Table of Contents
The Enemy story depicts a Japanese doctor who saves the life of an American POW while overcoming limited national preconceptions. By rescuing a war prisoner from an enemy camp, he jeopardizes his honour, profession, status, and life. The author brilliantly depicts the tension in the doctor’s thoughts as a private individual and as a citizen with a sense of national allegiance. Read the full Enemy Summary below.
The Enemy Summary
Sadao was a surgeon from Japan. He studied in America and returned to Japan with Hana, a Japanese girl he met there, to marry her and start a family. While the majority of the doctors were sent to serve in the Japanese army during World War II, Sadao was allowed to remain at home because the older gentleman, who was dying, desired him.
But then, one night, an American Navy sailor arrived, shot, injured, and dying. Sadao took the young soldier into his house and gave him medical care, despite his unwillingness to help his enemy. From that point forward, he was in danger. His servants soon abandoned him.
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Dr. Sadao noticed that the soldier was improving and doing better in a few days. When the patient no longer required his services, the doctor revealed himself to be his assassin, plotting to murder him as he slept. He alerted the General of the American’s presence, and the General pledged to dispatch his private soldiers to assassinate the American.
Every morning, Sadao awaited the American’s death, but to his dismay, the man was still alive, healthier, and posed a threat to him. Sadao becomes the actual man in him at this time, a true human being who understands the value of human life and world brotherhood.
He considers more than countries, continents, races, and conflicts. He sees no reason to suspect the American of being his adversary. Sadao comes to the American’s aid. Sadao is able to transcend above limiting preconceptions and act in a genuinely humane manner as a result.
Conclusion of The Enemy Summary
To summarise, we learn how love and compassion, rather than prejudices and biases against other individuals with whom we share nothing but the link of being humans, can help us become better human beings.
FAQs 0n the Enemy Summary
Q: There are times in life when we must choose between our roles as private persons and citizens with a strong sense of patriotism. Discuss the story you’ve just finished reading.
Answer: Dr. Sadao is caught in a bind. On the one hand, as a doctor, it is your moral and ethical responsibility to save the wounded soldier; on the other hand, as a patriot, it is your moral and ethical responsibility to let the enemy die or hand him over to the army. He fulfills his ethical duties, saves the man, risks his own life, family, and reputation, and then plots to assassinate him with the help of the army general later as a patriot. Later on, he assists him in escaping, revealing his true personality.
Q: Dr. Sadao’s duty as a doctor obliged him to assist the enemy soldier. What made Hana, his wife, sympathetic to him despite the domestic staff’s open defiance?
Answer: Hana adheres to her husband’s sense of responsibility despite being aware that others are questioning her husband’s decision. She is humanitarian and caring, going above and beyond her duties to complete activities she is not required to. Her care is vital for the man’s speedy recovery. She holds her husband in high regard and feels obligated to him.
Q: How would you explain the soldier’s reluctance to leave the safety of the doctor’s home, even though he knew he couldn’t stay there without endangering himself and the doctor?
Answer: Sadao and Hana had been exceptionally kind and welcoming to the American man. Because he was a prisoner of war, the man had suffered greatly at the hands of the Japanese army. Sadao and Hana’s friendly demeanour made him so happy that he didn’t want to leave their home. The man felt at ease, as if he were in his own house, safe and cozy. So, despite being in danger from the army and the Japanese people, the American was hesitant to abandon them.
Q: What accounts for the General’s attitude toward the opposing soldier? Was it a lack of human consideration, a lack of national loyalty, a failure to fulfill one’s obligations, or simply self-absorption?
Answer: The General had always carried out his responsibilities with utmost seriousness. Killing innocent men had put weight on his soul, he realized. He grasped Sadao’s motivations, which demonstrated that he wished to rescue a life regardless of his nation of origin. The General saw him as a human being as well and thus excused Sadao to save his life.
