Summary of The Enemy - Pearl S. Buck

THE ENEMY

                                - Pearl S. Buck

Dr. Sadao – a surgeon and scientist
Dr Sadao Hoki, a Japanese surgeon and scientist, lived with his wife Hana and two children on the Japanese sea-coast. His house was located on the sea-coast where he had spent his childhood. He was greatly influenced by his father whose chief concern was Sadao’s education. At the age of twenty-two, he was sent to America to study surgery and medicine. Sadao too, as an obedient son, fulfilled his father’s wishes and came back a famous surgeon and scientist to serve his nation and people.
Although there was a war going on, he was not sent abroad with the troops for two reasons – he was perfecting a discovery on wounds and the old General might need him for an operation.
Hana – a dedicated wife
With his father’s consent, Dr. Sadao had a love marriage with Hana whom he met in America. They now had two children. Hana was a devoted wife and a sympathetic woman. She kept the household in order and cared for every member under its roof.
A wounded ‘white enemy’
Once while the couple was enjoying the mist at dusk on their porch, they noticed some movement near the sea. A man ‘flung’ out of the ocean, walked few steps and then fell unconscious. He was badly injured. They discover that the white man was an escaped prisoner of war, a sailor from an American warship. He had lost lot of blood due a gun wound and a rock injury.
The couple knew that they would be termed treacherous if they did not inform the police or the army about it, which would eventually kill the man. But, they could not bring themselves to do what seemed the best course of action at that point, i.e., to throw the man back into the sea. After a lot of speculation, the doctor thought of treating the dying man on humanitarian grounds before deciding his fate.
Saving the ‘white enemy’
So, the unconscious American was brought home. The couple apprised their servants of their intention of handing the man over to the police after treatment. But the servants didn’t approve of it and remained skeptical of their masters’ intention, yet they kept their silence. When the nanny of the Hoki children, Yumi, refused to wash the American, Hana had to do the job herself. Prompted by the doctor in him, Sadao performed a difficult operation and removed the bullet efficiently. Hana helped her husband in whatever way she could. She herself took every possible care of the American, even fed him with her own hands.
Under Hana’s care and the expert medical administration of Dr. Sadao, the young American recuperated but remained tensed about his future.
Servants’ rebel
The Hoki family was constantly pressurized by the servants to disclose the secret and get the American caught by the police. Their displeasure at their master’s decision made them decide to leave his household. Hana bears all this gracefully.
In the due course of treating the prisoner, Sadao planned to inform the police about the whereabouts of the prisoner but somehow could not execute his plan. He leaves an unfinished letter to the Chief of Police in his drawer.
Hana’s dilemma
Hana was not able to understand why she and her husband were in a dilemma about their next step concerning the fate of the prisoner. When she saw a messenger in an official uniform at her doorstep, she got scared that one of the servants might have informed the police. But the messenger came only to inform Dr Sadao that the General was in pain and wants to see him immediately. Realising Hana’s situation, Sadao decided to do something about the soldier.
Dr Sadao discloses the secret to the General
Tensed and tired of hiding the enemy, Dr. Sadao revealed the secret to the general when he was summoned to his house for medical help. Looking at his present health conditions, General realised that he might need Sadao’s surgical expertise at any point of time and is selfish enough to not to let Sadao get into any trouble. He assured Sadao that he would send his personal assassins to kill the American soldier and remove his body from Sadao’s house.
Dr Sadao did not reveal the secret of assassins to Hana. For two nights, he remained uneasy and could not sleep soundly. However, every morning when he woke up, he found Tom alive and this made him more uneasy.
Dr Sadao changes plan and saves the ‘enemy’
After three nights of restlessness, panic and terror, Sadao decided to get rid of the stranger and the inconvenience his presence caused. He packed him off on a boat with the basic necessities like food, bottled water and two blankets to a nearby isolated island from where he was to board a Korean ship to freedom and safety. He even gave the young man his own flashlight, to be used in time of need as well as to let Dr Sadao know about his wellbeing. Thus, Tom departed secretly.
The true reward
Sadao operated the old General and when he recuperated a little after a week, he apprised him that the American soldier fled away. The General admitted to have forgotten his promise to send the assassins to the doctor’s house and conveyed his apology.
One night there was no flashlight from the island, so Sadao understood that the soldier must have boarded a Korean fishing ship. Sadao wondered, though he had grown up thinking Americans to be enemies, why he couldn’t kill the young soldier.