Chapter – 4

The Enemy

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of the Chapter 4 “The Enemy”. It is the 4th chapter of the prose of Class 12th English.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 12
Subject	English Flamingo
Chapter no.	Chapter 4
Chapter Name	The Enemy
Category	Class 12 English Important Questions
Medium	English

Ch 4 The Enemy

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Qes 1 Who was Dr Sadao? Where was his house?

Ans: Dr Sadao was a famous Japanese surgeon and a scientist. He was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean. His house was located next to a narrow beach. The beach was outlined with bent pines. A little uninhabited island also existed near his house. In storm, it had been submerged. A mile or two on either side of the house was a fishing village, but near his house, there existed only the bare and lonely coast, dangerous with rocks. The water beyond the beach was spiked with rocks.

Qes 2 What did Dr Sadao and his wife do with the man?

Ans: Dr Sadao operated the wounded man. The operation was successful. Dr Sadao knew that the wounded man would now be out of danger. So he and his wife decided to give him to the police as a prisoner of war. However, the man was very weak. Thus, they decided to keep him till he recovered, so that later they could decide, what to do with him.

Qes 3 What did Dr Sadao do to help Tom escape to freedom?

Ans: Dr Sadao knew that the wounded American sailor, Tom could be arrested any time. So he decided to help him in escaping. He decided to give his private boat with food and clothes in it. He could row it to a little island not far from the coast. Nobody lived there. In this way, he could escape to freedom.

Qes 4 Why did the messenger come to Dr Sadao? What did Hana think about it? 

Ans: Dr Sadao had been summoned to the palace to treat the ailing General. This relieved Hana, since she expected it to be a punishment for helping and providing refuge to an enemy. As the General was ill, he could require an operation any moment. Hana got very anxious to think about the consequences her family might have to face for harbouring an enemy soldier. When an official in uniform knocked her door, she thought that he might have come to apprehend her husband.

Qes 5 Why did Hana wash the wounded soldier herself?

Ans: Hana helped the wounded man and washed him herself. The wounded American was in a very bad state and needed to be washed before being operated on. Hana did not want Dr Sadao to clean the dirty and unconscious prisoner, and so asked their servant, Yumi, to do so. However, Yumi defied her master’s order and did not help. She thought she would be punished by law for being a traitor to her country. As a result, Hana had no other option but to wash him herself.

Qes 6 Why did the General overlook the matter of the enemy soldier?

Ans: The General had an attack and according to Dr. Sadao he could not survive the second attack. So if Dr. Sadao was arrested, no other doctor was capable of performing the operation. So for furthering his selfish needs he overlooked the matter and promises to send his assassins. But he was so self-absorbed, he forgot about it.

Qes 7 How was the plan of the prisoner’s escape executed in the story?

Ans: The prisoner was successful in his escape only because of the right guidance and help from Dr. Sadao. He provided him his boat, gave his food, made him wear Japanese cloths and also helped him in comfortable sail to a nearby island.

Qes 8 Why did the servants leave Dr. Sadao’s house?

Ans: They were not in favour of keeping the American prisoner hidden in the house. They also did not want Dr. Sadao to save his life as he was the enemy. Also, if the police come to know of it, all their lives would be in danger. So they left the house.

Qes 9 Who was the white man whom Dr. Sadao and Hana found?

Ans: The white man was an American soldier as evident from his clothes. They guess that he was a prisoner of war from his cap that said ‘Navy Seals’

Qes 10 Who was Sadao’s wife? Where had he met her? Why did he wait to fall in love with her?

Ans: Hana was Sadao’s wife. He had met her by chance at an American professor’s house. Professor Harley and his wife had been kind people. They held a party at their home for their few foreign students. Hana was a new student. He waited to fall in love with her until he was sure she was Japanese. It was because his father would never have received her unless she had been pure in her race.

Qes 11 What dilemma did Sadao face about the young white man?

Ans: The white man was wounded. He needed immediate medical care. Dr Sadao could do so. But if they sheltered a white man in their house, they would be arrested. On the other hand, if they turned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die. Dr Sadao was in a fix. It was difficult for him to come to any decision.

Qes 12 What was the attitude of Sadao and Hana towards the white man?

Ans: They stared upon the inert figure of the white man with a curious repulsion. Both talked of putting him back into the sea, but neither of them was able to do so alone. They hesitated. Sadao said that being American, the man was his enemy. He would have handed him over to the police if he had not been wounded. But since he was wounded… He left the sentence incomplete, implying that he couldn’t do so.

Qes 13 What solution did Hana offer to resolve Sadao’s predicament?

Ans: Hana found that neither of them could throw the white man back into the sea. There was only one thing to do. They must carry the man into their house. They must tell the servants that they intended to hand him over to the police. She reminded her husband of his position and children. It would endanger all of them if they did not give that man over as a prisoner of war.

Qes 14 How did the servants react when their master told them about the wounded white man?

Ans: The servants were frightened and puzzled. The old gardener told Hana that the master ought not to heal the wound of that white man. He said that the white man ought to die. First he was shot. Then the sea caught him and wounded him with her rocks. If the master healed what the gun and the sea had done, they would take revenge on them.

Qes 15 Why had Hana to wash the wounded man herself ?

Ans: Hana told Yumi to fetch hot water and bring it to the room where the white man was. Yumi put down the wooden bucket, but refused to wash the dirty white man. Hana cried at her severely. She told her to do what her master commanded her to do. The fierce look of resistance upon Yumfe dull face made Hana afraid. Under these circumstances, Hana had no option but to wash the white man herself.

Qes 16 How did Harm look after the white man? How did he react?

Ans: Hana had to serve him herself, for none of the servants would enter the room. She did not like him and yet she was moved to comfort him. She found the man quite weak and terrified. She knelt and fed him gently from the porcelain spoon. He ate unwillingly but still he ate.

Qes 17 How did Hana react when she saw a messenger at the door in official uniform?

Ans: Hana was working hard on unaccustomed labour. When she saw the uniformed messenger, her hands went weak and she could not draw her breath. She feared that the servants must have told everything already. She thought that they had come to arrest Dr Sadao.

Qes 18 Why, do you think, had the messenger come to Dr Sadao’s house? How did Hana react to the message and what did the messenger take exception to?

Ans: The messenger had arrived there to ask Dr Sadao to come to the palace as the old General was in pain again. In her anxiety for her husband’s safety, Hana asked if that was all. The messenger took exception to the word ‘all’ and enquired if that was not enough. Hana apologised for the error.

Qes 19 What plan did the old General suggest for getting rid of the ‘man’?

Ans: He thought that it would be best if the white man could be quietly killed—not by the doctor, but by someone who did not know him. He offered to send two of his private assassins any night to his home. These capable assassins would make no noise. They knew the trick of inward bleeding. They could even remove the body. Dr Sadao had to leave the outer partition of the room open and this made restless.

Qes 20 What plan did Dr Sadao devise to get rid of the man?

Ans: Dr Sadao devised the plan of letting the man escape to the nearest uninhabited island. He told the man everything. He put his boat on the shore with food and extra clothing. He advised the man to row to the little island not far from the coast. He could live there till he saw a Korean fishing boat pass by.

Qes 21 How was the plan of the prisoner’s escape executed?

Ans: Dr Sadao had put food and bottled water in his stout boat. He also put two quilts. After supper, he cheked the American again. He gave him his flashlight and told him to signal two flashes if he needed more food. One signal would mean he was OK He had to signal at sunset and not in the darkness. The man was dressed in Japanese clothes and his blond head was covered with a black cloth.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Qes 1 Why did Sadao Hoki go to America? What do you learn about his experiences there?

Ans: Sadao’s education was his father’s chief concern. So he had been sent at twenty-two to America to leam all that could be learnt of surgery and medicine. He studied there for eight years and returned to Japan at thirty. Before his father died, Sadao had become famous not only as a surgeon, but also as a scientist. He had had great difficulty in finding a place to live in America because he was a Japanese. The Americans were full of prejudice and it had been bitter to live in it, knowing himself to be superior to them. An ignorant and dirty old woman at last consented to house him in her miserable home. He found her repulsive to him even in her kindness. One of his American professors and his wife were kind people. They were anxious to do something for their few foreign students. But their rooms were quite small, the food was very bad, the professor was a dull person and his wife was a silly talkative woman.

Qes 2 Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?

Ans: It is the best possible option-general had promised him that he would get the soldier quietly killed through his private assassins-but he forgot to get rid of- Dr. Sadao could do nothing-he wanted to get rid of the wounded soldier-as the servants had left the house-and news could be spread-so he devised his own plan to get the soldier off to the nearby island-managed his boat for the soldier and instructed him. The white soldier took leave of him and followed his instruction and managed to escape safely. Thus all this proves that that was the only way out for Dr. Sadao to the problem.

Qes 3 What will Dr Sadao and his wife do with the man?

Ans: Dr Sadao and his wife, Hana, had told the servants that they only wanted to bring the man to his senses so that they could turn him over as a prisoner. They knew that the best possible course under the circumstances was to put him back into the sea. However, Dr Sadao was against handing over a wounded man to the police. He dedded to carry him into his house. He operated upon him and extracted the bullet from his body. He kept the white man in his house. He and his wife looked after him and fed him till he was strong enough to walk on his legs.

Qes 4 What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of the man?

Ans: Dr Sadao had told the old General that he had operated upon a white man. The General promised to send his private assassins to kill the man silently and secretly at night and remove his body. Dr Sadao left the outer partition of white man’s room open. He waited anxiously for three nights. The servants had left their house. His wife Hana had to cook, clean the house and serve the wounded man. She was unaccustomed to this labour. She was anxious that they should get rid of the man. Dr Sadao told Tom, the white man, that he was quite well then. He offered to put his boat on the shore that night. It would have food and extra clothing in it. Tom might be able to row to the little island which was not far from the coast. It had not been fortified. The .water was quite deep. Nobody lived there, as it was submerged in storm. Since it was not the season of storm, he could live there till he saw a Korean fishing boat pass by. 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. Dr Sadao gave the man Japanese clothes and covered his blond head with a black doth. In short, Dr Sadao helped the man to escape from Japan. At the same time he also got rid of the man.

Qes 5 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: Dr Sadao and his wife, Hana, together lifted the wounded man and carried him to an empty bedroom in their house. The man was very dirty. Sadao suggested that he had better be washed. He offered to do so if she would fetch water. Hana was against it. She suggested that the maid, Yumi, could wash the man. They would have to tell the servants. Dr Sadao examined the man again and remarked that the man would die unless he was operated upon at once. He left the room to bring his surgical instruments. The servants did not approve of their master’s decision to heal the wound of a white man. Even Yumi refused to wash the white man. There was so fierce a look of resistance upon Yumi’s round dull face that Hana felt unreasonably afraid. Then she said with dignity that they only wanted to bring him to his senses so that they would turn him over as a prisoner. However, Yumi refused to have anything to do with him. Hana asked Yumi gently to return to her work. The open defiance from the domestic staff hurt Hana’s feelings. She had told the servants to do what their master commanded them. She was convinced of her own superiority. She now became sympathetic to her husband and helped him in his efforts to heal the wounded man.  

Though the sight of the white man was repulsive to her, she washed his face and his upper body. She prepared herself to give him the anaesthetic according to her husband’s instructions. She had never seen an operation. She choked and her face turned pale like sulphur. She felt like vomiting and left for a while. She returned after retching and administered anaesthetic to the man. Thus she co-operated with her husband fully to save the wounded man.there and this situation was full of risk for himself as well as for the doctor and his family. Thus it is quite clear that the reluctance of the soldier was caused by the single motive of self-preservation. He knew from the treatment he had received from the couple that they would save him.

Qes 6 What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of the man?

Ans: With the injured American’s health gradually improving, Dr Sadao and Hana were in a fix as to what should be done with him. However, finally Dr Sadao will succeed to get rid of him. Their loyal servants had left them. Keeping him in their house could pose a threat to their lives as well. As Hana’s impatience and distress grew, Dr Sadao revealed the matter to the General who decided to send assassins to kill the young American in his sleep. Keen on getting rid of the escaped war-prisoner, Dr Sadao agreed. However, the matter could not be resolved because the assassins never came. Dr Sadao then planned another way to get rid of him which was overpowered with sympathy and a distant gratitude towards the people he had been linked to in America. He decided to save his patient one more time. He secretly sent him to an isolated island with food, bottled water, clothes, blanket and his own flashlight on a boat from where he boarded a Korean ship to freedom and safety.

Qes 7 Why did Sadao Hoki go to America? What do you learn about his experiences there?

Ans: Sadao’s education was his father’s chief concern. So he had been sent at twenty-two to America to leam all that could be learnt of surgery and medicine. He studied there for eight years and returned to Japan at thirty. Before his father died, Sadao had become famous not only as a surgeon, but also as a scientist. He had had great difficulty in finding a place to live in America because he was a Japanese. The Americans were full of prejudice and it had been bitter to live in it, knowing himself to be superior to them. An ignorant and dirty old woman at last consented to house him in her miserable home. He found her repulsive to him even in her kindness. One of his American professors and his wife were kind people. They were anxious to do something for their few foreign students. But their rooms were quite small, the food was very bad, the professor was a dull person and his wife was a silly talkative woman.

Qes 8 What was the dilemma that Sadao faced when he saw a wounded, young white man washed to his doorstep? What solution did his wife, Hana, offer to resolve his (Sadao’s) predica¬ment?

Ans: The young white man was bleeding. He had a bullet wound on his lower back. He needed immediate medical attention. Dr Sadao, an eminent surgeon, could do so. But if they sheltered a white man in their house, they would be arrested. On the other hand, if they tinned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die. Neither of them could put him back into the sea and get rid of him. They were true humanist. So, they hesitated. Sadao declared that being an American, the man was his enemy. He would have handed him over to the police if he had been hale and hearty. But since he was wounded… He left the sentence unfinished implying that he could not do so as he had been trained not to let a man die if he could help him. Hana suggested that they must carry the man inside the house. They must tell the ser¬vants that they intended to hand him over to the police. She reminded her husband of his position and the children. It would endanger all of them if they did not hand that man over as a prisoner of war. His doubts were removed and they decided to carry the man into their house.

Qes 9 How did the servants initially react to the presence of a white man in their masters house?

Ans: When Dr Sadao told the cook and the gardener about the wounded young white man, they had brought inside the house, the two servants were frightened and puzzled. The * superstitious old gardener looked so annoyed that he pulled the few hairs on his upper lip. He bluntly told Hana that the master ought not to heal the wound of that white man. He said that the white man ought to die. First he was shot. Then the sea caught him and wounded him with her rocks. If the master healed what the gun and the sea had done, they would take revenge on them. Even the maid, Yumi, refused to wash the man though Hana cried at her severely and told her to do what the master had commanded her to do. The servants seemed to be in a defiant mood. The fierce look of resistance upon Yumi’s dull face frightened Hana. She thought that the servants might report something that was not as it happened. She main¬tained her dignity and told the maid that they wanted to bring him to his senses so that they could turn him over as a prisoner. Even this explanation failed to convince Yumi and she refused to do anything for the white man. Since the white man was not handed over to the police, even after a week, all the servants left on the seventh day after that.

Qes 10 Under what circumstances did Dr Sadao let the wounded white man escape? Was it lack of national loyalty, professional ego and sentimentality, human consideration or just an attempt to save his skin?

Ans: Hr Sadao had no love for the repulsive Americans and he considered them his enemies. Unfortunately, the sea-waves pushed a wounded white man to his doorstep. He knew that the best possible thing was to throw him back into the sea. He could not handover a wounded ‘enemy’ to police because he would certainly die. Being a doctor, he could save him and not kill him. His efforts to get him removed with the help of the old General’s private assassins did not bear fruit. He was under a severe strain. His domestic servants had left him. His wife had to do unaccustomed labour and run the household. Moreover, his wife was anxious about his safety. They might be arrested for harbouring an enemy prisoner of war and condemned as traitors. Dr Sadao let the man escape in the larger interest of professional ethics and human consideration. He rose above narrow national loyalty and sentimentality. He did not think of himself as the General had already assured him that no harm would be caused to him. The matter remained unreported and closed from public eyes and ears. The servants returned after the white man had “left”. Everything became normal again.

Qes 11 What was the General’s plan to get rid of the American prisoner ? Was it executed ? What traits of the General’s character are highlighted in the lesson ‘The Enemy’? 

Ans: The General made a plan to get rid of the American prisoner by sending his personal assassins to kill the prisoner. He also wanted to remove the body of American prisoner from Sadao’s house. But, unfortunately he could not succeed in his attempt. The plan was i not executed. The General could not send the assassins. The General had an unusual sense of humour as well as frankness and ability to admit his mistake. Dr. Sadao keeps on waiting for three nights for the assassins who fail to turn up. He loses his rest and sleep. Finally he lets the white man escape. When Dr. Sadao tells the General that the man has escaped, the General admits that he forgot his promise. It was carelessness of him but not the lack of patriotism. It is his self-absorption and instinct of preserving himself that saves Dr. Sadao and his family being arrested.  

We hope that class 12 English (Vistas) Chapter 4 The Enemy Important Questions helped you. If you have any queries about class 12 English (Vistas) Chapter 4 The Enemy Important Questions or about any other notes of class 12 English, so you can comment below. We will reach you as soon as possible…