By Pearl S. Buck
A. Answer the following in 30-40 words each.
Ans: Dr Sadao Hoki was an eminent Japanese surgeon and scientist. He had spent eight valuable years of his youth in America to learn all that could be learnt of surgery and medicine there. He was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean. Dr Sadao’s house was built on rocks well above a narrow beach that was outlined with bent pines. It was on a spot of the Japanese coast.
Ans. Sadao’s father was a visionary. He loved the Japanese race, customs, and manners. He knew that the islands near the seacoast were the steppingstones to the future for Japan. He believes in creating fortune by hard work not by luck. He was strict father. He never played or joked with is son. His main concern was to provide the best education to his son and making him a successful man. He sent his son to America at the age of twenty-two to learn all about surgery and medicine. It was his support and concern that Sadao became the most famous surgeon and scientist of Japan.
Ans. Sadao met Hana by chance at an American professor’s house. Professor Harley and his wife had been kind people. They held a party at their home for their few foreign students. Hana was a new student. He waited to fall in love with her until he was sure she was Japanese. It was because his father would never have received her unless she had been pure in her race.
Ans. Sadao married Hana when they returned to Japan after finishing their work at medical school. Sadao’s father saw her. The marriage was then arranged in the old Japanese way. They had been married years enough to have two children. Their married life was quite happy. They still loved each other.
Ans. Sadao was an eminent surgeon and a scientist. He was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean. Secondly, the old General was being treated medically for a condition for which he might need an operation. Due to these two reasons Sadao was being kept in Japan and not sent abroad with the troops.
Ans. Sadao and Hana saw a figure staggering out of the sea and falling after a few steps. Thinking him to a be a fisherman they ran to help him. They found the man unconscious with his face down in the sand. As they turned the man’s head, they saw that he was a white man with long yellow hair. His young face had a rough yellow beard. He was unconscious. From his battered cap they learnt that he was a sailor from an American warship.
Ans. The white man was badly wounded by a bullet. He needed immediate medical care. Dr Sadao could do so. But if they sheltered a white man in their house, they would be arrested. On the other hand, if they turned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die. Therefore, it was difficult for Dr Sadao to come to any decision.
Ans. Sadao and Hana both had the feeling for repulsion for the white man. They thought of throwing him back into the sea, but they could not do so. Sadao knew that the man was his enemy. He would have handed him over to the police if he had not been wounded. Therefore, they thought of saving his life first, and then, handing him over to police as a prisoner of war.
Ans. Hana told Yumi to fetch hot water and bring it to the room where the white man was. Yumi put down the wooden bucket but refused to wash the dirty white man. Hana cried at her severely. She told her to do what her master commanded her to do. The fierce look of resistance upon Yumi’s dull face made Hana afraid. Under these circumstances, Hana had no option but to wash the white man herself.
Ans. The servants were frightened and puzzled. The old gardener told Hana that the master ought not to heal the wound of that white man. He said that the white man ought to die. First, he was shot. Then the sea caught him and wounded him with her rocks. If the master healed what the gun and the sea had done, they would take revenge on them.
Ans. In the morning the servants left together with their belongings tied in large square cotton kerchiefs. Hana paid them off gracefully and thanked them for all that they had done for her. In the afternoon, a messenger came to the door in official uniform. He came to ask Dr Sadao to come to the palace as the old General was in pain again.
Ans. Dr Sadao could not report to the police about the American soldier. He wanted to get rid of the man for the sake of his wife. He explained his position to the General. He did not care for that man, but since he had operated upon the man, he could not kill him. The General praised his skill, called him indispensable and promised that he would allow nothing to happen to Dr Sadao.
Ans. He thought that it would be best if the white man could be quietly killed—not by the doctor, but by someone who did not know him. He offered to send two of his private assassins any night to his home. These capable assassins would make no noise. They knew the trick of inward bleeding. They could even remove the body. Dr Sadao had to leave the outer partition of the room open.
Ans. When General’s assassins did not arrive to kill the American soldier Dr Sadao himself devised a plan of getting rid of him. He advised the man to row to the little island not far from the coast. He could live there till he saw a Korean fishing boat pass by.
To execute his plan Dr Sadao secretly bought a stout boat and put food and bottled water in it. He also put two quilts. After supper, he checked the American again. He gave him his flashlight and told him to signal two flashes if he needed more food. One signal would mean he was OK. He had to signal at sunset and not in the darkness. He also instructed him not lit up fire and eat raw fish. The man was dressed in Japanese clothes and his blond head was covered with a black cloth.
Ans. After the departure of the young American, Dr Sadao thinks of the other white faces he had come across. The Americans were full of prejudice, and he had found it bitter to live there. The white people were repulsive even in their kindness. It was relief to be openly at war with them. Then he remembered the youthful, haggard face of the prisoner. It was also white and repulsive. He thought it strange that he spared his enemy. He wondered why he could not kill him.
Ans. The General was a very selfish man in the story. He pretends to be a patriot but serves himself only. For he may need an emergency operation and trusts no one except Dr. Sadao, he does not send him with the troop. He lightly takes the issue of saving the American soldier for his own sake only. He does not send his assassins may be because he did not want to get involved in it or he might be thinking Sadao to kill the American. The General was indeed a very self-absorbed person.
A. Answer the following in 150 words each.
Ans. A doctor’s duty is always to save his patient under any circumstance. He must treat his patient even if he is his enemy. This is what Sadao does in the story. Although, while doing so he also exhibits his unquestionable loyalty towards his country also.
Like any patriot, Sadao’s first thought was also of throwing the American back to the sea but the doctor in him could not let him do so. The man was badly injured by a bullet and the sea and rocks had made his condition even worse. He would sure die if not treated immediately. Sadao took him into his house, did not care for the anger of his servants and danger to his reputation. He did not care even for his wife while operating the white man. His hands acted upon his patient adroitly and saved him against all odds.
But his efforts to save the white man do not prove him less faithful to his country. Sadao’s plan was to first cure him and then hand him over to the police as a prisoner of war. While operating him also he does not show any affinity to the man. Sadao and Hana do not talk to him unnecessarily. They do not even want to know his name. Moreover, he informs General about it which is the highest proof of his faithfulness to his country.
After the futile wait of three days for the assassins he was left with no other option than to himself do something. Being a doctor, he could not kill the man he had saved. Therefore, he was very right in letting the American escape in a Korean ship. According to me, Sadao proves himself equally truthful to his country and his profession.
Ans. Hana is an epitome of a loving, dedicated, and caring wife. She is devoted to her husband and loves her children. That is why, she asks her husband not to take a risk in healing the wound of an enemy soldier. But when she finds him determined to do his professional duty, she agrees to extend her full cooperation. She stood by Sadao against all odds. She assisted him during the operation though she felt sick and vomited. She gave the man anesthesia also.
She is full of human considerations. She observes deep red scars on the American soldier's neck and realizes that he must have been tortured. She develops tender feelings for him for a while. Though, she is sure that the American is their enemy, but she obeys her husband and nurses him.
She is a dignified mistress also. When Yumi denied washing the white man Hana did it herself. When the servants disapprove of their action of harboring the enemy soldier, she does not lose her patience. She does not utter even a single bad word to them. When they leave the house on the seventh day, they are paid off by Hana. It reveals her kind and generous nature.
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