The Enemy
The
story is written with the backdrop of the Second World War. It brings out the
sad plight of a prisoner of war and also deals with the conflict that a' doctor
couple faces because of sheltering an enemy.
Dr.
Sadao, a Japanese surgeon finds a wounded American soldier on the beach near
his house. He is unable to throw him back though he was his enemy as he was a
doctor and his first duty was to save a life. Hana, his wife, though initially
reluctant because it was dangerous for all including the children to keep the
enemy in the house, joins her husband in operating and nursing the enemy
soldier back to health, even though the servants desert the house. Hana assists
Dr. Sadao in operating the soldier in spite of her physical discomfort and hesitation.
Though
it was war time and all hands were needed at the front, the General did not
send Sadao with the troops as he is an expert surgeon and the General needed
him. Sadao tells him about the enemy soldier but he does not take any action as
he is self-absorbed and forgets his promise that he would send his private
assassins to kill the enemy and remove his body.
Taking
advantage of the general’s self-absorption Sadao decides to save the soldiers
life. After the soldier is out of danger Dr. Sadao helps him to escape from his
house to safety.
Sadao
recalled his time spent in America, the people he met, the teacher who taught
him, Miss Harley who hated him yet was kind to him, the Americans with all
their prejudices. He wondered why he could not kill Tom, the American prisoner
of war.
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