by Pearl S. Buck
The Second World War rages on, and a Japanese doctor is torn between his professional and national duty.
“Ignorance of the human body is the surgeon’s cardinal sin, sirs! To operate without as complete knowledge of the body as if you had made it — anything less than that is murder.”
Answer the following questions:
1) Who was Dr. Sadao? Where was his house?
Dr. Sadao Hoki was a renowned surgeon in Japan. He had studied surgery and medicine in the United States for eight years. He was also a medical scientist who worked for the discovery that would render a wound completely clean.
His house was built on a spot of the Japanese coast. It was set upon rocks well above a narrow beach that was outlined with pines. There were many islands nearby.
2) 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.
Dr. Sadao experienced a dilemma when an American soldier washed ashore near his house. On one hand, his professional duty and ethical judgement were in question. On the other hand, there was his patriotism and the sense of national duty. As a surgeon, he must save the dying man under his oath. However, as the Second World War was in progress, and Japan was at war with the USA, his national duty called for handing over the soldier as a prisoner of war to the authorities. He was torn between these two tough choices of being a humanitarian first or a Japanese citizen.
He finally let his humanity and professional duty prevail. He risked everything, his life, his well-earned position in the country, and even the life of his family members in order to fulfil his responsibility as a surgeon. However, he did not forget his national duty in the process. He had decided to turn the soldier in after he recovered.
Several people have to make hard choices between their roles as private individuals and as citizens with a sense of national loyalty. Soldiers, diplomats, spies working for national security sacrifice their personal ambitions to serve the country. On the other hand, doctors, lawyers or human rights activists often put humanity first. Every person, every profession and every circumstance is a unique combination of factors and a different occurrence, and demands a wise judgement on the part of the individual to make the choice.
3) Dr Sadao was compelled by his 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?
Hana was a kind, considerate and sympathetic human being. She respected her husband, and decided to honor his decision of treating the soldier. For Sadao, it was his professional duty under his oath, but for Hana, her commitment was purely on humanitarian basis and her duty as a wife to support Sadao through thick and thin. She knew this was a risky move. The servants would be hard to deal with, and if anyone complained, they would be labeled as traitors. Despite all this, she never left Sadao's side. Even though she was not comfortable with the sight of blood and wounds, even though she felt sick, she did the needful to see the task through. In the face of open defiance from the domestic staff, she never hesitated to do all the household chores herself. Her support for her husband was unwavering, and with the risk they were taking, Sadao really needed a faithful partner who could not only agree with him on the decision, but help in every way to fulfil it.
4) 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?
The American soldier had been a prisoner of war, and had escaped from the clutches of Japanese armed forces. While escaping, he was even shot and wounded badly. Not only that his physical condition was a concern for him, but he would risk being captured again if he left the safety of the doctor's house. He acknowledged the fact that every moment passed in the house was a risk to the doctor and his family. He knew that the doctor would have to hand him over sooner or later. However, he was really touched by the concern and care shown by the doctor and his wife Hana. This very reason made him grateful and indebted towards them. Out of his sense of repaying this remarkable act, he could not even imagine risking Sadao and Hana's life for their niceness. Therefore, at the end, he readily complied with Sadao's plan to escape as he instructed.
5) 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?
The General appeared to be quite selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed. First, he had used his influence to prevent Sadao from being deputed to the frontline during the Second World War. He was Sadao's patient, and he did not trust anyone else. He wanted him to stay in Japan in case he needed to be operated upon. Further, when the matter of the American soldier came up, the General sided with the doctor for his selfish motives. If Sadao was tried for being a traitor and executed, the General would be left unprotected and vulnerable by his medical condition. He promised Sadao that he would send his personal assassins to kill the soldier, and Sadao would walk clean after that. However, he forgot his promise and Sadao had to plan the soldier's escape. The General showed a little lack of national loyalty as he kept Sadao in Japan for his own selfish reasons, and did not send him to serve the wounded Japanese soldiers on the frontline. Further, we can say it with certainty that there was negligence of duty on his part. No one at such a position would simply forget addressing such a dangerous and sensitive issue. As far as human consideration is concerned, not even a trace of it was seen in the General.
6) While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during war time, what makes a human being rise above narrow prejudices?
Wars are complicated. The motives, the outcomes, the sufferings and consequences are so intertwined that there can hardly be a straightforward judgement or decision. During wars, the first and the most immediate reaction is hatred towards the member of the enemy race. Patriotism and a sense of national duty is reflected in the actions of the citizens. Everyone supports their own country first, and would participate in any way possible to fulfil their nation's objective in the war.
However, wars are fought between the soldiers of the countries, and not only their leaders. The fighters in the battlefield are not enemies of each other at a personal or human level. We are all members of the same human race. Wise and compassionate soldiers of one country respect the soldiers of the other country as they too are simply fulfilling their national duty like themselves. Respect and honor between enemies is not a new or uncommon thing. Humanitarian treatment of captured soldiers through the Geneva Convention or granting proper burial rites for the dead ones are some of the glimpses of humanity seen among the war-torn zones.
Moreover, off the battlefield, there are people who see everyone as a human first. Doctors have been given a respectable position in the society for their remarkable skills to save human lives. When Sadao saw the American soldier, he was in dilemma between two choices, but finally decided to treat him on humanitarian basis. Despite knowing that he might have killed some Japanese soldiers, and would kill more if kept alive, he put humanity above everything else and saved the wounded soldier.
7) Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?
It had always been the burning question since Sadao first saw the soldier that what he would do after he was treated. Sadao had done everything in his capacity, and risked all he had in order to save the life of the American prisoner of war. At first, it was simple that he would turn him in to the authorities. But the dynamics had changed during his treatment. The servants had left. The soldier had been in the house for too long. There were chances that the authorities would not understand his point of view. No one can claim that he betrayed his country and overlooked his national duty. He had informed the General about the matter. The circumstances had reached such a point that now the killing of the soldier would not benefit the country, but only save Sadao. He waited for the assassins to be sent by the General, but they never arrived. The General had forgotten and now even he was at the risk of being called a traitor. It was then that Sadao decided to help the soldier escape. In the given situation, this was the best possible solution.
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