NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 3 The Enemy

The Enemy NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 3

The Enemy NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

The Enemy Read and Find out

Question 1.
It is the time of the World War. An American prisoner of war is washed ashore in a dying state and is found at the doorstep of a Japanese doctor. Should he save him as a doctor or hand him over to the army as a patriot ?
Answer:
I think the Japanese doctor should try his best to save the life as the dying man, whosoever he might be. A doctor’s duty is to try his best to save the life of a human being. The doctor are trained for this and they are under oath also to do so. Moreover, the Japanese doctor did not deliberately go to treat the dying man.

Rather he is found by him at his doorstep. If he hand over the man to the army, the man will must certainly die. A doctor’s conscience can never allow him to do so. So I think that the Japanese doctor should treat the dying man and if he is saved them later on he could be handed over to the army. That way he would be doing a doctor’s duty as well as the duty of a patriot.

The Enemy Read and find out (Page 24)

Question 1.
Who was Dr. Sadao ? Where was his house ?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao Hoki was a Japanese. He was sent to America, when he was twenty- two, to learn all that could be learned of surgery and medicine. He had come back to Japan at thirty. He became famous not only as a surgeon but as a scientist also. He was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean. Dr. Sadao’s house was built on a spot of the Japanese coast whereas a little boy he had often played. The low, square store house was set upon rocks well above a narrow beach that was outlined with bent pines.

The Enemy Read and find out (Page 27) 

Question 1.
Will Dr. Sadao take the man in and save him ?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao and Hana saw a man on his hand and knees crawling from the verandah of their house. Sadao thought that he was perhaps a fisherman who was washed from his boat. He ran quickly down the steps and Hana followed him. They come toward him and found him wounded. The man lay motionless with his face in the sand. An old cap stuck to his head soaked with sea water. He was in wet rags of garments. Sadao turned the man’s head and they saw the face.

Hana whispered that it was a white man. From the white man’s cap, Sadao found that he was U.S. Navy’s sailor and thus was a prisoner of war. He had escaped and that is why he was wounded in the back. Hana said that the kindest thing would be to put him back into the sea. Dr. Sadao said that if the white man would not have been wounded, he could have turned him over to the police without difficulty.

He said that he cared nothing for the white man because he was an American and all Americans were his enemies. Then Hana said to Sadao that he also couldnot throw him back to the sea. So there was only one thing to do, that is, to carry him into the house. This Dr. Sadao decided to take the man in and save him.

The Enemy Read and find out (Page 31)

Question 1.
Will Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself ?
Answer:
When the white man was found wounded near Dr. Sadao’s house, they carried the man towards an empty bedroom, which had been his father’s bedroom. They laid the man on the deeply matted floor. Sadao said that he had better be washed. Sadao said that he would wash him.

But Hana said that they would have to tell the servants that he was there. She said that her servant Yumi would wash him. Hana brought her servant Yumi to the room where the white man was bying. When Hana asked her to wash him, Yumi firmly said that she would have nothing to do with him. So she did not wash him. Thus reluctantly and unwillingly. Hana had to wash the white man until his upper body was quite clean.

The Enemy Read and find out (Page 35)

Question 1.
What will Dr. Sadao and his wife do with the man ?
Answer:
The white man was lying unconscious on the deeply matted floor of the empty room in Dr. Sadao’s house. Dr. Sadao came there with his Surgeon’s emergency bag and wearing his surgeon’s coat. Hana cried and said if he had decided to operate, Sadao simply said yes. He unfolded a sterilised towel upon the floor and put his instruments upon it. He asked Hana to fetch towels and help him to turn the wounded man.

Then he began to wash the man’s back carefully. Dr. Sadao told Hana that she would have to give the anaesthetic if he needs it. When he took out the packing the blood from the man’s wound began to flow more quickly. He found out that the bullet was still there in the wound. Dr. Sadao thought there was no reason why this man should live. But if he stopped now, the man would surely die. Sadao felt the tip of his instrument strike against something hard, dangerously near the kidney.

He took the bullet out. The man vibrated but he was still unconscious. He found his pulse so faint and so feeble. He (old Hana that no more anaesthetic was required. He dressed his wound and injected him on the. patient’s left arm. He felt the pulse that grew stronger. Thus doing his duty as a doctor, Dr: Sadao saved the life of that man, even though he considered him as his enemy.

The Enemy Read and find out (Page 39)

Question 1.
Will Dr. Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy ?
Answer:
Seven days, after the white American was brought to the house of Dr. Sadao, Hana saw a messenger came to the door in official uniform. She thought that the servans must have already told. But the messenger said that Sadao should come to the palace as the General was in pain again. After the messenger had gone away, Hana told Dr. Sadao that she thought they had come to arrest him. Sadao said that somehow he must get rid of the young man.

Dr. Sadao told the General about the young man. He said that he cared nothing for the man. The General said that Dr. Sadao couldn’t be arrested because he might be needed for his operation. The General told Dr. Sadao that it was very unfortunate that this man should have washed up to his doorstep.

Then the General said that it would be best if the young American was quietly killed. He said that he had his own private assassins, who would kill him tonight or any night. He told Sadao that he should leave the outer partition of the white man’s room open. Sadao said that it was left open every night. Thus Dr. Sadao was not arrested because he might have been needed for the treatment of the old General.

The Enemy Read and find out (Page 39)

Question 1.
What will Dr. Sadao do to get rid of the man ?
Answer:
The General had told Sadao that his private assassins would kill the young American. Dr. Sadao desperately wanted to get rid of the young American, who was an escaped prisoner of war. Dr. Sadao waited for many days, but no assassin came to his house for this purpose. So Dr. Sadao told the young American that he was so well that if he (Dr. Sadao) put his boat on the shore tonight, with food and extra clothing in it, he might be able to row to that little island not far from the coast. Sadao told him that nobody lives on that island because in storm it sinks under the surface of water. He could live there until he would see a Korean fishing boat pass by.

They used pass quite near the island. As soon as it was dark, Sadao had dragged the boat down to the shore. He put in it food and bottle water along with two quilts. He tied the boat to a post. Sadao got him dressed in Japanese clothes and wrapped a black cloth ahout his blonde head. The young man walked toward the shore. This is how he got rid of the young American boy.

The Enemy Reading with insight

Question 1.
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 you have just read.
Answer:
Sometimes we come across some moments in life when we are compelled to make hard choices between our roles as private individuals and as citizens with a sense of national loyalty. For instance, in the story ‘The Enemy’ Dr. Sadao and his wife Hana saw a man on his hand and knees crawling, from the verandah of their house. Sadao thought that he was perhaps a fisherman who was washed from his boat.

They came toward the man motionless with his face in the sand. An old cap stuck to his head soaked with sea water. Sadao turned the man’s head and they saw the face. They found that he was a white man. From his cap, Sadao found that he was U.S. Navy’s sailor and thus was an American prisoner of war. It was the time of the World War and America was an enemy country. The man had escaped and that is why he was wounded in the back.

Now the problem with Dr. Sadao was what to do with the man. He hated him because he belonged to an enemy country. His national loyalty demanded that the young American should be handed over to the police. Dr. Sadao also thought of throwing the man back into the sea. Dr. Sadao was a distinguished and famous surgeon. He had a tough choice.

If he turned over the wounded man over to police as a prisoner, he’ would certainly die. As a doctor, he was trained to save a human being’s life as far as he could. Dr. Sadao cared nothing for the white man because he was an American and all Americans were his enemies. Whether he should hand over the man to the police and let him be killed or as a doctor’s duty, he should save that wounded and dying human being.

Question 2.
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 definance from the domestic staff ?
Answer:
A wounded and unconscious young American prisoner of war was found outside their house. Dr. Sadao and his wife Hana were puzzled as to what they should do with him. Firstly, they thought of throwing him back into the sea. But Hana continued to stare down at the motionless man. Their dilemma was that if they sheltered a white man in their house they would be arrested; and if they turned him over to police as a prisoner, he would certainly die.

Hana said that the kindest thing would be to put him back into the sea. But neither of them moved. They were staring with a “curious repulsion” upon the motionaless figure. Hana said to her hushand that if the man couldn’t be handed to the police because he was fatally wound nor they could throw him back to the sea, then there was only one thing to do.

They must carry him into the house. She said that they must simply tell to the servants that they intend to give him to the police, as indeed they must. Thus they had both agreed, on humanitarian ground, to take the wounded man to their home.

When her servant Yumi refused to wash the white man, Hana decided to wash the man herself, whom she considered “a wounded helpless man”. She, of course, did not do so because she had any sympathy for him. She was just helping her husband who as a doctor would not possibly let a human being die if he could help him.

Being a kind-hearted woman she thought of him as a wounded helpless human being first though he was an enemy of whom she wanted to get rid of. If at all she was sympathetic or kind-hearted, she had such feelings for him as a human being who would die if he is not treated and not as an American prisoner of war. That is why she did what she thought was right despite the open defiance from all of her servants.

Question 3.
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 ?
Answer:
Despite the fact that Dr. Sadao hated the young American prisoner of war, yet as a doctor’s conscience provoked him, he treated him and thus saved his life. His wife Hana washed him herself and served him herself as no servant was prepared to enter his room. The white mem was surprised to hear Hana tell him in English not to be afraid when he regained his senses. She told him that she was for a long time in America. Though Sadao and Hana hated him, yet they treated him as a human being who was wounded and helpless.

The young man also must be aware that though the servants had left the house because of him, yet the kind-hearted couple did not let him die. Though Dr. Sadao did not hide his hatred for the prisoner of war, yet as a patient he treated him with all sincerity and dedication.

Dr. Sadao had told about the prisoner of war to the old General to whom he was treating. The General told him that he would be sending private assassins to kill the young man. But after waiting for a few days, Dr. Sadao thought of a plan to get rid of the young American boy. So he told the young American that he was so well that if he (Dr. Sadao) put his boat on the shore tonight, with food and extra clothing in it, he might be able to row to that little island not far from the coast, where nobody lived.

He could live there until he would see a Korean fishing boat pass by. The young man stared at him and asked “Do I have to ?” It shows his reluctance to leave the shelter of the doctor’s home. Dr. Sadao said that he will have to leave as it is not hidden that he was there in the house. The young man must be feeling grateful for Dr. Sadao and Hana’s kind-heartedness. Moreover, he might be afraid V of the cruel treatment which he could undergo. That is why he was reluctant.

Question 4.
What explains the attitude of the General in the matter of enemy soldier ? Was it human consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self-absorption ?
Answer:
A messenger came to Dr. Sadao’s house and said that Dr. Sadao should come to the palace as the General was in pain again. Dr. Sadao told the General about the young man and said that he cared nothing for the man. The General said that Dr. Sadao could not be arrested because he might be needed for his operation. The General told Dr. Sadao that it was very unfortunate that this man should have washed up on his doorstep.

Then the ; General said that it would be best if the young American was quietly killed. He said that he had his own private assassins who would kill him tonight or any night. He told Sadao that he should leave the outer partition of the white man’s room open for this purpose. Sadao said that it is left open every night. But the assassins promised by the old General did not come.

Dr. Sadao wanted to get rid of the young American boy. So he arranged for his escape. But he told the General that the young man had escaped. The General had grown quite weak because he had been operated upon a week ago. It was an emergency operation to which Sadao had been called in the night.

The General said that he had promised Dr Sadao that he would kill the young American. The General admitted that it was certainly very careless of him. He told Dr. Sadao that he should understand that it was not lack of patriotism or negligence of duty. But the General said that he was suffering to a great extent. He admitted the truth that he thought of nothing but himself. As such I think it was due to his self- absorption.

Question 5.
While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during wartime, what makes a human being rise above narrow prejudices ?
Or
Individuals who belong to energy countries tend to hate each other even if they don’t know each other personally. At times it is seen that some of them rise above such prejudices. What makes a human being do so ?
Answer:
Though all human beings come from the same stock, yet by the passage of time they are divided into the narrow walls of nation, religion, caste and creed. When organised wars started, more and more deadly weapons were used and the feeling of animosity grew stranger.

Gradually hatred with the enemy country became an accepted feeling and it was considered to be justifiable. This feeling of justifying the hatred grew stronger during wartime. Now hatred against a member of the enemy race is considered totally justifiably, more so during war time. That is why the prisoners of war are treated in such an inhuman way.

But still we find a few exceptional human beings who rise above these narrow prejudices. Survival of humanity and of human beings is of paramount importance to them. Still we can find a large number of people in the whole world those not only want to safeguard human values but they are against wars also.

They feel that possession of deadly atomic weapons can totally destroy the world. That is why Dr. Sadao despite being deadly against the prisoner of war, who belonged to an enemy country, treats him and saves his life. His medical profession had trained him to save the life of a human being, as far as he could do so. This bond of humanity makes a human being rise above the narrow prejudices.

Question 6.
Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances ?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao found by chance a very badly wounded young American prisoner of war in front of his house. Firstly, he thought of throwing him back into the sea because he could be arrested for giving shelter to a prisoner of war. Then he thought that if he would hand over him to the police, the wounded young man would definitely die. His medical training did not allow him to let a man die if he could save his life. So he brought him home, operated upon him and thus saved his life.

But for this Dr. Sadao had to undergo hardships. His servants left him. He was always in danger of being arrested. He was treating the old General. He told the General about the circumstances under which he had to treat the young man. Dr. Sadao said that he did not care at all for the man. The General told him that he would send his private assassins to Dr. Sadao’s house to kill the man quietly.

Dr. Sadao waited for so many days, but the assassins did not come. Dr. Sadao desperately wanted to get rid of the young American. So he arranged a boat for him to escape to a secluded island. I think the doctor’s final solution was the best possible are under the circumstances.

Question 7.
Does the story remind you of “Birth” by A.J. Cronin that you read in Snapshots last year ? What are the similarities ?
Answer:
The story ‘The Enemy’ reminds us of another story ‘Birth’ by A.J. Cronin. In the story ‘The Enemy’ we find how a distinguished doctor of Japan Dr. Sadao saves the life of a young American boy, though he is a prisoner of war. Dr. Sadao brings the young man to his house, performs operation and takes out the bullet from his body. Gradually the young boy recovers. Thus his life is saved by Dr. Sadao, otherwise he was sure to die.

In the story ‘Birth’ we find how Dr. Andrew Manson, fresh from Medical college, saved two lives—as Susan Morgan and her new born baby. Dr. Andrew Manson was in low spirits because his girl friend Christine had ditched him. It was midnight when Joe, the husband of Susan met Andrew Manson. But he readily accompanied Joe to his house. Susan was going to deliver a baby. Her mother and a midwife were attending on her.

Andrew had to wait till 5 am. The male-child was born. It was well-formed but stillborn. The mother was also sinking. He first revived the mother. Then he lifted the stillborn baby. He gave it a cold and steam bath. He tried hard to revive it. With his persistent efforts, the child gave out a cry. Thus in both the stories human lives were saved by two doctors. Both Dr. Sadao and Dr. Andrew Manson did so irrespective of their stressed mental condition.

Question 8.
Is there any film you have seen or novel you have read with a similar theme ?
Answer:
The theme of the story ‘The Enemy’ is that whether a doctor should try to save the life of a person irrespective of the fact that he is wanted by the law or belongs to an enemy country. This dilemma was faced by Dr. Sadao who had to take a hard decision whether he should hand over a seriously wounded prisoner of war to the police as a patriot or he should try to save his life as a doctor.

Dr. Sadao thinks that as a doctor he was trained to try to save the life of a human being as far as he could. So despite the danger of being arrested, he brings the young escaped prisoner of war to his house and operated upon him. Thus the life of the young American boy is saved.

Similarly in the Hindi Bollywood film ‘Achanak’, a criminal wanted by law comes to the clinic of a doctor. If the doctor hands over the criminal to the police, he was sure to die. So he decides to treat him to save his life. He is successful in doing so. But the law takes its own course when he is under police custody.

The Enemy Extra Questions and Answers

The Enemy Extra Questions Short Answer Type (30-40 words)

Question 1.
What did Sadao’s father tell him about the islands of South Seas ?
Answer:
Sadao’s father had taken him quite often to the islands of South Seas. He would always say to his little boy Sadao that those islands there, they are the stepping stones to the future for Japan.

Question 2.
What was Sadao’s father’s chief concern ?
Answer:
Sadao was the only son of his parents. Sadao’s education was his father’s chief concern. For this reason Sadao had been sent to America, when he was twenty-two, to learn that could be learned of surgery and medicine.

Question 3.
How was Sadao married to Hana ?
Answer:
Sadao had met Hana in America and fell in love with her after knowing that she was a Japanese. After their studies, they came back to Japan. With the approval of Sadao’s father, their marriage was arranged in the old Japanese way.

Question 4.
How did Dr. Sadao come to know that the wounded young man was an American and a prisoner of war ?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao felt that the wounded young man looked like an American. From his cap where ‘U. S. Navy’ was inscribed, it was confirmed that he was a sailor from an American warship and a prisoner of war.

Question 5.
How was the wounded young man got washed ?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao wanted that the wounded young man should be washed first. He ‘ himself wanted to wash him but Hana said that Yumi would do so. When Yunmi did not wash him, Hana and later on Sadao got him washed.

Question 6.
Why were the servants crying when they left Dr. Sadao’s house ?
Answer:
Because of the prisoner of war being kept in the house, the servants had decided i to leave Dr. Sadao’s house. But they were crying. The cook and the gardener did so because they had served Sadao since he was a little boy in his father’s house. Yumi cried because of the children.

Question 7.
What did Hana think when she saw a messenger come to the door in the official uniform ?
Answer:
When Hana saw a messenger at the door in the official uniform, she thought that perhaps the servants had told about the American prisoner of war. She heaved a sigh of relief when the messenger told Dr. Sadao that he was needed because the General was in pain again.

Question 8.
What did the General suggest Dr. Sadao to get rid of the young American ?
Answer:
The General suggested Dr. Sadao that it would be best if the escaped prisoner of war could be quietly killed. He said that he had his own private assassins, who could be sent to Sadao’s house, kill him, and remove his body.

Question 9.
How did Dr. Sadao plan to get rid of the young prisoner of war ?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao told the young man that he would put his boat on the shore tonight, with food and extra clothing in it. Dr. Sadao asked him to row the boat to that little secluded island not far from the coast.

Question 10.
How could the young American escape from the island if he reaches there ?
Answer:
That island was secluded. Nobody lived there because it was submerged in storm. The young man could live there until he saw a Korean boat pass by through which he could escape.

Question 11.
How did normalcy retain in Dr. Sadao’s house ?
Answer:
After the young American had left Dr. Sadao’s house his servants had returned. Yumi had cleaned the guest room thoroughly. She had burned sulphur in it to get the white man’s smell out of it.

Question 12.
How did the General react when Dr. Sadao told him that the young American had escaped ?
Answer:
The old General felt that it was indeed careless of him not to send his private assassins to kill the young American. He said that it was not due to lack of patriotism or neglect of duty. Due to his suffering he thought of nothing but himself.

The Enemy Extra Questions Long Answer Type: (125-150 words)

Question 1.
Do you think the story ‘The Enemy’ presents a clash between a man’s national loyalty and human interests ?
Answer:
The story ‘The Enemy’ is set in the time of world war when Japan and America were enemy countries. Dr. Sadao had completed his medical studies from America but had settled in Japan with his wife Hana. Once when they were standing in the veranda of their house, saw a man on his hand and knees crawling. They came towards him and found him terribly wounded. When Dr. Sadao turned the wounded man’s head, he found that he was a white young man. From his cap, Sadao found that he was U.S. Navy’s sailor and this was an escaped prisoner of war.

As was the feeling prevalent at time in Japan, Dr. Sadao hated all Americans. He did not at all cared for the man. So his first reaction was to throw him back into the sea. His national loyalty demanded that the wounded young American should be handed over to the police. Dr. Sadao hated him as an enemy. Dr. Sadao was a distinguished surgeon. He had a tough choice.

If he turned over the wounded man over to police as a prisoner, he would certainly die. As a doctor, he was trained to save a human being’s life as far as he could. Dr. Sadao cared nothing for the white man because he was from the enemy country. But the training of his profession demanded that he should not let a human being die if he could save his life. So the clash was whether he should go with his feeling of national loyalty and let the young boy be killed or as a doctor he should save that wounded and dying human being.

Question 2.
Where did Sadao study medicine? Why was he not sent abroad with the troops?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao was the only son of his parents. His house was built on a spot of the Japanese coast, where he had often played as a little boy. His father never joked or played with him but he took limitless pains upon him. Sadao’s education was his father’s chief concern.

That is why he was sent to America to study medicine and surgery. Sadao had come back to Japan when he was thirty years old. Dr. Sadao was not sent abroad with the troops because he was making perfect a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean. Also there was some slight danger that the old General might need an operation for a condition for which he was now being treated medically. Therefore for this possibility also Sadao was being kept in Japan.

Question 3.
How did Dr. Sadao and Hana find that the wounded man was an escaped prisoner of war ?
Answer:
While standing on the verandah of their house, Dr. Sadao and Hana saw something black coming out of the mists. It was a man. He was flung up out of the ocean. He went unsteadily a few steps with his arms above his head. They saw that the man was on his hands and knees crawling.

Then they saw him fall on his face and lie there. Sadao ran quickly down the steps and Hana followed him. They came towards him and found him terribly wounded. The man lay motionless with his face in the sand. Sadao thought that he was perhaps a fisherman who was washed from his boat.

Dr. Sadao found that an old cap stuck to the wounded man’s head soaked with sea ‘ water. He was in wet rags of garments. When he turned the man’s head and saw the face they were shocked. Hana said in a whispering tone that it was a white man.

The wet cap of the white man fell away. They saw his long yellow hair. It seemed that for many months his hair had not been cut. From the white man’s cap, Sadao found that he was U.S. Navy’s sailor and thus was a prisoner of war. He had perhaps escaped and that is why he was wounded in the back.

Question 4.
How did Dr. Sadao overcome the difficulties that came in his way to save I the wounded American ? How did Hana help her husband ?
Answer:
When Dr. Sadao came to know that the seriously wounded man was an escaped prisoner of war, he thought that he should be thrown back into the sea. But he was aware that if he handed over the man to the police, he was sure to die. As a doctor, who was trained to save the life of a human being if he could do it, he could not do so. So Sadao along with his wife Hana carried the man to the empty bedroom of their house.

They laid the man on the deeply matted floor. Dr. Sadao said that he should better be washed. When their servant Yumi did not do so, Hana and later on Sadao himself washed him. Their servants were deadly against keeping the young Americans in the house.

They refused to enter his room even. Though Dr. Sadao hated the young American being from an enemy country, yet he decided to treat him because of his duty as a doctor towards a dying human being. But no servant was prepared to understand this. So, a few days after Dr. Sadao performed the I operation upon the wounded man, all of his servants had left the house.

Hana would serve the young man the food herself. Then there was a greater risk of Dr. Sadao being arrested for harbouring a prisoner of war. But he did not deter from his duty as a doctor and regularly examined and looked after his medical needs with dedication.

Question 5.
What did the General suggest to Dr. Sadao to get rid of the American young boy ?
Answer:
On the seventh day after Dr. Sadao had performed the operation upon the wounded young prisoner of war, a messenger in uniform came to Dr. Sadao’s house. The messenger said that Dr. Sadao should come to the palace as the old General was in pain again. After the messenger had gone away, Hana said that she thought they had come to arrest Dr. Sadao. Sadao said that somehow he must get rid of the young man.

After examining the old General Dr. Sadao told the General about the young man and said that he cared nothing for the man. The General said that Sadao couldn’t be arrested because he might be needed for his operation. The General said that it would be best if the young American be quietly killed, not by Sadao, but by someone who did not know the white man.

He told Sadao that he had his own private assassins, who would kill the American young man tonight or better, any night. He told Sadao to leave the outer partition of the white man’s room opened to the garden while he sleeps. The General said that the assassins would make no noise and he would have them remove his body.

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