The Enemy

Background
Pearl S.Buck
- Daughter of American Christian missionaries living in China.
- She grew up in China and moved to the US in 1934.
- In 1942 (When USA fought Japan) she started a foundation that
connected between West and East.
- In 1949 she opened the Welcome House and adopted six children
two of mixed race. The Welcome House was a place where mix
raced and Asian children could be adopted.
- She won the Noble Prize in Literature in 1938 for the book on
Chinese peasant life.

Background Time Period WWII

(1941-1945)

- Tension between Japanese and Americans began long before WWII when Japanese immigrants
came to work in Hawaiian sugar plantations.
- WWII started in 1939 between Germany and Poland.
- The Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.
- The Allies were England, France, Russia and the USA.
- In 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor (naval base in Hawaii).
- The fight between Japan and America started earlier:
- 1941 Japan takes over Vietnam.
- US cuts off 90% of their oil.
- Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
- They are at war for four years.
- 1945 America drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Japan surrenders.
- While America was fighting Japan, anti-Japanese sentiments were high. For example, American
adoption services did not see Asian or mixed race children as adoptable. Immigration from Asia
was limited.

Setting
Sadaos house
- On the shore.
- High above the beach.
- Where his father took him to play
- Near islands

The beach
- A mile or two on either side are fishing villages.
- A lonely, rocky, dangerous coast.
- Covered in mist.

Fathers room
- Traditional Japanese furniture.

Characters
Sadaos Father

Sadao

Serious
- no jokes, not playful.
Invests in his son
- spent infinite pains on his son.
Believes in education
- sent him to college.

Famous surgeon
- he is staying in Japan to operate on the General if
he is called.
Famous scientist
- he is perfecting a discovery to clean wounds.

Open minded

Very connected to his childhood

these are the stepping stones to Japans

future

- he built his house where he spent time as a child.

sent him to study in America.

Characters
Tom

Sailor in the US Navy.

Hana (and Sadao)

Yellow hair.
A rough beard.
Not yet 25.

Met in America at a professors house.

He is a prisoner of war.

He waited to fall in love until he knew she was

Japanese because he knew his father wouldnt
approve.
Good marriage: affectionate, silent communication.

The General
Studied at Princeton
Has a heart condition

Got married in Japan (not in America) according to

Japanese tradition.

PlotClimax:
The servants leave, the General calls for Sadao
Sadao decides to get rid of Tom one way or another

Resolution:
Complication:
Tom is no longer on the island
Hana and Sadao find a P.O.W. on the shore
They dont know what to do with him Sadao can go back to hating Americans

Beginning in Detail
Hana and Sadao see a man on shore
first his arms are up, then hes crawling, then he lies down

Sadao runs to help the man

He sees he is white, he has a bullet wound, he is a POW from the navy

They discuss what to do with him

Should they throw him back in the sea or take him home?

They decide to take him home

They put him in the fathers room

Sadao operates on the man

Hana washes him and gives the anesthetic, Sadao calls him friend

The man gets better

He can sit, Sadao tells him to start walking each day

Sadao starts writing a letter to the police

But he doesnt finish it

Climax in Detail
After 7 days the servants leave
Yumi thinks of the kids
the gardener is superstitious
the cook thinks Sadao is arrogant

The General sends a messenger to call Sadao

Hana is terrified and the fear makes her weak
Sadao decides he must get rid of Tom one way or
another

End in Detail
Sadao tells the General of his problem
The General understands because he also studied in America
The General needs Sadao so he wont tell anyone about the POW

The General offers to send assassins

Sadao agrees that assassins are necessary in Japan

Tom thanks Sadao for saving his life

Sadao doesnt answer, only bows

Sadao waits three nights for the assassins

The strain is too much for him, he doesnt tell Hana

Eventually Sadao tells Tom he will put a boat on the shore

with food and clothes
If Tom should run out of food he can flash his light twice
If Tom is still on the island but fine, he can flash once
Soon there are no flashes a Korean fishing boat must have saved him

Sadao operates on the General

After a week he tells the General that Tom escaped
The General is worried Sadao will tell people, he forgot to send assassins
They are in agreement to keep the whole situation to themselves

Resolution
Sadao reflects on how much he hates
Americans
His dull professor and the silly wife (who introduced him
to Hana)
His teacher of anatomy who was too merciful with a knife
(but helped him save Tom and taught him compassion
which is why the General favors him above all surgeons)
His fat, ignorant, dirty old landlady (who nursed him to
health)
His prisoner who was white and repulsive

He is relieved to be openly at war with

them again

Things to Remember
How Sadao helps Tom

How Hana helps Tom

Washes him

Washes him

Operates on him

Covers him with a quilt

Gives him a shot

Gives him anesthetic

Sends him off on a boat with food

Feeds him

Humanitarianism

Patriotism

Take him home

Throw him back into the sea

Operate on him

Let himbBleed out

Keep him hidden until he is better

Turn him in (writing the letter)

Give him a boat to escape

Let the assassins kill him

Racism
Universal human values should be more important
than nationalism or racism
- had been pure in her race
- cleaned the guest room thoroughly to get the white mans
smell out of it
- Americans were full of prejudice and it had been bitter to
live in it, knowing himself their superior
- I guess if all the Japs were like you there wouldnt have
been a war