Students of Class 12 can access NCERT Solutions for Chapter 4 of the English subject. Chapter 4 from the Vista textbook is a story set-up in the time of the World War where an American prisoner of war is washed ashore in a dying state and is found at the doorstep of a Japanese doctor. The NCERT solutions of this chapter have been provided after a detailed analysis of the marking scheme of CBSE by the English subject expert. Class 12h students can study the answers provided here to score well in school as well as Class 12th board exams.
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English - Vista Textbook- Chapter 4: The Enemy
Ques: Who was Dr. Sadao? Where was his house?
Answer: Dr. Sadao was a renowned Japanese surgeon and scientist. He was a gentleman who remained faithful to his career even in difficult circumstances. He lived in his ancestral square stone house in Japan which was built upon rocks, above a narrow beach, on the Japanese coast.
Ques: It is the time of the World War. An American prisoner of war is washed ashore in a dying state and is found at the doorstep of a Japanese doctor. Should he save him as a doctor or hand him over to the army as a patriot?
Answer: Within this materialistic universe, dominated by hate and disorder, morality and love are the only saving grace. Our lives should be focused on harboring these sentiments within ourselves and those around us.
Keeping that in mind, if a doctor gets a chance to save a person who is distressed and injured, he should definitely help him. People think of doctors next to God. Only their profession requires them, irrespective of caste, sex, faith or nationality, to support all patients. Therefore the prisoner of war will certainly be rescued, holding humanity superior to all else in existence.
Ques: Will Dr. Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?
Answer: For humanitarian interests as well as finding it his ethical obligation, Dr Sadao tended a wounded prisoner of war that was technically a serious crime. He was never revealed to anyone but his wife, faithful yet cautious staff, and a general who was so self-obsessed with his own treatment that he would never let the doctor leave him.
Ques: Will Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself?
Answer: The injured American was in very poor shape and had to be cleaned before being operated on. Hana did not want Dr. Sadao to clean up the filthy and unconscious prisoner, so Yumi asked her servant to do so. Yumi, however, followed the order of her master and opted out of the order. As a consequence, Hana had no choice but to wash him herself. While this act was impulsive and dipped over her servant, Yumi, in a sense of dominance, she did so with honesty.
Ques: What will Dr. Sadao and his wife do with the man?
Answer: Dr. Sadao and Hana found an unconscious, wounded prisoner of war who posed a great threat to their own survival. Dr Sadao, however, agreed to go with his intestinal feeling and operate on him. He has saved his life even though it has been for now. While half heartily both took good care of the health and other needs of the patient. Only Hana cleaned, fed him with her own mouth. Though they knew that sooner or later they would have to hand him over to the army, they did their best to help the injured person.
Ques: Will Dr Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?
Answer: For both humanitarian and medical purposes, Dr Sadao treated a wounded prisoner of war who was technically a serious criminal. He was never revealed to anyone but his wife, faithful yet timid staff, and a general who was so self-obsessed with his own treatment that he would never let the doctor leave him.
Ques: What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of the man?
Answer: With the wounded American's health improving slowly, Dr. Sadao and Hana were in a bind as to what could be done with him. Their loyal servants had left them and could pose a threat to their lives if they kept him in their home. As the impatience and frustration of Hana rose, Dr. Sadao revealed the matter to the General who decided to send assassins in his sleep to kill the young American. Dr Sadao decided on getting rid of the escaped prisoner of war. The matter could not be resolved, however, because the assassins had never arrived.
So Dr. Sadao plotted another way to get rid of him, overcome with remorse, and a distant appreciation to the people he had been associated with America. Another time, he decided to save his patient. He secretly sent him to an isolated island with food, bottled water, clothing, blanket and his own flashlight on a boat from where he sailed for freedom and protection on a Korean ship.
Ques: 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 you have just read.
Answer: There are many dimensions of life. We live it by maintaining a delicate balance between the different facets it offers to us as part of our individual existence in society. There are just a few of them living for our own self, family, profession, and country. At times, however, keeping this balance is complicated, and is overshadowed by uncertainty and dilemmas.
This is exemplified in the story about Dr. Sadao, Hana and the prisoner of war. Dr. Sadao and Hana can't decide what to do when they discover a wounded war prisoner washed ashore. They are confused as to whether they should save and tend the injured, or whether they should let him die or inform the army.
Dr. Sadao finally strikes a balance by attempting to rescue him before handing him over to the military. He and his wife sympathetically tend to him but subjugate their forgiving selves by the burden of illegally keeping a prisoner of war in their home and going against the rule of law. In a bid to get rid of this burden, Dr. Sadao reveals it to the General who promises by assassins to get the prisoner killed. Yet the human side of Dr Sadao shows up again asking him to ply with his soul's voice, and he goes out of his way to help the enemy soldier escape to safety.
Ques: Dr. Sadao was compelled by 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: Dr. Sadao and Hana knew that each would question their decision to save the enemy soldier. They followed their sense of duty firmly however. This sense of duty came from the profession he was in for Dr. Sadao, but for Hana, the duty was strictly humanitarian. She does it with grace and integrity, from handling the turmoil in her domestic workers to being compelled to do all of the house-hold chores herself. The caring, considerate, and compassionate essence of Hana shines out. Although it wasn't her job she washed and fed the soldier. Her care has helped the soldier quickly recover.
It explains why she returns to the room even after feeling ill and is ready to do whatever her husband asks her during the procedure.
Ques: How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s home even when he knew he couldn’t stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
Answer: When the American prisoner of war came to consciousness and realized he 'd been saved by a Japanese family, he feared he 'd be handed over to the army soon. But when he remembered how much love and care the family had given him, he realized he was in safe hands. He knew that while he was a threat to the family of the doctor there could be saved his own life. Ultimately, burdened with gratitude to the family, he agrees to comply with what the doctor has decided for him-the escape.
Ques: 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 was totally self-absorbed. He was a Dr. Sadao patient and when it came to his health, he did not trust anybody but him. He could not take the risk of living unprotected if the doctor was executed for treachery. He had personal killers that he vowed to use to destroy the wounded soldier. But he sadly 'forgot' his pledge to assist the doctor. Humans were not his cup of tea.
Ques: While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during war time, what makes a human being rise above narrow prejudices?
Answer: War news is fast to become a way of life. The moment you pick up a newspaper, one is bombarded, directly or indirectly, with news of wars between various countries. The countries at war are obviously enemies and hatred is part of that enmity. And humanity's achievement comes when we rise above this enmity and show our respect for the entire world. Dr Sadao has done the same. He did whatever he could to save a man's life which he knew was a prisoner of war. He was overwhelmed with worry the moment he saw the wounded man. Ignoring the fact that he was his country's enemy and must have killed too many Japanese, and may have killed many more, he spared him if he was alive.
Ques: Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?
Answer: As part of his duties the doctor did his utmost to save the wounded soldier. The final question, however, was what to do next. It can not be said that while he told the General the truth, he betrayed his country. However, he decided to help him escape when he discovered that the soldier was to be killed not for the good of the country but only to save the doctor's life. For such a case, the final solution to the dilemma for the doctor was the only one possible.
Ques: Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’ by A. J. Cronin that you read in Snapshots last year? What are the similarities?
Answer: The tale definitely reminds us of "Birth by A." Cronin, J. Both the stories are remarkably similar. Both revolve around doctors who are doing their hardest to save near-dead human lives. In the 'Birth' story, Dr. Andrew saves with a lot of effort the life of an almost stillborn baby boy, while 'The Enemy' deals with the story of Dr. Sadao, who saves an American soldier from the enemy troops during wartime. The two stories are about life, passion, friendship, selflessness, and a deep sense of duty.
Ques: Is there any film you have seen or novel you have read with a similar theme?
Answer: The 'Enemy' tale is based on the foundations of selflessness, sense of duty, compassion, and generosity. Numerous films and novels were based on this theme. One such example is the movie 'My Name is Khan' where the protagonist goes to flooded Georgia with a sense of duty and generosity to save the lives of his friends, Mama Jenny, Joel, and other natives. He works selflessly to save the city, without thinking twice about the potential dangers to his own life.
