Chapter 2 The Enemy

Dr. Sadao was a famous surgeon and scientist of Japan. He was a sympathetic man who remained loyal to his profession even in adverse situations. He lived in his ancestral square stone house in Japan which was built upon rocks, above a narrow beach, on the Japanese coast.

Humanity and love are the only saving grace in this materialistic world governed by hatred and chaos. Our lives should be centered on harbouring these feelings in ourselves and in those around us.

Keeping this in mind, if a doctor gets an opportunity to save a distressed and wounded person, he should definitely help him. People consider doctors next to God. Even their profession asks them to help all patients, regardless of caste, race, religion or nationality. Thus, keeping humanity superior to anything else in life, the war prisoner should definitely be saved.

Dr Sadao, on humanitarian grounds as well as considering it his professional duty, tended a wounded war prisoner which was officially a serious crime. However, he did not get punished for this offence as it was never revealed to anyone, except his wife, loyal but timid servants, and a General who was too self-obsessed with his own treatment that he would never let the doctor leave him.

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 opted out of it. As a result, Hana had no other option but to wash him herself. Although this act was impulsive and dipped in a sense of superiority over her servant, Yumi, she did it with sincerity.

Dr Sadao and Hana found an unconscious wounded war prisoner who posed a huge threat to their own safety. However, Dr Sadao decided to go with his gut feeling and operate on him. He saved his life even though it was for the time being. Though half heartedly, both took good care of the patient’s health and other needs. Hana even washed and fed him with her own hands. Although they knew that they would have to hand him over to the army sooner or later, they did their best to help the injured man.

Dr Sadao, on humanitarian grounds as well as professional grounds, tended a wounded war prisoner which was officially a serious crime. However, he did not get punished for this offence as it was never revealed to anyone, except his wife, loyal but timid servants, and a General who was too self-obsessed with his own treatment that he would never let the doctor leave him.

With the injured American’s health gradually improving, Dr Sadao and Hana were in a fix as to what should be done with him. Their loyal servants had left them and keeping him in their house could pose a threat to their lives. 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.

Life has many facets. We live it by maintaining a delicate balance between the various facets it offers to us as part of our existence as an individual in a society. Living for our own self, family, profession and country are just a few of them. However at times, it becomes difficult to maintain this balance, and gets overpowered by confusion and dilemmas.

The story about Dr Sadao, Hana and the war prisoner exemplifies this. On finding a wounded war prisoner washed ashore, Dr Sadao and Hana are unable to decide what to do. They are confused whether they should save and tend the injured or leave him to die or inform the army.

Eventually, Dr Sadao strikes a balance by deciding to save him before handing him over to the army. He and his wife sympathetically tend him but the pressure, of secretly hiding a war prisoner in their home and going against the rule of the law, subdue their sympathetic self. In a bid to get rid of this burden, Dr Sadao reveals it to the General who promises to get the prisoner killed through assassins. But Dr Sadao’s humane side again pops up asking him to ply with the voice of his soul, and he  goes out of his way to help the enemy soldier flee to safety.

Dr Sadao and Hana knew that their decision to save the enemy soldier would be questioned by everyone. However, they firmly followed their sense of duty. For Dr Sadao this sense of duty came from the profession he was in; but for Hana, the duty was purely humanitarian. From bearing the unrest in her domestic staff to being forced to do all the chores of house-hold herself, she does all with grace and dignity. Hana’s loving, considerate and sympathetic nature shines out. She washed and fed the soldier although it was not her job. Her care helped recuperate the soldier fast. It is also apparent from the story that she respected her husband, and as a sense of duty towards him, did the needful. This explains why she, even after feeling sick, comes back to the room and readily does whatever is told by her husband during the operation.

When the American war prisoner came to consciousness and realized that he was saved by a Japanese family, he feared that he will be soon handed over to the army. However, as he noticed the amount of concern and care given to him by the family, he understood that he was in safe hands. He knew that although he was a threat to the doctor’s family, his own life might be saved there. Burdened with gratitude towards the family, he ultimately decides to comply with what the doctor planned for him – the escape.

The General was totally governed by self absorption. He was a patient of Dr Sadao and did not trust anyone except him when it came to his health. He could not take the risk of living unprotected if the doctor was executed for treachery. He had personal assassins whom he promised to use for killing the injured soldier. But ironically, he ‘forgot’ his promise to help the doctor. Human consideration was not his cup of tea.

News of war is fast becoming a way of life. The moment one picks up a newspaper, one is bombarded with news of wars between different countries, directly or indirectly. It is obvious that the countries at war are enemies and hatred is a part of this enmity. However the success of humanity comes when we rise above this enmity and show our love towards the civilization as a whole. Dr Sadao did the same. He did whatever he could to save the life of a man whom he knew was a war prisoner. The instant he saw the injured man, he was filled with concern. Ignoring the fact that he was the enemy of his country and must have killed so many Japanese and may kill even more, if alive, he saved him.

The doctor tried his best to save the injured soldier as a part of his duty. But the ultimate question was what to do next. It cannot be said that he betrayed his country as he told the truth to the General. However when he noticed that the soldier was to be killed not for the benefit of the country but only to save the doctor’s life, he decided to help him flee. In such a situation, the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one.

The story definitely reminds one of “Birth’ by A. J. Cronin.  There is a striking similarity between both the stories. Both revolve around doctors who try their level best to save the lives of nearly dead human beings.  In the story ‘Birth’, Dr Andrew saves the life of an almost still born baby boy with lot of effort, while ‘The Enemy’ deals with the story of Dr Sadao who saves an American soldier from the enemy troops during the times of war.  Both the stories deal with humanity, love, affection, selflessness and a strong sense of duty.

The story ‘The Enemy’ is built on the pillars of selflessness, sense of duty, kindness and generosity. There have been many films and novels based on this theme. One such example is the film ‘My Name is Khan’, where the protagonist, with a sense of duty and generosity, goes to the flooded Georgia to save the lives of his friends, Mama Jenny, Joel and other natives. He selflessly works to save the town without thinking twice about the possible dangers to his own life.