1. 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
Dr. Sadao encounters with the dilemma-to live as private individual whose moral and ethical responsibility is to save the soldier & second is a Japanese to make the soldier arrest.
So as a doctor and as an individual his first job is to save man-takes ethical responsibility, he risks his life, fame and social status- takes him to his house and makes efforts to save him.
But his other side-sense of patriotism as well as nationalism also involves a report to police, takes the general in confidence and plans to make him killed but later on again helps the soldier in escaping off. Thus Dr. Sadao personality is displayed.
Answer
Dr. Sadao encounters with the dilemma-to live as private individual whose moral and ethical responsibility is to save the soldier & second is a Japanese to make the soldier arrest.
So as a doctor and as an individual his first job is to save man-takes ethical responsibility, he risks his life, fame and social status- takes him to his house and makes efforts to save him.
But his other side-sense of patriotism as well as nationalism also involves a report to police, takes the general in confidence and plans to make him killed but later on again helps the soldier in escaping off. Thus Dr. Sadao personality is displayed.
2. 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 their decision to save the enemy soldier would be questioned by everyone. However, they firmly followed their sense of duty. For Dr Sadao this sense of duty came from the profession he was in; but for Hana, the duty was purely humanitarian. From bearing the unrest in her domestic staff to being forced to do all the chores of house-hold herself, she does all with grace and dignity. Hana’s loving, considerate and sympathetic nature shines out. She washed and fed the soldier although it was not her job. Her care helped recuperate the soldier fast. It is also apparent from the story that she respected her husband, and as a sense of duty towards him, did the needful. This explains why she, even after feeling sick, comes back to the room and readily does whatever is told by her husband during the operation.
3. 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 war prisoner came to consciousness and realized that he was saved by a Japanese family, he feared that he will be soon handed over to the army. However, as he noticed the amount of concern and care given to him by the family, he understood that he was in safe hands. He knew that although he was a threat to the doctor’s family, his own life might be saved there. Burdened with gratitude towards the family, he ultimately decides to comply with what the doctor planned for him - the escape.
4. 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 governed by self absorption. He was a patient of Dr Sadao and did not trust anyone except him when it came to his health. He could not take the risk of living unprotected if the doctor was executed for treachery. He had personal assassins whom he promised to use for killing the injured soldier. But ironically, he ‘forgot’ his promise to help the doctor. Human consideration was not his cup of tea.
5. 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
News of war is fast becoming a way of life. The moment one picks up a newspaper, one is bombarded with news of wars between different countries, directly or indirectly. It is obvious that the countries at war are enemies and hatred is a part of this enmity. However the success of humanity comes when we rise above this enmity and show our love towards the civilization as a whole. Dr Sadao did the same. He did whatever he could to save the life of a man whom he knew was a war prisoner. The instant he saw the injured man, he was filled with concern. Ignoring the fact that he was the enemy of his country and must have killed so many Japanese and may kill even more, if alive, he saved him.
6. Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?
Answer
The doctor tried his best to save the injured soldier as a part of his duty. But the ultimate question was what to do next. It cannot be said that he betrayed his country as he told the truth to the General. However when he noticed that the soldier was to be killed not for the benefit of the country but only to save the doctor’s life, he decided to help him flee. In such a situation, the doctor's final solution to the problem was the best possible one.
4. 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 governed by self absorption. He was a patient of Dr Sadao and did not trust anyone except him when it came to his health. He could not take the risk of living unprotected if the doctor was executed for treachery. He had personal assassins whom he promised to use for killing the injured soldier. But ironically, he ‘forgot’ his promise to help the doctor. Human consideration was not his cup of tea.
5. 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
News of war is fast becoming a way of life. The moment one picks up a newspaper, one is bombarded with news of wars between different countries, directly or indirectly. It is obvious that the countries at war are enemies and hatred is a part of this enmity. However the success of humanity comes when we rise above this enmity and show our love towards the civilization as a whole. Dr Sadao did the same. He did whatever he could to save the life of a man whom he knew was a war prisoner. The instant he saw the injured man, he was filled with concern. Ignoring the fact that he was the enemy of his country and must have killed so many Japanese and may kill even more, if alive, he saved him.
6. Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?
Answer
The doctor tried his best to save the injured soldier as a part of his duty. But the ultimate question was what to do next. It cannot be said that he betrayed his country as he told the truth to the General. However when he noticed that the soldier was to be killed not for the benefit of the country but only to save the doctor’s life, he decided to help him flee. In such a situation, the doctor's final solution to the problem was the best possible one.
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