sure that the man really escaped. By providing him with a boat, clothes and food, his favorite torch
light and further instructions in case the food was over, Sadao sent the man into the sea. He was
restless for days concerning the safety of the man wandering in the dark sea and got his peace of
mind only after getting an assurance that the man was really safe.

What does the old general mean by the American sentimentality and the German brutality? What
did he expect from combining both?
The General believed that the Americans were highly emotional and the Germans very brutal.
According to him, a perfect doctor should have both these qualities. The doctor should love the
patient on one side and be brutal towards his physical pains. By combining both these qualities, the
General expected to make a perfect doctor out of a man.