Read-and-Find-Out Questions
1. Who was Dr Sadao? Where was his house?
Ans. Dr Sadao Hoki was an eminent Japanese surgeon and scientist who was working on a discovery which would tender wounds entirely clean. His house was on the Japanese coast. The low, square stone house was set upon rocks well above the narrow beach.
2. Will Dr Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?
Ans. No, Dr Sadao will not be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy because Dr Sadao is such a competent surgeon that the General relies only on him for his ailment.
3. Will Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself?
 Ans. Initially, Hana hesitates to help a war prisoner. But finally her inherent compassion and humanity will make her agree to help the wounded man and she would wash him herself.
4. What will Dr Sadao and his wife do with the man?
Ans. Dr Sadao will operate upon the man and save his life. His wife Hana will support and help Dr Sadao treat the American. She would wash him and would give him anaesthesia during the operation and would look after him.
5. What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of the man?
 Ans. Dr Sadao will instruct the man to go to a nearby unguarded island. He will give him a boat, a flashlight, food and water. He will ask him to escape in a Korean boat.
Reading with Insight
6. 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 ‘The Enemy’.
Ans. No doubt 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. Dr Sadao faced a similar dilemma when he found the young American soldier on the shore at the threshold of his house. He was caught between the spirit of patriotism and medical ethics. He didn’t want to be a traitor and protect an enemy but at the same time as a doctor, he didn’t want the man to die. It had been a hard choice for him. But Dr Sadao finally chose to treat the dying man and save his life. He showcases the spirit of humanity and professional ethics.
7. 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?
Ans. Hana initially was not very comfortable in saving the American. Though she had brought this man to her house, she was not very sympathetic. But when the domestic help openly defied her and refused to wash the American, Hana in a connection of her own superiority, washed the Whitman herself. In fact, she had immense faith in humanity and gradually became sympathetic to the American.
8. How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s home even when he knew he could not stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
Ans. The American soldier was reluctant to leave the shelter of the doctor’s house because he felt safe and secure there. Moreover, he was afraid of being caught again if he were to step out of the house.
9. 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?
Ans. The General is so much self-absorbed that he cannot think of anything else. He promised Dr Sadao to send the assassins but forgot as he was busy in issues relating to his own health. Moreover, he kept all this as a secret and saved Dr Sadao only for himself because he knew that no one else except for Dr Sadao could treat him.
10. While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during wartime, what makes a human being rise above the narrow prejudices?
Ans. It is the faith in humanity and devotion to one’s profession that makes a human being rise above the narrow prejudices. Dr Sadao was an expert surgeon and could not leave a patient untreated. It was his professional ethics as well as his human nature which made him rise above narrow prejudices in the name of colour, caste and creed.
11. Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?Â
Ans. There’s no doubt that there could be no better solution than the one that Dr Sadao found. Initially, he told the truth to the General and waited three nights for the assassins. Finally, he let the prisoner go away but told the General that he had escaped.
