A critical analysis of Pearl S. Buck's “The Enemy” will first identify the purpose of the story and then examine the story's elements to see how well they fulfill that purpose. Let's look at the story in more detail to help you get started on your critical analysis.
Buck wrote “The Enemy” in 1942, in the midst of World War II, and we might think that the enemy of the title would refer to a Japanese person. This is not so. Rather, the story's protagonist, Dr. Sadao Hoki, is Japanese, and the enemy in question is an American sailor who has been wounded. Buck is deliberately turning our notions of enemy and friend upside down in this story, and this is her purpose. She wants readers to see that, even during a time of war, classifying people is not so simple.
As you perform your analysis, you might...
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think especially about the plot and the characters. The plot is a simple one. A wounded American sailor name Tom shows up near the home of Dr. Sadao Hoki and his wife, Hana. The doctor cannot help but care for the young man and even performs life-saving surgery on him. Technically, Tom is the enemy, and they know they should turn him in, but somehow they cannot. All the servants except two leave. The General, a close friend, offers to send assassins to kill Tom, but he forgets. The doctor arranges for Tom to escape when he is well enough. The Japanese characters have plenty of opportunity to kill or denounce the American, yet they do not.
We are left with the question of why. The doctor and the General both attended college in the United States, and they know that not all Americans are evil. Tom is a human being, and quite a likable one at that. The doctor is a compassionate man, and he cannot kill or turn in a vulnerable fellow person whether he is the “enemy” or not. He is puzzled by this, yet it is true, and part of him is relieved when Tom escapes.