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The Enemy: Plot Summary

The story follows a boy who sees his mother as his enemy. Through flashbacks, he recounts how his father died and they had to move. In their new home, his mother was physically abusive and neglected him. Near death, the boy finally realizes his mother loved him deeply despite her harsh treatment. Themes explored include fear, child abuse, pride, revenge, and love between a mother and child.

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204 views

The Enemy: Plot Summary

The story follows a boy who sees his mother as his enemy. Through flashbacks, he recounts how his father died and they had to move. In their new home, his mother was physically abusive and neglected him. Near death, the boy finally realizes his mother loved him deeply despite her harsh treatment. Themes explored include fear, child abuse, pride, revenge, and love between a mother and child.

Uploaded by

Lau
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Enemy

Plot summary
At the beginning of the story the boy is narrating the story of his life and why he thought he
mother was his enemy. In the first half of the story he talks how his father thought him how
to be a better person before he died. He talks about the anger his mother felt for his father
because he gave more love to him and shared more special moments with him. In the second
part he tells us how his father died and that they had to move to another town. In the town his
mother didn't worried for him and let him do what ever he wanted but there were always
serious consequences. His mother always hit him and made him suffer. But it was then when
he was close to death, and he saw his mother in tears when he realized that she wasn't his
enemy, but the person that loved him the most. Yet he didn't feel compassion for her.

Themes
Fear –

 The mother is afraid to remain in the house because of the men outside intimidating
them.

 The boy is afraid of his mother. We learn this because he hides the fact that he can’t
tie his shoelaces from her.

Child Abuse & Violence –

 The mother’s treatment of her son. Her use of violence as a way of controlling him.

 Violence as a key way of maintaining control in this society is one of the themes of
the story.

o The workers intimidating the boy’s father.

o The boy’s father beating the workers.

o The father’s beating their son’s.

Pride –

 The father remaining in the home even though he is in danger.

Revenge –
 The men’s possible revenge against the narrator’s father.

Love –

 The story explores a different type of love. The mother loves her child even though on
the surface it is unclear that she feels this way. She love’s him bud doesn’t show it.

“And here is love like a tinsmith's scoop sunk past its gleam in the meal-bin.”

Seamus Heaney.

Characters
Boy/Narrator:

He sees his mother as the enemy. Sometimes lets his emotions get the better of him and gets
ostracised because of it. He is quite emotionless in how he speaks about his past. He is
strong-willed – decides to stay with his father instead of going with his mother.

Mother –

She loves her son though the way that she expresses this love means that her son doesn’t
realise it. She is also violent. She clearly doesn’t love her husband either possibly because of
his decision to remain in the house despite the danger.

Father –

He is a proud man that does not allow himself to be intimidated by others. However, as the
story progresses his pride gets the better of him and he is remains in the house even though he
is in danger. He loves his son and is eager to teach him what he knows. He is also spiritual.

Links
http://prezi.com/ra7fwr_e57gx/the-enemy-written-by-v-s-naipaul/

http://prezi.com/qtcq-y43iqpq/the-enemy-vs-naipaul/

http://prezi.com/iye8oexgkq8s/the-enemy/

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/v-s-naipaul

http://quizlet.com/15177967/the-enemy-flash-cards/

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