NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 4 the Enemy

Dr. Sadao was a very good surgeon and scientist. He was a native of Japan. He was twenty two years old when he was sent to America for studies. He had mastered in healing wounds as he had been working intensively on it for a few years.His house was on the seashore, overlooking the sea. It was made of square stones upon rocks on a narrow beach that was outlined with bent pines.

There is no doubt that Dr. Sadao was afraid of betraying his country. He thought a thousand times before giving him shelter and then discussed with his wife Hana. It was a mutual decision by both to shelter the enemy. As long as they kept him in the house and treated him, they lived in this fear. If anyone had complained about them, they could have landed in big trouble.

Hana, being true Japanese didn’t want to help that American prisoner of war. He was perhaps a sailor from a country which caused great damage to Japan. Instead of doing it herself, first she gave this job to Yumi, the baby sitter who used to look after her children but she refused to wash the white man.Hana rebuked the maid and she took a towel and washed the white man herself.

The doctor and his wife Hana were kind hearted people. They felt that if the injured man was handed over to the police, he would not be able to survive for long.They started his treatment and as Dr. Sadao was proficient in treating the injured, he pulled out bullet from his body. Moreover, the couple took the servants working there in confidence before the operation. He and his wife looked after him and helped him to walk on his legs.

There is no doubt that Dr. Sadao was afraid of betraying his country. He thought a thousand times before giving him shelter and then discussed with his wife Hana. It was a mutual decision by both to shelter the wounded man. As long as they kept him in the house and treated him, they lived in this fear. If anyone had complained about them, they could have landed in big trouble. On seventh day in the afternoon a messenger came there in official uniform. Hana thought that the officer had come to arrest them but he told Dr. Sadao that he had to come to the place once as the old General was not well.Dr. Sadao had told everything to his General so that he does not get into any big trouble.

Dr. Sadao’s heart and mind was saying different things ever since he saw Tom on the sea shore. Many times it came to his mind that he should hand over this American to the police or push him back into the sea. The relations between America and Japan were such that civilians too had hatred towards each other in their minds. One day he decided to tell everything to his general and he went and shared with him. The General assured him that the same night his assassins would kill the American and would not allow the body to be traced. Dr. Sadao kept a door open from where Assassin was to come, but the General had forgotten and the American could not be killed.After waiting for the next two days, when no one came to kill him at night, then the doctor prepares to send him to another island with the help of a boat, along with some food and drink. He gave the man his flashlight. He was to signal twice with his flashlight at sunset in case his food ran out. In case, he was still there and all right, he was to signal only once. That’s how he gets rid of that man.

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.
Many times it happens with all of us when we are not able to take decisions as citizens of the country and private individuals. A similar incident happens in this story as well.This story was written when both America and Japan were fighting against each other in World War 2. Even the citizens of both the countries hated each other.
When the doctors see the man lying on the seashore, the first thought is to push him back into the sea. Dr. Sadao concluded that he was a sailor from an American warship. The man must be a prisoner of war. His duty as a citizen was to hand him over to the police and his wife Hana was also in this favour. While studying as a doctor, Sadao had learned that one should always help the sick or the injured irrespective of caste, color or nationality. Serving the sick is the best religion in the world.He knew that he would die very soon by handing over to the police.His thinking was like that of a doctor which was absolutely right. The job of a doctor is to save lives, not to kill.After and during the recovery of wounded man’s injury, the doctor and his wife did not hide anything from servants.When the right time came, the couple being a patriot shared everything with their General. They made right decision at right time.

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?
We do not feel in this story that thoughts of Dr. Sadao and his wife do not meet. They had good bonding and shared similar values. When she saw that her husband was interested in saving the man’s life she gave him a lot of support. Initially she was a little hesitant as to how to deal with a person who came from an enemy country but without wasting anytime, she immediately started following the instructions given by her husband.She had never seen an operation before and this was the first time they had kept a room reserved in their own house for a patient that too for the one who was in very pathetic condition.When she asked Yumi to clean up the injured Tom, she refused. At that time Hana gave her the command and said that they only want to bring him to senses and after that he will be treated like a prisoner.Hana also told her that it is an order and she will have to make it immediately. Maid or baby sitter or Gardner everybody was in denial of service or closeness to that American but Hana sets a good example of a caring and compassionate wife from beginning to end.

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?
After coming to his senses, the war prisoner knew that the family was always at great risk because of him.The laws in Japan were very strict. If someone had complained, Dr. Sadao could have been imprisoned for life in the crime of harbouring him. The Doctor couldn’t answer when Tom asked how long he’s been here.He was astonished to see that a Japanese family was saving his life and doing so much care.When the General did not send his personal assassins and the life of the American war prisoner was saved then to get rid of him doctor decided to send him to another island, then Tom felt that it was the second time when the doctor was saving his life.Otherwise, it would have always taken only a minute for him to handover him to police.He said goodbye to them and went away with lot of happiness.

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?
The doctor’s meeting with the general reveals that he was such a man who thought only of himself.The doctor had openly told him everything about the prisoner. As an army General, nothing should have been important to him more than killing Tom but his focus was only on himself. He should not have forgotten that he had to send his personal assassins, for which the doctor was eagerly waiting because Dr. Sadao didn’t want to get himself and family in trouble because of wounded man. But General always remembered Sadao as a great doctor. Apart from him, no other doctor can treat him the way Sadao was. General was simply a self- absorbed person.

There is no doubt that when war is going on between two countries then there is bound to be hatred for each other in the minds of the citizens of those two countries.But we should not forget that this hatred is created by politicians.Although the citizens of two neighboring countries speak the same language, wears similar clothes and they indeed share good friendship because they live on the each side of the border.
The big thing should be that and even in the days of war, the civilians should forget the hatred and stay away from any kind of riots.One such example was set by Dr. Sadao, who helped Tom in the wounded condition of his arch-rival America.He not only helped him by healing the wound and doing the operation but also saved his life.He showed that humanity is still alive today keeping all the servants in confidence and hiding nothing from his army General, operated him and later sent him successfully.

Yes, I believe his final solution to the problem was the best possible one under the given circumstances. When he finds that the General hasn’t been successful in keeping his promise and that Tom has made a full recovery he started thinking of some other solution. If the General had done his work as promised and no one would have noticed, he would have been very happy in this too. But now he had decided that he would send him to a nearby island with some food items. From where he will catch the Korean ship and reach his destination. Dr. Sadao did the same and no one came to know about his plans. In this way he was successful in playing the role as a doctor and a patriot citizen. He shrugged off timely any danger that came upon him or his family.

Certainly, the story “The Enemy” reminds us of “Birth” of last year. The lead character is doctor in both stories who saves life of respective patient. The talent and work of both the doctors is commendable. In “Birth” the doctor sacrifices his own rest and comfort and brings a still born baby back to life. In “The Enemy” however, the patient was a wounded man (a war prisoner) from an enemy country who was almost to death. The doctor diligently removes the bullet from his body, heals the wound in a few days. And the most importantly saves his life by putting his own life at risk. The story line may be different but the work of both is same. Patient was of paramount importance in both cases.

I read a novel written by Ritesh Rana wherein there were three friends who go to college daily by train. They had to walk about two kilometers while returning to railway station in afternoon. It was early June and the summer was at its peak. Along with the sun, the earth was burning like fire. It was difficult to stand in open for a moment. They saw a poor expecting woman begging for money who needed to reach the hospital as soon as possible. They took great pity on that lady. They took out their own money and arranged an auto rickshaw to drop her to nearest hospital. If those friends had not helped that woman on that day, her life might not have been saved. And the most surprising thing was the people standing there were just watching the spectacle and those three young boys who were not much mature helped the needy lady.

1. How was the upbringing of Dr. Sadao by his father?
   Dr. Sadao had a good upbringing since childhood. His father was a serious person who didn’t joke much. He wanted to put his son in the field of science and hence sent him to America at the age of 22. After eight years, Dr. Sadao came out as a very good surgeon and scientist. His focus was only on his son as he was his only child.
2. Why was Dr. Sadao not sent out with the troops when he could have helped the wounded ones better?
   The reason for this was that the health of the old General was not good and he could need an operation at any time. General Takima knew that Dr. Sadao was a specialist in surgery, so he was not allowed to go out of the country with the troops. He was ordered to serve in his own country itself.
3. Where and how did Dr. Sadao and Hana meet before the wedding?
   Dr. Sadao and Hanna met in America when both had gone for their higher studies. The two met at Professor Harley’s house where both were staying as paying guests.Dr. Sadao made sure she was Japanese before marrying Hana. This is because he did not want to marry a girl from any other community.They spent some time together then decided to get married in traditional Japanese way after that.

The weather was a bit hot that day. Dr. Sadao was sitting outside in verandah and Hana joined him. They were sitting outside their home and were enjoying sea waves. Both were sitting quietly facing sea and suddenly both of them saw some black thing coming out of sea. When they looked carefully, it was a man. Initially they felt they are mistaken in recognizing but in a fraction of seconds, they realized it’s really a man. Dr. Sadao felt he was a fisherman but the fishing villages were quite away from Sadao’s rocky beach. But very soon they realized that this man was not a fisherman.

When they saw him, their first wish was to push him back into the sea. But they did not feel right to throw a wounded man back into the sea. Then it came to their mind to hand him over to the police. The problem with this was that he would have died the very next day because he was shot in the lower back. The third option was to take him home and do the treatment because this is what he had learned as a doctor. Then both of them decided that he should be taken to the backyard of the house and he should be treated first. Both the husband and wife had no mercy on him, but because this white man was badly injured, they took this decision.

Tom had to get clean thoroughly before operating.He had become even dirtier after being washed away in the sea. Hana calls Yumi to clean him with hot water and towel. But after seeing that he is an American, Yumi flatly refuses. Hana angrily told her that she has to do this work and it’s an order. Despite this, Yumi was not ready. Hana takes another approach and says that they just want to bring him to his senses and will handover to the police later. Still Yumi was not ready. On this, Hana asks her to go back to the baby room. Yumi only wanted to serve the Japanese. She had never seen the white man, nor did she want to get close to whites.

Hana was very scared before the operation. She was already very frightened to see the blood coming out of the white man’s body. And then Dr. Sadao’s order to give anesthesia to Tom was a very difficult step for her. Dr. Sadao said that the wound is very big if we delay the operation, he will die soon. Hanna started crying at this and went out with her sulphur like face. After sometime when she recovers a bit, she comes inside again and asks to give anesthesia. The doctor instructs her and starts the operation. She stayed with her husband for this whole operation and helped him a lot.

By now Tom’s health had improved well and keeping him in the house for more days than that could have invited big trouble. Dr. Sadao then decided that he would hand over Tom to the police. For this he wrote a letter to the Chief of Police but he wrote that letter half and left it in the middle and kept it in his drawer. Infinite thoughts were going on in his mind. Then all the servants came to meet Hana and started saying that now they are leaving the house forever. Hana gets angry at them but does not react. She also gets sad because in this difficult time they were leaving together. She sends everyone off and gets to work.

In the afternoon the messenger came, who was from the General’s side. He was wearing his official uniform, seeing which Hana got very nervous. She felt that just in the morning only all the servants have gone out and they have told everything about the white man. She goes to Dr. Sadao without saying anything to messenger who was sitting in another room reading a book. Messenger then tells Dr. Sadao that General is in pain and you have to walk immediately. Dr. Sadao prepares to leave and then Hana takes a sigh of relief as she thinks messenger has come to arrest the doctor.

He assured the doctor that he would not be arrested under any circumstances. He praised the work he had done to save the white man and said he had done nothing wrong in it. He said that he will not allow him to be arrested because the General also desperately needed him. Because the general was afraid that if Dr. Sadaogets arrested, then what will happen to his operation. Since General Takima was selfish, he assured Dr. Sadao that he would not be arrested for his own good because he did not believe in the talent of other doctors and did not want his treatment from anyone other than SadaoHoki.

The General asked Dr. Sadao not to worry for sheltering the white man. He listens carefully regarding the so called operation of Tom and then advises him that he can help him to get rid of white man and fear of arrest. General Takima said that he would send his assassins on the same day at night. Dr. Sadao has to keep one door of his house open from where his personal assassins can enter. His assassins will smartly kill the American and replace the body and no one will come to know. Dr. Sadao heaved a sigh of relief after listening to his solution.

First night Dr. Sadao can’t sleep very well. Every moment he felt as if someone is coming and just now the work of that white man will be shot dead. But it doesn’t happen. He woke up the next morning, Dr. Sadao first goes to the guest room to see the American. He was sleeping at his place as usual. The same thing happens with him the next morning. The white man was on his bed. He starts thinking that today means third night will definitely be the one. The same thing happens in the morning on the third day. Now Dr. Sadao felt negligence on the part of the General Takima and he decided to solve it himself. Because keeping him at home for a long time would be like inviting a big problem.

Tom sincerely thanks Dr. Sadao for saving his life.He said that if every Japanese was like him, there would never be a war. Dr. Sadao gave several items to white man like food, clothes, bottled water and flashlight and Tom latter got real surprise after getting these from a common citizen of an enemy country.He got delighted after getting this help.