The Last Lesson
By Alphonse Daudet
About the Author
Alphonse Daudet was a French
short-story writer and novelist, now remembered chiefly as the author of
sentimental tales of provincial life in the south of France. He was born on May
13, 1840 at Nimes in France. He was the
son of a silk manufacturer. In 1849 his father had to sell his factory and move
to Lyon. Alphonse wrote his first poems and his first novel at age 14. He died
on Dec. 16, 1897 in Paris, France.
Setting
The present story is set during the
days of Franco – Prussian War (1870 – 18710) in which France was defeated by
Prussia led by Bismarck. At that time Prussia consisted of Germany, Poland and
some parts of Austria.
Characters
1. Franz: A school student.
2. M Hamel: A teacher of French
language
3. Class: Consists of some students
and some elderly people of the village.
4. Old Hauser: An elderly villager
5. Sister of M Hamel
Brief
Introduction
'The last lesson ' written by
Alphonse Daudet narrates about the year 1870 when the Prussian forces under
Bismarck attacked and captured France. The French districts of Alsace and
Lorraine went into Prussian hands. The new Prussian rulers discontinued the teaching
of French in the schools of these two districts. The French teachers were asked
to leave. Now M. Hamel could no longer stay in his old school. Still he gave
the last lesson to his students with utmost devotion and sincerity as ever.
One such student of M. Hamel,
Franz who dreaded French class and M. Hamel’s iron rod, came to the school that
day thinking he would be punished as he had not learnt his lesson on
participles. But on reaching school he found Hamel dressed in his fine Sunday
clothes and the old people of the village sitting quietly on the back benches. It
was due to an order from Berlin. That was the first day when he realized for
the first time that how important French was for him, but it was his last
lesson in French.
The story depicts the pathos of
the whole situation about how people feel when they don’t learn their own
language. It tells us about the significance of one’s language in one’s life for
the very existence of a race and how important it is to safeguard it.
Main
points
1. Franz is afraid of going to
school as he has not learnt participles.
2. Wants to enjoy the beauty of
nature - the bright sunshine - the birds chirruping in the woods - Prussian
soldiers’ drilling but resisted.
3. On reaching school
Franz notices: unusual silence - Villagers occupying the last
benches - teacher well dressed – everybody looked sad.
4. M. Hamel announces: Today is the
last lesson in French.
5. Franz regrets and realizes why
he had not taken his lesson seriously.
6. Understands the reason why
teacher is well dressed and villagers sitting at the back.
7. M. Hamel realizes that all
three, he himself, the children and the parents are to be blamed for losing
respect and regards for the mother tongue.
8. Hamel says: French language –
most beautiful, clear and logical language in the world. Always keep close the
mother tongue to your heart as it is a key to the prison of slavery.
9. Hamel becomes emotional and writes
on the black board “Vive La France”
10. Franz remembers the last lesson
very well.
Important Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. What
was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Ans: Franz was expected to be prepared with
participles that day for school, as Mr. Hamel had said that he would question
them on participles.
Q2. Why was Franz tempted to play truant from school?
Ans. The French teacher M Hamel was going to ask
questions on participles which Franz had not prepared. To avoid being scolded
he was tempted to play truant from school and spend the day out doors in a
pleasurable manner.
Q3. What was unusual about the school
that Franz noticed when he entered the school?
Ans. On entering the school, Franz noticed that there
was unusual silence. There was no noise of opening and closing of desks. The
village elders had occupied the last benches that were always empty. M Hamel
was in his very fine Sunday clothes. Everybody looked sad.
Q4. What
had been put up on the bulletin-board?
Ans: Franz had a negative view about the
bulletin-board as for the last two years only bad news had come from it. That
day was no exception as Germans had put up an order passed from Berlin on the
bulletin-board to teach only German in the school of Alsace and Lorraine.
Q5. What
changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
Ans: The order from Berlin caused man changes
in the school that day. The entire school seemed strange and solemn. The old
villagers were sitting on the back benches of the classroom quietly to thank M.
Hamel for his forty years of faithful service and for showing their respect for
the country. M Hamel also had put on his best dress on that day though it was
not an inspection or prize day. The order from Berlin also brought a sense of
repentance for those who in spite of having time didn't learn the French
properly.
Q6. How
did Franz's feelings about M Hamel and school change?
Ans: Earlier Franz didn't like M. Hamel much
because of his ruler and cranky nature and he would feel fear from him but now
all those feelings were entirely changed for M Hamel.
The message conveyed by M Hamel about the order
from Berlin was a thunderclap for little Franz. He immediately felt sorry for
not being sincere in the school and for not learning the French language and
other lessons properly. His books, which seemed a nuisance and a burden earlier
ere now Franz's old friends.
Q7. What reasons did M Hamel give for their lack of interest
in learning French?
Ans. The lack of interest in learning French was:
(a) due to the parents who wanted their children to work in farm
or mill to earn,
(b) due to the students who were reluctant to learn and often
put off the lesson for the next day
(c) and due to himself as he asked them to water the flower and
gave them off when he had to go for fishing
Q8. Why doesn’t
M Hamel want the people to forget French?
Ans. M Hamel wanted them not
to forget French as it is the most beautiful, clear and logical language in the
world and as long as they hold fast to their language it would be as if they
had the key to the prison.
Q9. Franz
thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What could this
mean?
Ans. The Frenchmen were highly patriotic and
took a pride in their language. A strong feeling of revolt was in the air
against the Germans. It shows that Franz did not accept their rule and thought
that they can’t tame pigeons.
Q10.
Describe how M Hamel conducted the last lesson.
Ans. In his last French class though M. Hamel
was emotional he fully involved himself in the teaching learning process. He
heard every lesson to the last sitting motionless in the chair. When the church
bell struck twelve he stood up pale and wrote ‘Vive La French’ and with a
gesture he communicated that the school is dismissed.
Q11. What
did M Hamel say about the French language?
Ans: M Hamel said that French language was
world's most beautiful, clearest and logical
language and therefore it should be guarded and should not be forgotten by
them. He also added that the love with one's own language can be proven as the
key to the prison for the people who are enslaved.
Q12. Why
did villagers come to school that day?
Ans: The old men of the village came to the
school that day to thank M Hamel for his forty years of faithful service. They
also came to show their respect for the country that was theirs no more.
Q13. How
did Franz find teaching and learning that day?
Ans: Franz found teaching and learning very
interesting that day. He was very attentive and careful. Franz also realized
that M Hamel had never explained everything with so much patience. It seemed
almost as if the poor man wanted to give them all he knew before going away. M Hamel
wanted to put it all into their heads at one stroke as it was their last lesson.
Important long Answer Type Questions
.
Q1. How
did M Hamel react when Franz failed to recite rule for the participle?
Ans. Franz's name was
called to recite the rule for the participles. But he got mixed up on the first
word. He was standing there, holding on to his desk, his heart beating and not
daring to look up. But M. Hamel instead of scolding, he told Franz that he must
feel bad enough. He said that every day we think that we have plenty of time
and we will learn it tomorrow. And now you see where we have come out by
putting off learning till tomorrow. Now those fellows out there will have the
right to say to you, “How is it; you pretend to be Frenchman, and yet you can
neither speak nor write your own language?”
Then M Hamel told Franz that only he was not to
be blamed. His parents were not anxious enough to have him learn. They
preferred to put Franz to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to have a
little more money. M. Hamel blamed himself for it also. He said that quite
often he had been sending Franz to water his flowers instead of learning his
lessons. And when he wanted to go for fishing, he would just give him a
holiday.
Q2. What does M Hamel
tell about the significance and safeguarding of French language? How does he
conclude his last lesson?
Ans. M Hamel said that French was the most
beautiful, clear and logical language in the world. They must guard it among
them and never forget it because when the people are enslaved, as long as they
hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison.
Then M. Hamel opened a grammar and read the
students their lesson. All he said seemed so easy. He had never explained
everything with so much patience: After the grammar, they had a lesson in
writing. M Hamel had new copies for the students, written in a beautiful round
hand: France, Alsace, France, Alsace. He had the courage to hear every lesson
to the very last. It seemed almost as if he wanted to give us all he knew
before going away and put it all into their heads at one stroke. He wanted to
say something, but he could not go on. Then he turned on the blackboard, took a
piece of chalk and wrote “Vive La France!" Lastly he said: "School is
dismissed—you may go."
Q3. What impression do you form of M Hamel on the basis of your study
of the story “The Last Lesson”?
M. Hamel is an experienced teacher who has been
teaching in school for forty years. He imparts primary education in all
subjects. He is a hard task master and students like Franz, who are not good
learners, are in great dread of being scolded by him.
The latest order of the Prussian rulers upsets
him. He has to leave the place for ever and feels heart broken. He feels sad
but exercises self-control. He has the courage to hear every lesson to the
last.
His performance during the last lesson is
exemplary. He is kind even to a late comer like Franz. He uses a solemn and
gentle tone while addressing the students. He has a logical mind and can
analyze problems and deduce the reasons responsible for it. The problem for
Alsace is that it puts off learning till tomorrow.
He knows the emotional hold of a language over
its users. He is a good communicator and explains everything patiently.
Partings are painful and being human, M. Hamel too is no exception. He fails to
say good-bye as his throat is choked. On the whole, he is a patriotic
gentleman.
Q4. Franz' attitude
towards school as well as towards M. Hamel changes when he comes to know about
the takeover of his village by Prussians. Do you agree? Discuss with reference
to the 'Last Lesson'.
Ans. The
orders from Berlin to take over the village where Franz lives have been pasted
on the school notice board. Only German language would be taught in the school
and French teacher had to go. Franz felt sorry for not learning his lessons in
French any more. His books that had seemed such a nuisance a short while ago,
which he found so heavy to carry seemed to him old friends. His feelings about
his French teacher M Hamel Were changed. He decided to pay attention to the
lesson. The school became very important for him. The idea that the teacher was
going away, genuinely upset Franz who became too serious for history and
grammar. I fully agree with it as one has to take one's deeds seriously when he
feels the loss of it.
Q5. Give
a brief description of M Hamel.
Ans: M Hamel was a very devoted, dedicated and
a strict man of discipline. Students were afraid of his cranky nature and iron
ruler. He was a true patriot and a sincere teacher who dedicatedly served the
school for long forty years. The heart of this true Frenchman totally broke
when he received the order from Berlin to vacate his place to make the space
for a new German teacher. He remained upset during his last class. This changed
his behavior too and he behaved rather very politely and patiently. When Franz
was not able to say his lesson correctly, he, instead of scolding him, just
made him understand about the importance and relevance of learning the mother
tongue. He preached everyone presented in the class that important things
should never be postponed as time flies very fast.
Q6. What
is linguistic chauvinism? Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too
far?
Ans. Linguistic chauvinism
means an aggressive and unreasonable belief that your own language is better
than all others. This shows an excessive or prejudiced support for one’s own
language. Sometimes pride in one’s own language goes too far and the linguistic
enthusiasts can be easily identified by their extreme zeal for the preservation
and spread of their language. In their enthusiasm, love and support for their
own language, they tend to forget that other languages too have their own
merits, long history of art, culture and literature behind them. Instead of
bringing unity and winning over others as friends, having excessive pride in
one’s own language creates ill-will and disintegration. The stiff resistance to
the acceptance of Hindi as national language by the southern states of India is
a direct outcome of the fear of being dominated by Hindi enthusiasts. The
result is that “one India” remains only a slogan.