justify how sadao's character arc is more central to the moral dilemma in the ‘the enemy’ as opposed to hana’s.

Hana shares the moral conflict in The Enemy , but it is Sadao’s inner struggle, decisions, and change over time that form the real “spine” of the moral dilemma and drive the story’s meaning.

Quick Scoop

The story’s central moral dilemma is:

“What matters more – loyalty to one’s nation in wartime, or one’s duty to another human being, even if he is the enemy?”

Pearl S. Buck places this dilemma inside Sadao’s conscience , then shows how every major event is shaped by his evolving choices, while Hana largely reacts, follows, or supports.

1. Sadao as the moral “battlefield”

• Sadao is explicitly described as the main character whose inner conflict between patriotic duty and moral/medical duty defines the story.

• The core tension is inside him:
  • He is a Japanese patriot, raised to believe Americans are enemies and his race is superior.

* He is also a doctor bound by the Hippocratic oath to save life and “do no harm.”

This clash is not abstract: each stage of the plot is a step in his moral arc:

1. Finding the wounded enemy on the beach and hesitating.
2. Deciding to operate and save him.
3. Hiding him in his home despite social and legal risk.
4. Confessing to the General and hoping the state will “solve” the problem.
5. Finally, personally arranging the man’s escape, choosing humanity over nationalism.

Hana experiences the same situation, but the story keeps returning to what Sadao will do next , showing that the dilemma is framed through him.

2. How Sadao’s arc develops the moral dilemma

Sadao doesn’t simply “have” a moral view; he moves through several positions, and that movement is what makes his arc central.

a) From instinctive prejudice to reluctant healer

• At first, he thinks of the American purely as an “enemy” and “common fellow,” and admits he would hand him over easily if he were not wounded.

• Yet his trained hands act almost automatically to stop the bleeding and treat the wound, showing his professional ethics pushing against his learned prejudice.

This shows the dilemma from inside: Sadao simultaneously rejects the man as an enemy and protects him as a patient.

b) From fear of being a traitor to conscious risk-taking

• Sadao constantly fears that sheltering the soldier will brand him and his family as traitors.

• His anxiety is not imaginary; the servants leave in protest, and the political atmosphere of wartime Japan is hostile to such compassion.

When he still keeps treating the man, the dilemma sharpens: he is not “just” being kind; he is choosing to risk status, safety, and possibly life.

c) From depending on authority to assuming full moral responsibility

• Sadao goes to the General, confessing the prisoner’s presence and letting the state decide whether to have the man killed.

• The General promises to send assassins but simply forgets, being absorbed in his own illness.

This is a crucial turn: the system that should embody national duty is careless and self‑absorbed. Sadao then realises he can no longer hide behind “orders”; he must decide on his own moral terms.

d) Final choice: humanity over nationalism (without a neat “conversion”)

• Sadao arranges the soldier’s escape, giving him a boat, food, and directions to safety.

• Critics note that he does not become a saint; he still harbours prejudiced thoughts about Americans even at the end, making his arc “anti‑epiphanic.”

This makes his moral journey more central and complex than Hana’s: the story’s message is not that he “stops” being nationalistic, but that in a decisive moment he acts against his prejudice in favour of a universal moral duty.

3. Hana’s role: important, but not structurally central

Hana is morally sensitive and courageous, but her arc is comparatively flatter and more supportive.

• She shares Sadao’s hesitation and fear; she cries, worries, and is disturbed by the idea of harbouring an enemy soldier.

• Still, she consistently chooses to stand with Sadao once he has decided: she washes the soldier, tends to him, and endures the servants’ disapproval.

• Study guides emphasise that she has a moral compass similar to Sadao’s, but she “does not have to like him” while accepting that treating him is right.

In other words:

• Hana’s moral stance : empathy, loyalty to her husband, and quiet courage.

• Hana’s function in the dilemma : she reflects, supports, or questions Sadao’s choices, but rarely originates the decisive acts.

The big plot‑moving decisions—operating, hiding, confessing to the General, arranging escape—are Sadao’s.

4. Why Sadao’s arc is “more central” than Hana’s

You can justify this clearly in an exam or essay by focusing on three angles: plot, theme, and depth of inner conflict.

4.1 Plot focus

• The story always turns on “What will Dr. Sadao do now?”—the surgery, the concealment, the confession to the General, the escape plan.

• Hana’s actions, though brave, mostly follow Sadao’s lead: she participates in his decision, rather than driving new moral turns in the plot.

4.2 Thematic weight

Major themes—war vs humanity, nationalism vs universal ethics, profession vs patriotism—are centred in Sadao:

• His identity as both Japanese patriot and Western‑trained doctor makes him the perfect site of clash between East–West, hate–compassion, nation–humanity.

• The enemy soldier largely exists to force him to choose what kind of person and professional he will be.

Hana embodies empathy and social conscience, but she does not carry the same symbolic weight of “doctor vs soldier, healer vs nation” that Sadao does.

4.3 Psychological complexity

• Sadao’s thoughts are shown in detail: his disgust at Americans, his pride as a surgeon, his fear of discovery, his rationalising of going to the General, and his private relief when the General forgets.

• Hana’s inner life, while present, is simpler and less conflicted; she is anxious and compassionate but does not swing as dramatically between opposing moral poles.

The richer, more contradictory psychology makes Sadao’s character arc the central lens through which the moral dilemma is explored.

5. Sample answer structure (120–150 words style)

If you need a compact response for an exam, you could frame it like this:

Sadao’s character arc is more central to the moral dilemma in The Enemy because the conflict between nationalism and humanitarian duty is located primarily within him. As a Japanese patriot and a highly trained surgeon, he is torn between viewing the wounded American as an enemy and as a patient he is bound to save. His successive decisions—to operate on the soldier, hide him at home, confess to the General, and finally help him escape—drive the plot and steadily deepen the ethical tension. Hana shares his moral unease and supports him bravely, but she mostly reacts to Sadao’s choices instead of initiating them. Thus, it is Sadao’s evolving conscience, rather than Hana’s relatively stable empathy, that forms the core of the story’s moral dilemma.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.