The Enemy\Pearl S. Buck

The Enemy\Pearl S. Buck

Well, it has been a while since we did a full story, so let’s all take a very deep breath before we begin talking about enemies OK?

Ready?

First things first-let's get to know the story:

When does it happen?

As we can understand from the story itself,  it happens at a time where there is war between Japan and America. Such war occurred between 1941 and 1945. this means that the story takes place between those years.

Who are our characters?

1. Dr. Sadao Hoki- (nobody cares for his last name, you can forget it peacefully)- this guy is our favorite guy- he is a very good doctor who was not sent to the war in order to be available if the old General needs treatment. He is quite rich, and is married to Hana whom he met in America while he was getting his degree there.
2. Hana Hoki- she is Sadao's wife- she was educated in America and met there her husband. They were married only after Sadao was sure she was a full blooded Japanese. Sadao and Hana are really in love- the kind of love you see in movies, or stories.
3. The American- Tom. The poor guy (or very lucky one) was washed up on the shore next to the  Hoki house, and was then treated, healed , and managed to escape Japan. He was a sailor in the U.S Navy, and was probably tortured before arriving to Sadao's hands.
4. The Old General- a very old, very respected General. Since he is old he is also quite sick. The only doctor he trusts is Sadao, which is why sadao doesn’t leave for war (so that if something happens to the General, Sadao could treat him immidiately).
5. Sadao's father- he is not really present in the story itself, but he affected Sadao- he was the reason Sadao had to make sure Hana is fully Japanese , his room was entirely Japanese too, and in short, he was an old schooled japanese and a real patriot.
6. Yumi- we don’t know her last name.She is one of the servants in the Hoki house-she cleans and takes care of the children. She is also a patriot, and loyal to her employers.
7. The gardener - also one of the servants , he worked for sadao's father, and knew Sadao from early age.
8. The cook- a servant, we don’t know much about her.

Wonderful! Now we know all people who have something to do in the story, and we can start and finish reviewing it.

Please note- this summary contains only a summary of the story itself-no extra things like there are in Hebrew.

Part 1- A white man is washed up to the shore

The story begins with a simple description of Sadao's house, and what he did there as a child. It not very interesting, but we do learn here that there are islands not very far from the house, and that the house itself is on the shore.

We also learn that all that worried Sadao's father was his education- which is why at the age of 22 ,Sadao was sent to America to study medicine. There he met beloved wife Hana, but he waited before he fell in love because he had to make sure she was really Japanese.

After he came back to Japan Sadao became not only a famous doctor but also a famous scientist. He was now working on some very cool invention (something that will make wounds very clean very fast), and that is the official reason to why he was not with the troops in the war. The real reason, is that he was the doctor of the old General , and he had to stay close to him (to give him the best care as fast as possible).

Our dear Sadao is standing on their porch, and then Hana comes out, they stand together and look at the sea that is covered with fog ( I know I promised no extras, but just remember that fog means mystery), and then all of a sudden a black figure pops out of the sea. They both understand that it is the figure of  man, and they run to him.

On their was to the man they think it is a sailor that was washed from his boat and hit some rocks. As they came closer to the man they could see blood dripping from his wounds. Sadao being the doctor he is, bent down to treat the man and then he saw his face- he was a white man- an American . Oh no! we are at war with the Americans what should we do?

They could see on the man's face that he was young, and was probably tortured before he got to the sea. After thinking for a while about the man being white , Sadao remembered that the man was wounded , and tried to stop the bleeding- he found a bullet wound that wasn’t treated, and opened. While the couple was thinking of what to do with the man , Sadao packed his wounds with sea moss.

The first thought that came to their heads was to put the man back to the sea (and basically let him die). While looking at the man and thinking they find out that the man is a sailor in the U.S Navy, meaning he is a prisoner of war.

They keep on thinking , and realize that none of them can throw the man back to the sea ( if he was not wounded, they both agreed that they would have turned him over to the police immediately), so they decide to take him back to their house, treat him, make sure he heals and then turn him over to the police (this is also what they say to the servants)

Part 2- The surgery

So, our beautiful couple carries the young man home, and they put him in the old room of Sadao's father- a room where everything is pure Japan (everything is made in Japan).

Since the man is so very dirty he needs to be washed before anything can be done to treat his wounds,but Hana does not want to touch him ( he is, in fact, an American, her enemy), so they decide to tell all the servants and tell Yumi (the one who cleans and takes care of the children), to wash the man.

They don’t really know what to do with him, but anyway , no matter if they decide to operate or not, he still must be cleaned. Hana goes out to call Yumi to clean the man, while Sadao goes to tell the other servants. When Hana comes back with Yumi, the gardener tells her that the white man must not be saved , since both the gun (he was shot), and the sea (he hit some rocks on the way) tried to kill him already, and Sadao can't interfere with their wishes. Hana just told him that she will pass the message, and went on.

When Yumi and Hana entered the room where the white man was, Yumi realized what was happening and said that she will not wash the man , nor get close to him- Hana, even though she is the boss, doesn’t force her probably because she is afraid Yumi might say something to the authorities).

After Yumi left the room Hana stood there alone with the man , and because she was angry at Yumi for not doing as she said her fear of the man became lesser, she started cleaning him.

When she finished she called Sadao, who came with his emergency  surgery kit, and Hana realized that Sadao decided to perform a surgery.

They begin the surgery- sadao tells Hana what to do and she does it, bt then he asks her to give the man anesthetics if he needs it, but Hana never participated in a surgery so she doesn’t know how to. Sadao starts the surgery.

As we already said, Hana never saw a surgery, so when Sadao started it, and a lot of blood started flowing from the man's wounds, Hana felt really bad, and almost fainted. But Sadao couldn’t stop the surgery and be there for her, because if he did the man will surely die, so Hana ran out of the room , puked everything from the past week (sorry for the description), and then like a big girl, she returned to the room and asked what to do. Sadao explains it to her really quickly and she does it.

As she gave the man the anesthetics she noticed some scars on his neck, and she wondered where he got them from – she suspects he was tortured.

Every once in a while some rumors of torture popped up , but they were always discarded. But now Hana remembered a story of a respected General , who did great on the battle field, but hit his wife at home- she thought if men can do such horrible things to their wives,what can they do to enemy soldiers?

Sadao started talking to the white man, just like he talks to any of his other patients (which tells us he forgot that the man on his table is an enemy). He finds the bullet and takes it out and the surgery is finished.  The man had a very weak pulse, but it was still there, so Sadao gave him a medicine , and declared that he will live after all. Yayyyyy so fun!

But wait, it's not over yet.

Part 3- The man wakes up and the servants leave

Well the surgery was a success , the man survived, and now it is time to wake up. When he first wakes Hana was in the room. He opened his eyes ,realized where he was , and his eyes filled with terror. Hana wanted to apologize (for scaring him), so she came near him and told him in English that he should not be afraid (she also tells him how she got her English). She then fed him (see how she is the only one dealing with him? The servants won't come near him ).

The first time Sadao saw the man awake, he was sitting when Sadao entered the room. Sadao got a bit mad at him ( since sitting can cause the stitches to open ), the man (who now looks a little bit more like a child- no more than 20 ) asks Sadao if he is going to turn him over to the police, a question to which Sadao replies with :"I don’t know myself what I shall do with you" . Sadao starts talking about how he must go to the police and stuff like that, and the man wants to respond, but Sadao tells him not to a say a thing, not even his name to Sadao, unless he asks.

Outside the room Hana meets Sadao and tells him that the servants have threatened to leave. They told her that she and Sadao think more like Americans than like Japanese, and that they no longer think of their country first like they should.

We then learn exactly what the servants said:

• The gardener- he thinks that the man was so close to death, so Sadao should have left him to die.
• The cook – she thinks that Sadao just wanted to brag his skill of saving lives,  that he is willing to save any life.
•  Yumi- she is the one who takes care of the children , so she thinks of them – if Sadao and Hana are caught, they will be judged as traitor, and will probably be executed. She just wonders what will be with the children.

They say these things quite loudly, so that Hana could hear, and perhaps change what they are doing. Even though their words did affect her, she still had a part of her that understood the prisoner  a little bit. At some point,the white man says his name to her "let me tell you that my name is Tom".

Sadao kept checking the stitches every day, and the last of them was now out. Since he saw that the man is almost well, Sadao went to his office, and started writing a letter to the chief of police stating exactly what happened with Tom. He wrote only the beginning, and then folded it and put it in his drawer.

A week later, 2 things happened on the same day-

a. The servants left- they just took all of their belongings and didn’t do their work, so Hana knew they were leaving that day. She was very very sad,but since she was the boss, she couldn’t show it. All of the servants were crying, and Yumi ,told Hana that if she has any problems with the kids she should call for her, Hana just smiled and said thanks, but knew she wouldn’t call.

All day long Hana and Sadao  did the housework themselves, and Hana wondered why can't they see what they should do with the American – what any good Japanese would have done..

Sadao went to Tom , and told him that he can get up for 5 minutes, and 5 more the next day to build up his strength. The boy wanted to thank Sadao for saving his life, but Sadao said "don’t thank me too early"  which made the boy a bit afraid.

b. A messenger came- while Hana was working in the house (and doing the work the servants usually do ), she saw a man in uniform come to the house.

Her heart fell to her underwear ( (תרגום חופשי של הלב שלה נפל לתחתונים

She was sure that the man came to arrest Sadao for having the American in their house, so she ran quickly to him , but the man in uniform ran straight after her.

When they meet Sadao, he is in the garden reading a book , he sees the man in uniform and asks what he came for. The man says he is a messenger and that Sadao has to come to the palace quickly because the old General is in pain again.

Hana is relieved, and when Sadao leaves, and comes to say goodbye to her, he notices how anxiety exhausted she seems ,and realizes that he has to get rid of the American.

Part 4- The General, the assassins and the cool escape

Sadao goes to the General , and probably tells him the full story of what happened with Tom. The General actually understand what Sadao is going through, because he too once studied in America ( Princeton university).

Sadao tries to explain that he doesn’t care for the man at all, and the General says that the fact that sadao helped that man , and saved his life, only makes him more valuable to the General, since it just means that Sadao can save anyone.

Sadao is the only doctor that the General trusts, so that makes him very important. It also means that the General can’t have him arrested , so he could always treat him.

As they kept talking, the General offered to send his assassins to murder the American, at some day of the week at night. Sadao agrees , because he also knows that he has to get rid of Tom . he decides not to tell Hana of the plan and keeps acting normal.

On his way home , he thinks that Tom will be in bed when he arrives, but he is surprised to see that he is standing. They talk a bit and then go to sleep.

For 2 nights Sadao sleeps really bad, because he is worried that any little sound means the assassins , but in the mornings Tom is still alive.

The third night there  is a very loud crash and both Hana and Sadao wake up. Hana wants to get up and check if everything Is ok , but Sadao begs her not to ( he thinks the sound was the assassins). In  the morning Tom is still alive, and sdao realizes he must get away from the house.

Sadao prepares one oh his small boats,puts food and bottled water in it, and explains Tom that he must sail to a nearby deserted island, and hide there until he sees a Korean fishing boat,that could save him . after thinking for a while , Sadao decides to give Tom his flashlight, so he could signal them – twice if the food runs out before a boat comes, and once if he is still there but all is good. Sadao also says to signal only at at sunset, so that nobody but Sadao won't notice.

Tom leaves at night , after he shook Sadao's hand warmly, and signals that he found an island. That night, Sadao who had nothing more to worry about , slept well.

Part 5 – The END!!!!

Our beloved General had to go through a surgery , so Sadao couldn’t talk to him about the "escape " of the prisoner and the assassins that were supposed to come.

Until he could,the servants already returned to the house. Yumi cleaned the room where Tom was really good, and she even burned sulfur in there to make the smell of a white man disappear.

When Sadao could talk to the General about Tom , he told him that he escaped.

The General , asks if was supposed to send assassins, and said that because he was in such pains he simply couldn’t think of anyone else but himself, so he forgot.

Sadao realizes that the General is in the palm of his hand. The General says that Sadao is a good man who should be rewarded, and at the same time Sadao watches through the window, and sees no flashes, meaning Tom is no longer on the island- and he felt so rewarded.

The final scene (yes, we made it) is when Sadao looks of his veranda (the porch), and thinks, without reason,of all the Americans he knows. When he was a student in America, the people there treated him very badly only because he was Japanese, and decided that all Americans are repulsive- he really hated them .

But then he remembered Tom's face, and he wonder why didn’t he kill him?

That is it guys!!!

Good luck at the test!