The Enemy – Analysis and Interpretation Questions

1. What is the setting of the story? How does it contribute to your understanding of the story?

2. How does Hana feel about the white man?

3. Why do the servants worry Sadao?

4. How does the fact that Sadao studied medicine at an American university add to your understanding of the story?

5. Name two things does Sadao does to help Tom.

6. What do Tom’s scars symbolize?

7. What motivates the General to help Sadao? What ‘balance of power’ is created between them?

8. Why is Hana hesitant when she realizes Tom has probably been tortured in the Japanese prison?

9. When Tom recovers from the surgery, he says to Sadao: “I guess if all the Japs were like you there wouldn’t have been a war.” What do you think he means by this saying?

10. Sadao contemplates whether to spare the American’s life or let him die. Describe his moral dilemma and the contradicting feelings he expresses throughout the story.