The Enemy - Pearl S.

Buck

The Enemy –
 Know Your Author
Birth - June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia.

Parents - Southern Presbyterian missionaries,

stationed in China, where Pearl S. Buck spent
most of her first forty years of her life.

Awards - 1932, won the Pulitzer Prize and the

Howells Medal in 1935, for The Good Earth which
was adapted as a major MGM film in 1937.

In 1938, won the Nobel Prize in literature, the first

American woman to do so.

By the time of her death in 1973, Pearl published

over seventy books: novels, collections of stories,
biography and autobiography, poetry, drama,
children's literature, and translations from the
Chinese.
 The Enemy
 Dr. Sadao Hoki’s Childhood
 Climbed pines, watched islands, played
along the coast

 Stone house located upon rocks, well

above the narrow beach

 Education
 At 22yrs. Went to America &
returned after 8yrs., became a
surgeon & scientist
 Presently

 Army at war but Sadao not

sent to war..

 General might need him

 Was perfecting a discovery that
would render wounds entirely clean
 Wife

 Pleasant, affectionate, caring, Sadao

met Hana at Prof. Harley’s House in
America

 Married her in Japan (traditional way)

 The Challenge
 Misty night, staggering body appeared, wounded, collapsed

 A white man ( American ), an enemy

 Sadao & Hana carried him to Sadao’s father’s bedroom

 Washed by Hana because Yumi refused

 Operated by Sadao & Hana held the anesthetic

 Bullet removed from near the kidney

 Life saved- prisoner- feeble & weak

 Prisoner fed & rested to recovery, but was anxious for his future
 Sadao’s Dilemma
 Servants threatened to leave in protest

 Conflict between duty as a doctor and

duty as a true patriot

 Afraid of being called a traitor

 Resolved to save the prisoner

 Hana & Sadao stood firm, did not relent-
treated the prisoner with respect
 General Finally Informed

 The General offered to help and

send assassins

 Assassins would kill and remove the

prisoner quietly

 3 nights passed – no assassins

turned up
 The Escape
 Sadao gave the prisoner a boat, extra food,
clothing, bottled water & a flashlight and covered
his hair with a black cloth

 Directed him to row to an uninhabited island

 Asked him to wait for a Korean fishing boat

 Told him to flash the torch twice if he ran out of

food and flash it once if he was alright

 The prisoner escaped

 Admission by the General
 That he had failed in doing his duty
towards his country

 Justified his action - that it was due

to ill-health and not due to lack of
patriotism
 Sadao Reflected
 Wondered as to why he had saved
the American.

 Had hatred for Americans – their

enemy – but humanity overpowered
his feelings
 Worksheet
 Answer briefly.
1. Give two reasons why Sadao was not
sent abroad with the troops.
2. What did the servants think of Dr. Sadao
sheltering the enemy?
3. Hana plays an instrument role in saving
the life of an injured prisoner. Give an
account of her role in light of the above
statement.
4. True humanity overpowers prejudices
and has no barriers. Elaborate.