ST.

XAVIER’S COLLEGE, RANCHI

INTERMEDIATE SECTION
I.A. 2ND YEAR
ENGLISH CORE

(Study material prepared by Ms. Udita Mitra)

The Last Lesson

- Alphonse Daudet
This story is set in the days of the Franco- Prussian war (1870- 1871) in which France was defeated by Prussia. Prussia
consisted of Germany, Poland and Austria. The French districts of Alsace and Lorraine passed into the control of
Germany.

This story shows how the people of Alsace realize the importance of their mother tongue French only when they lose
the right to learn and use it. This story shows that language is a part of our identity and we should love and protect our
mother tongue.

The story is narrated by a young boy Franz, who lives in Alsace. He studies in a school where M. Hamel has been
teaching French for forty years. (M. stands for ‘Monsieur’ in French; in English, it means ‘Mister’.)

One morning Franz set out for school. He was running late1. Moreover, he was expected to be prepared with the lesson
on participles, as M. Hamel would ask questions in class. But Franz did not know anything about participles2. He was
afraid that he would be scolded by M. Hamel because of these two reasons.

On the way there was a bulletin- board (‘bulletin’ means news update) at the town hall. That morning Franz saw that
there was a crowd in front of the bulletin- board. He did not find out what was put on the board and hurried to school.

Franz noticed something unusual about the school that day. Usually, when school began, there used to be a great
hustle (noise and activity)- the opening and closing of desks, the children repeating their lessons loudly, the teacher
rapping his ruler on the table. But that day everything was “as quiet as Sunday morning”. Children were sitting in
their places. M. Hamel did not scold Franz for being late. M. Hamel was wearing his green coat, frilled shirt and his black
silk cap, which he wore on inspection and prize days. The most surprising thing was that the villagers
were sitting sadly and quietly on the back benches, which always used to be empty.
Then M. Hamel told the class that it was the last French lesson that he would give them and he wanted them to be
attentive. An order had come from Berlin that only German, and not French, was to be taught
in the
schools of Alsace and Lorraine. M. Hamel, who taught French, had to leave the school the
next day; a new teacher would come to teach German.
Franz was shocked to hear this. He understood that a notice about the same order had been put on the bulletin-
board. This order was the reason behind the sadness and silence at school that day.
Franz was sad to think that it was his last French lesson. His feelings, about M. Hamel and the French lessons, changed.
Earlier he felt that his books were “nuisance” (meaningless burden). Now he felt sorry for not having paying attention to
his lessons. He used to think that M. Hamel was too strict and cranky (one who gets irritated easily). Now he felt sorry
for M. Hamel as well. He understood that M. Hamel was wearing his special clothes in honor of the last lesson. He also
realized that the villagers were there because they felt sorry for not learning French
properly, they wanted to thank M. Hamel for teaching there for forty years, and they
wanted to show respect for their motherland France which was now under Prussia.
Franz was not able to recite the rules for participles. M. Hamel did not scold Franz and said that many people in Alsace
were like him, as they did not know their own language French properly. People of Alsace had never tried to learn about
their own language and culture in a sincere manner (“Ah, that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning
until tomorrow”). Children, parents and M. Hamel himself, all were responsible for this mistake.

Since French was his mother tongue, M. Hamel said that French was the most beautiful language in the world. He also
said that people of Alsace should never forget their mother tongue French. One’s mother tongue is an important part of
one’s identity. Even when people are under the rule of another country, as long as they remain attached to their
language with love, they preserve their identity, they maintain the possibility of regaining their lost freedom (“when a
people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison”). Prison
symbolizes loss of freedom. The key to unlock this prison is to remember one’s own
language and identity.
That day M. Hamel taught them very sincerely and everybody learnt the lesson quietly. Franz too was filled with love for
his country. In all copies ‘France’ and ‘Alsace’ had been written by M. Hamel. Franz felt as if those words were like small
French flags, floating about the room.

Franz wondered how people could be stopped from using their own language. It seemed totally unnatural that people at
Alsace were now supposed to leave their mother tongue French and use German. He wondered if the Germans could
capture everything in the city. He wondered, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” He felt that
nobody could ever force the pigeons to leave their own language and sing in German but
people of Alsace were more helpless than even the pigeons because they had been forced to
leave their own language French and start using German.

M. Hamel was filled with sorrow as he had to leave the country the next day. To Franz, the teacher had never
looked “so tall”. It means that for the first time, Franz realized how M. Hamel was very
dignified and devoted towards the French language and how M. Hamel loved his country
even when he had to go away from the school.
At 12 noon, M. Hamel stood up to say something but could not speak, as he had become too emotional. He wrote on
the blackboard, “Vive La France!” (Long Live France). This shows that he loved his country very much. Then he
made a gesture with his hand to indicate that the class was over.
In this story, people suddenly realize how precious their language is to them. This is shown by the fact that they come
to attend the last French class. They feel sorry for not learning their language properly. They sincerely try to learn
whatever M. Hamel teaches them in the last class.

This happens because the people have suddenly lost the right to use their own language. When things are easily
available, we do not realize their worth but the moment we lose those things, we
understand their value. Then we feel a sense of attachment for those things. This makes us feel the sense of loss
more strongly.

The story shows the dark side of linguistic chauvinism. Chauvinism means excessive and unjustified pride over
something. Linguistic chauvinism means

- to become too proud of one’s own language,

-to think that all other languages are inferior, and,
- to force other people to leave their language and adopt some other language.

The Germans are full of linguistic chauvinism as they force the people of Alsace to leave their mother tongue French and
to adopt German language.

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Answer the following questions in your notebook:

1. Who was Franz and where did he live?

2. What acted as temptations and tempted Franz to stay away from school that morning?
3. In front of the bulletin- board, why was a crowd that day?
4. In front of the bulletin- board, who called out and asked Franz to walk slowly?
5. For the last two years, the bulletin board had always displayed “bad news”. Why?
6. What was unusual about the school that day?
7. What was the order from Berlin?
8. What were the three reasons behind the presence of villagers in the classroom?
9. Mention the four subjects that M. Hamel taught during his last lesson.
10. Whenever M. Hamel had wanted to go for fishing, what had he done about his classes?
11. In Alsace, where did M. Hamel live and with whom?
12. According to M. Hamel, what was the “great trouble” with Alsace? How were students, parents and M. Hamel
himself responsible for neglecting the French language?
13. How is language related to identity and freedom?
14. Why did Franz feel that people of Alsace had become more helpless and miserable than the pigeons?
15. Why did Franz feel that M. Hamel had never looked “so tall”?
16. What did M. Hamel write on the blackboard and why? What did he do after that?