NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 4 The Enemy

Class 12 English NCERT Solutions Vistas Chapter 4 The Enemy Free PDF Download

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English

The Enemy Textual Questions and Answers

Read-and-find-out Questions

Question 1.
Who was Dr. Sadao? Where was his house?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao Hoki was an eminent Japanese surgeon and scientist who was working on a discovery that would make wounds entirely clean. His house was on the Japanese coast. The low, square stone house was set upon rocks well above a narrow beach.

Question 2.
Will Dr. Sadao be arrested on the charge of harboring an enemy?
Answer:
No, Dr. Sadao will not be arrested on the charge of harboring an enemy because Dr. Sadao is such a competent surgeon that the General relies only on him for his ailment.

Question 3.
Will Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself?
Answer:
Initially, Hana hesitates to help a war prisoner. But finally, her inherent compassion and humanity make her agree to help the wounded man and she would wash him herself.

Question 4.
What will Dr. Sadao and his wife do with the man?
Answer:
Dr. Sadao will operate upon the man and save his life. His wife Hana- supported and helped Dr. Sadao treat the American. She would wash him and would give him anesthesia during the operation and would look after him.

Question 5.
What will Dr. Sadao do to get rid of the man? ,
Answer:
Dr. Sadao will instruct the man to go to a nearby unguarded island. He will give him a boat, a flashlight, food, and water. He will ask him to escape in a Korean boat.

The Enemy Reading with Insight

Question 1.
There are moments in life when we have to make hard choices between our roles as private individuals and as citizens with a sense of national loyalty. Discuss with reference to the story ‘The Enemy’. [HOTS]
Answer:
We come across moments in life when we have to make hard choices between our roles as private individuals and as citizens with a sense of national loyalty. Dr. Sadao faced a similar dilemma when he found a young American soldier at the threshold of his house. He was caught between the spirit of patriotism and medical ethics. He didn’t want to be a traitor and protect an enemy but at the same time as a doctor, he didn’t want the grievously injured man to die. It had been a hard choice for him. Dr. Sadao finally chose to treat the man and saved his life. He showcases the spirit of humanity and professional ethics.

Question 2.
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?
Answer:
Hana, initially, was not very comfortable in saving the American. Though she had brought this man to her house, she was not very sympathetic. But when the domestic help openly defied her and refused to wash the American, Hana washed the whiteman herself. In fact, she had immense faith in humanity and gradually became sympathetic to the American.

Question 3.
How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s home even when he knew he could not stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
Answer:
The American soldier was reluctant to leave the shelter of the doctor’s house because he felt safe and secure there. He was afraid of being caught again if he were to step out of the house.

Question 4.
What explains the attitude of the General in the matter of the enemy soldier? Was it human consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self-absorption?
Answer:
The General is so much self-absorbed that he cannot think of anything else. He promises Dr. Sadao to send the assassins but forgets as he is busy in issues relating to his own health. Moreover, he keeps all this as a secret and saves Dr. Sadao only for himself because he knows that no one, except for Dr. Sadao, can treat him.

Question 5.
While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during war time, what makes a human being rise above the narrow prejudices?
Answer:
It is the faith in humanity and devotion to one’s profession that makes a human being rise above the narrow prejudices. Dr. Sadao, an expert surgeon, cannot leave a patient untreated. It is his professional ethics as well as his humanitarian nature which makes him rise above narrow prejudices in the name of color, caste, and creed.

Question 6.
Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?
Answer:
There’s no doubt that there could be no better solution than the one that Dr. Sadao found. Initially, he told the truth to the General and waited for three nights for the assassins. Finally, he let the prisoner go away.

The Enemy Short Questions and Answers

Question 1.
How nearly had Dr. Sadao missed marrying Hana? [Delhi 2013 (C)]
Answer:
Dr. Sadao met Hana at a party at Professor Harley’s house in America. The Professor and his wife had invited their foreign students home. Students used to get bored there. Dr. Sadao was not in a mood to go to the Professor’s house that night because the rooms were very small and the food was very bad. Moreover, Professor’s wife was voluble. But he went and there he met Hana. Had he not gone to the Professor’s house that night, he would have missed meeting and finally marrying Hana.

Question 2.
Did Hana think that the Japanese tortured their prisoners of war? Why? [Delhi 2012]
Answer:
Hana had heard rumors that the Japanese tortured the prisoners of war. She also remembered that people like General Takima often beat their wives. She was convinced that if these people could beat their wives and be cruel to them, then they would certainly torture their enemies. This became evident when she saw scars on the body of the American soldier.

Question 3.
Why had Hana to wash the wounded man herself? [Delhi 2012, Foreign 2013]
Answer:
Hana had ordered her maid Yumi to wash the American soldier. But Yumi bluntly refused to do so
and said that she would have nothing to do with a white man. She even threatened to leave the job if forced to wash the American. So Hana had to wash the wounded man herself.

Question 4.
What help did Dr. Sadao seek from Hana while operating on the wounded man? [All India 2014 (C), Delhi 2012]
Answer:
Dr. Sadao needed the assistance from Hana while operating. The wound was so deep that the man was to be given anesthesia. Dr. Sadao asked Hana to help him by giving anesthesia to the man during the operation. Though Hana had never done this before, she managed to help Dr. Sadao in his operation.

Question 5.
What made a cool surgeon like Dr. Sadao speak sharply to his wife and what was her reaction? [Delhi 2013]
Answer:
When Dr. Sadao asked his wife to help him in operating upon the man by giving him an anesthetic, Hana turned pale out of nervousness. She had never seen an operation before. When Dr. Sadao saw her, he sharply said, ‘Don’t faint’. It was his dedication to his work as a surgeon. He wanted to save the life of the man and at this point in time, the only concern in his mind was the success of the operation. Hana knew him well so didn’t react rather got ready to give the anesthetic to the patient.

Question 6.
In what context Hana remember the cruel nature of General Takima? [All India 2013]
Answer:
While Hana was helping Dr. Sadao in operating upon the American, she noticed a red scar. She wondered if this man had been tortured by the Japanese army. She also remembered that people like General Takima beat their wives and were cruel to them. She was convinced that if these people could be cruel to their wives, they would certainly be cruel to their enemies.

Question 7.
What solution did Hana offer to resolve Dr. Sadao’s predicament? [Foreign 2013]
Answer:
When Dr. Sadao and Hana saw the wounded American soldier, at first they thought of throwing him back into the sea. But they could not do so. Finally, Hana resolved the problem by saying that they should carry him into the house. She suggested that the man should be treated and then given to the police.

Question 8.
How did Hana react when she saw a messenger at the door in an official uniform? [Foreign 2013]
Answer:
Hana got nervous and scared when she saw a messenger at the door in an official uniform. Her hands
went weak and she could not draw her breath. She thought that the servants must have told about the American POW and the man had come to arrest Dr. Sadao.

Question 9.
Why did the General not order the immediate arrest of Dr. Sadao who had sheltered a white man? [All India 2014 (C)]
Answer:
The General was very worried about his own health as he was suffering a lot. He desperately wanted Dr. Sadao beside him and trusted only him for his medical treatment. If Dr. Sadao was arrested, then there was no one else who could have operated upon him and saved his life. So he didn’t order for the immediate arrest of Dr. Sadao.

Question 10.
Why did Dr. Sadao treat the American soldier even though it was an unpatriotic act on his part? [All India 2014 (C)]
Answer:
Dr. Sadao was an expert surgeon. He was devoted to his work. When he saw the wounded soldier, his professional ethics compelled him to give the man medical treatment and save his life. Though he was a loyal and patriotic citizen, humanity and compassion compelled Dr. Sadao to treat the American soldier.

Question 11.
In what condition did Dr. Sadao find the American soldier at the seashore? [All India 2015]
Answer:
When Dr. Sadao saw the man at the seashore, he was unconscious and bleeding profusely. He was in wet rags, had yellow, long hair which was not cut for many weeks, and sported a rough yellow beard.

Question 12.
What role did the American professor play in bringing Hana and Dr. Sadao together? [All India 2015]
Answer:
It was at the American professor’s house that Dr. Sadao met Hana for the first time. The professor and his wife, in order to show their kindness to the foreign students, had invited them to their house. Though Dr. Sadao didn’t want to go there, he went and there he met Hana who was a first-year student.

Question 13.
Who did Dr. Sadao think the survivor from the sea was when he first saw him? [All India 2015]
Answer:
When Dr. Sadao saw the man on the seashore, he thought him to be a fisherman from a nearby village who had been washed ashore from his boat. There were fishing villages, a mile or two away on either side.

Question 14.
Why did Dr. Sadao seek Hana’s help to treat the US soldier? [Foreign 2015]
Answer:
The US Soldier was badly wounded. He had a deep wound that was to be operated upon immediately. Dr. Sadao needed some assistance at the time of operation. The most important task was to give anesthesia to the patient at the time of operation so as to stop his movement. Dr. Sadao could not call anyone from outside as he had to keep the presence of a US soldier in his house a secret. So he asked Hana to help him during the operation and give anesthesia to the patient.

Question 15.
On the seventh day, after the American soldier was found by Dr. Sadao, two things happened. Why did Hana feel scared of the second? [Foreign 2015]
Answer:
The second thing that happened on the seventh day was that a messenger came in official uniform to call on Dr. Sadao. When Hana saw the official, she got scared. She thought that the servants might have complained to the police about the white man and so the official had come to arrest Dr. Sadao.

Question 16.
Give two reasons why Dr. Sadao was not sent abroad with the Japanese soldiers.
Answer:
The General was very ill and he was being treated by Dr. Sadao. He needed an operation and for that, he trusted only Dr. Sadao. Moreover, Dr. Sadao was doing research to render ‘the wounds entirely clean’; that is why he was not sent abroad with the Japanese soldiers.

Question 17.
Give a character sketch of Dr. Sadao’s father.
Answer:
Dr. Sadao’s father was a traditional man. He was a serious and stern man and a very concerned father. He never played with Dr. Sadao but had been very keen on providing the best to him. He was mainly concerned about Dr. Sadao’s education, that is why he sent Dr. Sadao to America to study. But at the same time, he wanted him to come back and serve his people. He had great respect for his culture and traditions.

Question 18.
How did the General offer to help Dr. Sadao in getting rid of the American?
Answer:
The General offered to send his private assassins to help Dr. Sadao in getting rid of the American. These assassins would kill the white man noiselessly and also dispose of his body.

Question 19.
What was the dilemma faced by Dr. Sadao and Hana after encountering the injured American soldier?
Answer:
When Hana and Dr. Sadao saw the American soldier, they were in a dilemma. They were very loyal to their country and didn’t want to save the enemy. They wanted to hand him over to the police. But the man was wounded and in a pitiable state. Thus, the doctor inside Dr. Sadao urged him to save his life. Humanity rose above patriotism and they thought of first treating him and then handing him over to the police.

Question 20.
Why does the General not want to be treated by doctors trained in Germany?
Answer:
The General trusted Dr. Sadao deeply. He didn’t want to be operated upon by anyone other than Dr. Sadao. The General believed that Germans were ruthless and quite cruel. So he was afraid of being operated upon by them. He believed that the Americans valued life and had sentiments attached to it. So he wanted to be treated by Dr. Sadao who was trained in America.

The Enemy Long Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Why did Dr. Sadao Hoki go to America? Narrate his experience there. [All India 2012]
Ans. Dr. Sadao Hoki was a skilled surgeon and scientist who was working on his discovery to ‘render the wounds clean’. Dr. Sadao was brought up by his father who was a staunch Japanese. His chief concern was Dr. Sadao’s education. He was sent to America at the age of twenty-two to learn all that could be learned of surgery and medicine. He returned at the age of thirty and by that time had become famous not only as a surgeon but also as a scientist. Dr. Sadao had a tough time adjusting in America as he remembered that Americans were full of prejudice. It had been bitter for him to live there. He had an ignorant and dirty old woman as his landlady. The best thing in America had been to meet Hana, his wife, at one of his professor’s house who was a dull man and his wife, a silly talkative woman. Her experience in America had not been so good as he had to adjust a lot there, is a Japanese.

Question 2.
What impression do you form about Dr. Sadao as a man and a surgeon on your reading the chapter ‘The Enemy’? [All India 2012]
Answer:
Dr. Sadao was a skilled surgeon and a famous scientist. His excellence in his professional field was evident from the fact that the General had full faith in him as regards his health. Dr. Sadao was devoted to his work and to the cause of the needy. When he saw the American soldier in a wounded condition, he was torn between the natural human instinct to save his life and treat him or as a patriot hand him over to the police.

Dr. Sadao saved the life of the man as per his professional ethics as he could not leave a person to die. It was his duty to save the life of a person as a doctor. At this point of time, when Dr. Sadao saw this dying man, his spirit of humanity surpassed everything else and so he saved one life irrespective of any colour, caste or creed.

Question 3.
Do you think Dr. Sadao’s final decision was the best possible one in the circumstances? Why/Why not? Explain with reference to the story, ‘The Enemy’. [Delhi 2013]
Answer:
Dr. Sadao saved the life of an American war prisoner as his professional and humanitarian duty. But he was very loyal to his country too. He told the General about the white man and the General promised to send his private assassins to kill him. But due to his self-absorption in his illness, the General forgot to send them. Thus, finally, Dr. Sadao decided to help the American soldier escape from there. He gave him a boat, flashlight, food and water and asked him to go to a nearby unguarded island. He could look for a Korean boat and escape.

This could be the best solution in the prevailing circumstances. Dr. Sadao was in danger of being caught for harbouring a POW. In that case, he would be questioned for the reason to give this enemy a shelter in his house. So in order to save his reputation and the life of the white man, there could be no better way than what Dr. Sadao had decided.

Question 4.
Explain the reaction of the servants in Dr. Sadao’s house when he decided to give shelter to an enemy in the house. [All India 2014]
Answer:
The servants didn’t like the idea of giving shelter to an enemy in the house. Yumi, the governess of the children, stubbornly refused to wash the white man and threatened to leave the job if she was forced. When Dr. Sadao told his gardener about the wounded white man, he got upset and even frightened. He opposed Dr. Sadao for treating his enemy. In fact, all the servants in the house were critical of Dr. Sadao’s sheltering the enemy. They refused to help him. They were superstitious and fearful about the wrath of nature. They tried their level best to send the white man away. Finally, when Dr. Sadao didn’t listen to them and decided to give shelter to the white man in his house, they left the house.

Question 5.
What conflicting ideas arise in Dr. Sadao’s mind after he has brought the wounded American soldier home? How is the conflict resolved? [Delhi 2014 (C)]
Answer:
When Dr. Sadao brought the wounded American soldier home, he was wondering whether what he was doing was right. The conflict was between his duty as a doctor and as a loyal citizen. As a doctor, it was his professional duty to help and save a dying man. But as a patriot and a loyal citizen of his country, he was supposed to hand over this man to the police as he was a POW, an enemy. The moment Dr. Sadao felt his wound and found that the man needed to be operated upon immediately, he forgot about everything else and his humanitarian virtues as a doctor made him operate upon the man and save his life.

Question 6.
How did Dr. Sadao help the American POW to escape? What humanitarian values do you find in his act? [Foreign 2015]
Answer:
Dr. Sadao gave the American prisoner of war a boat, a flashlight, food and water. He told him to go to a nearby unguarded island. He should siay there till a Korean boat passed by and then escape taking refuge in it. He dressed him in Japanese clothes and wrapped a black cloth on his head. He asked him to signal him two flashes at the same instant the sun drops over the horizon. He asked him to signal him once if he was all right till the time he escaped in Korean boat. He helped the American soldier to escape and save his life.
This act of Dr. Sadao was an act of humanism and compassion. As a doctor he had saved the life of a man without of any prejudice. Dr. Sadao had displayed himself as a man, full of compassion and humanity by this act.

Question 7.
Dr. Sadao was a patriotic Japanese as well as a dedicated surgeon. How could he honour both the values? [Delhi 2015]
Answer:
Dr. Sadao was a patriotic Japanese as well as a dedicated surgeon. He honoured both the values excellently. As a surgeon, his duty was to save the life of a man irrespective of caste, colour or creed. For a doctor, his patient is beyond any prejudice. When Dr. Sadao saw the white man, he realised that the man would die if he was not immediately operated upon. So he took the man to his house and treated him and saved his life. That was his duty as a dedicated surgeon.

Dr. Sadao was a loyal citizen of Japan and a true patriot. So when he went to the General, he told him everything and sought his help. Dr. Sadao had no pity for the white man and considered him his enemy. The General assured to send his assassins but forgot. So at the end, Dr. Sadao had to help the prisoner of war to escape from there.

Question 8.
Good human values are far above any other value system. How did Dr. Sadao succeed as a doctor as well as a patriot? [Delhi 2017]
Answer:
Dr Sadao was an intelligent and a committed doctor, very adept in surgical skills and was an efficient scientist too. The story ‘The Enemy’ portrays Dr Sadao as true to his profession as it was his primary duty to help a wounded person without caring for his identity. When tom between loyalty towards his country and his duty as a doctor to save life, he chose humanity over patriotism. At the same time, he was not
shown as lacking national loyalty. After saving the American soldier, he wrote a report about the whole matter but did not send it to the police chief, instead he disclosed everything boldly to the General. These are the instances in the story that project Dr Sadao’s humanitarian considerations, his surgical expertise and patriotism. He showed that good human values are far above any other value system.

Question 9.
Dr. Sadao used his skills as a doctor not only to keep the prisoner alive but also to safeguard himself. Discuss.
Answer:
Dr. Sadao was an expert surgeon. He saved the life of the enemy by operating upon him. But he was in danger of being caught as a traitor for sheltering an enemy. Very intelligently, he used his skills as a doctor to protect himself. He knew very well that the General relied on him for his health and would never let him suffer any harm. So he told the General everything and got an assurance from him to get rid off the white man. But when the General forgot to do so, Dr. Sadao helped the white man to escape. Knowing that General would never take any action against him he told him that the . man had escaped. It was only due to his professional skills as a doctor that he could save himself.

Question 10.
At what point did Dr. Sadao decide that it was time to get the enemy out of his house? [HOTS]
Answer:
The General had assured Dr. Sadao of sending his assassins to kill the white man. Dr. Sadao waited for three nights for those assassins but they didn’t come. Every night was full of stress and anxiety for him. Hana was overburdened with the household work as all the servants had left. They were in constant danger of being caught for giving shelter to an American. At this point of time, Dr. Sadao decided that it was time to get the enemy out of his house. He decided to arrange for an escape of the white man in order to save himself. So he arranged a boat, extra clothing, food and water. He gave a flashlight to the American and asked him to go to a nearby unguarded island and from there wait for a Korean fishing boat and escape.

Question 11.
Write an article on the topic ‘Humanity is the essence of our existence’.
Answer:
We are human beings—the most superior species on the earth. Emotions such as empathy, humanity, compassion, love and devotion make us superior. Every human heart breathes these emotions. Humanity is the most important trait in our personality. Humanity is above territories, caste, creed and colour. Though we are divided into various countries, continents, states, etc. we must remember that these territories are constituted on the basis of ethnicity, formed by the people of some race and creed. All these are governed by the law, that we have made. But for nature, there is no such discrimination. For the sea, the sun, the rain, the air we all are the same. We all must remember the fact that it is the humanity the oneness with each other, which is the essence of our existence.

Question 12.
Which, according to you, is higher — humanity or patriotism? Write a paragraph on the topic: Humanity vs Patriotism.
Answer:

Humanity vs Patriotism

Humanity is above any boundary or prejudice, whereas patriotism is loyalty to one particular country or place where we live. Both are essential for human beings. We should be loyal and devoted to our country and full of patriotic fervour. Humanity is boundless. It is above any caste, creed or race. It includes love for others. Humanity makes one compassionate, humble and loving. Humanity is a virtue which unites the entire human race as one, whereas patriotism is comparatively narrow. It is a set of strengths focused on tending others. Thus, it is humanity ,which acquires the highest place among all the virtues.

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