The Enemy

Pearl S. Buck's story is set in Japan during the Second World War and centres on Dr Sadao Hoki, a skilled surgeon trained partly in America, who lives with his wife Hana in a house by the sea. Sadao's father raised him with an unusually rigorous, exacting standard of professional excellence, and Sadao has become one of Japan's most capable surgeons, occasionally called upon to treat the ailing old General, a figure of some political importance.

The wounded man

One evening, Sadao and Hana discover a badly wounded man washed up on the private beach behind their house. He turns out to be a white man — an escaped American prisoner of war, shot and gravely injured. Sadao's medical instinct is immediate: as a surgeon, his first response is to try to save the man's life, even though the man is technically the enemy in a war Japan is actively fighting against America.

Hana shares his instinct, though both are aware of the immense danger involved — sheltering an enemy soldier is treasonous, and their own servants, upon realising who the injured man is, threaten to leave rather than be complicit.

The operation and its aftermath

Sadao performs surgery on the American, removing a bullet and treating his wounds, working with the same rigorous professional care he would give any patient. As the American, whose name is Tom, slowly recovers, hidden in a room in Sadao's own house, the couple faces mounting anxiety about discovery — their servants have already fled, and the risk of exposure grows daily.

Sadao is torn between his duty as a doctor, which compels him to save any patient regardless of nationality, and his duty as a Japanese citizen, which technically demands he report or even kill an enemy soldier found on his property. He even, in a moment of genuine internal conflict, considers whether he should simply let the man die or hand him over to the authorities, who would certainly execute him.

The General's involvement, and the escape

Fearing discovery, Sadao eventually informs the old General of the situation, hoping for guidance or protection. The General, more concerned with his own political position and his need for Sadao's surgical skill than with any ideological commitment to punishing the escaped prisoner, agrees to quietly arrange for assassins to deal with the matter — but delays doing so, distracted by his own illness, and the assassins never actually arrive.

Sadao, growing increasingly uneasy waiting for a resolution that may end violently, ultimately decides to help Tom escape by boat under cover of darkness, providing him with supplies, directions to a nearby uninhabited island where he might be picked up by a passing boat, and a working flashlight to signal for rescue. Tom escapes successfully, and the story ends with Sadao, watching the coastline at night, catching sight of a light — presumably Tom's signal — and feeling, in a complicated way, that his decision to save a human life, even an enemy's, was the right one.

Dr Sadao Hoki

Sadao is defined by a genuine, deeply internalised commitment to his profession — a standard instilled by his exacting father — that makes him treat medical duty as something close to an unconditional obligation, overriding even wartime loyalty in the moment of decision. His internal conflict is presented sympathetically and honestly: he does seriously consider letting Tom die or handing him over, which makes his eventual choice to help feel earned rather than automatic.

His decision to help Tom escape, rather than simply nurse him back to health and then report him, shows a deeper commitment to Tom's life as a human being, not merely as a patient under his professional care.

Hana

Hana shares Sadao's compassion but experiences the accompanying fear just as intensely — her reactions (initial horror at the wounded man, then steady support through the risky recovery period) humanise the danger the couple face, showing that their choice to help is not made lightly or without real personal cost.

The old General

The General is a study in self-interested pragmatism rather than either genuine cruelty or genuine compassion. He arranges for Tom's assassination not out of ideological conviction but simply to protect Sadao (whose surgical skill he depends on) from discovery — and his failure to follow through is driven by his own illness and self-absorption, not by any change of heart. His inadvertent inaction is what ultimately gives Sadao room to act.

Tom

Tom appears mostly as a wounded, largely passive figure during his recovery, defined by his vulnerability and his gradual return to health under Sadao's care. His escape at the end represents the culmination of Sadao and Hana's risk-taking rather than any action of his own devising.

The servants

Their departure upon learning the injured man's nationality illustrates the real, ordinary danger and social pressure Sadao and Hana face — even people otherwise loyal to the household are unwilling to risk the consequences of harbouring an enemy soldier.

Humanity over nationalism

The story's central argument is that shared humanity can, and should, outweigh national loyalty, at least in the specific moral test the story constructs — a doctor confronted with a wounded man who happens to be technically an enemy. Sadao's medical instinct to save a life proves stronger than the wartime hatred he is officially expected to feel, and the story presents this as a form of moral courage rather than weakness or disloyalty.

Professional duty as moral obligation

Sadao's identity as a surgeon is presented as carrying genuine ethical weight, not merely technical skill. His father's exacting standards have instilled in him a sense that a doctor's duty to save life is close to unconditional, and the story treats this professional ethic as a legitimate, serious counterweight to nationalist loyalty, rather than something to be dismissed.

Compassion under social pressure

The story is careful to show that Sadao and Hana's compassion carries real social and physical risk — their servants flee, they face possible treason charges, and they must actively resist the temptation to simply let events (the General's assassins) take their course rather than act themselves. This grounds the story's moral argument in genuine difficulty rather than easy idealism.

The randomness of survival

Tom's survival hinges partly on the General's illness and distraction — a matter of chance rather than moral triumph. The story's realism is enhanced by this detail: goodness and courage matter, but they operate alongside circumstance and luck rather than guaranteeing outcomes on their own.

Close third-person narration

The story is told in the third person but stays close to Sadao's internal deliberation — his hesitations, his fear, his sense of professional duty — which lets the reader experience the moral conflict from inside his decision-making rather than as an outside observer, generating genuine suspense about which loyalty will win out.

A contained, domestic setting

Much of the story takes place within Sadao's own house, particularly the room where Tom is hidden — a deliberately confined, private setting that intensifies the tension, since the danger of discovery is always physically close and constant rather than distant or abstract.

Structural pacing through delay

The story builds tension through a series of delays — the General's promised assassins never arrive, Tom's recovery takes time, the servants' departure happens gradually rather than all at once. This pacing mirrors Sadao's own prolonged, unresolved internal conflict, letting the reader sit with the same uncertainty he does.

An ending that acts without fully resolving

The story ends with a concrete action (Tom's escape) but leaves Sadao's feelings only partially resolved — he watches for a light on the horizon and feels, in a complicated way, that he did the right thing, but the story does not offer a clean, triumphant conclusion. This restraint keeps the moral question genuinely open rather than neatly answered.

Symbolic light

The final image of a distant light, presumably Tom's signal, functions as a quiet symbol of hope and of a life saved — a small, private confirmation rather than any public vindication of Sadao's choice.

The questions that recur

• Sadao's internal conflict — doctor's duty versus citizen's duty.
• Why the servants leave.
• The General's role and why the assassins never arrive.
• Why Sadao helps Tom escape rather than simply handing him over.
• The story's theme — humanity over nationalism.

On Sadao's central conflict

A full answer names both sides of the dilemma precisely: his professional obligation as a surgeon to save any patient's life, instilled by his father's exacting standards, against his obligation as a Japanese citizen during wartime to treat an American soldier as an enemy, potentially reportable or worthy of death. Answers that only mention one side are incomplete.

On the General's role

Be precise: the General agrees to send assassins, largely out of self-interest (protecting Sadao's usefulness to him) rather than ideological conviction, but delays, distracted by his own illness — and the assassins simply never arrive, which is what gives Sadao the opportunity to act on his own.

Details worth memorising

Dr Sadao Hoki; his wife Hana; the wounded American, Tom; the old General; the setting during World War II; the servants' departure; the flashlight and supplies given for the escape.

Mistakes that cost marks

• Presenting Sadao's decision as easy or automatic rather than genuinely conflicted.
• Omitting the General's role and his reason for delaying.
• Missing the ambiguity of the ending — Sadao's feelings are not presented as fully, triumphantly resolved.