The Last Lesson

Alphonse Daudet

Introduction

The author narrates events about the year 1870 when France was captured by Bismarck led
Prussian forces. Furthermore, the Lorraine and Alsace districts went under Prussian rule. There
was the discontinuation of teaching French in these two districts.

There was an order for the French teachers to leave. Consequently, M. Hamel was not able to
stay in his old school. In spite of this, the last lesson from him was full of devotion and sincerity.

One student of M. Hamel was afraid of him. There was an anticipation of punishment from this
student when he came to school that day. However, he learnt that this will be his last lesson.
Soon, he realized the importance of this subject.

This story shows us how people feel when they don’t learn their language.

Summary

The narration of this story is by a French boy, Franz. Franz is a lazy boy. However, in spite of his
laziness, Franz likes to play and is of a sensitive nature. Furthermore, Franz hates his teacher
M. Hamel in his school and has no interest in studying French.

An order has come from Berlin after taking over the districts of Alsace and Lorraine in France
that the German language rather than the French should be taught in the schools there.
Furthermore, it is the school French teacher M. Hamel’s last day. This teacher has been
working there for forty years. Moreover, the teacher has feelings of patriotism. He is also full of
nostalgia and grief. The village men also attend his ‘last lesson’ so as to honour and respect
him. The village is regretting and is sad that they didn’t learn their mother tongue in their
childhood.

Franz receives a big shock when he learns that this is his last lesson in French. He is shocked
because he does not know French. Furthermore, on learning about the last lesson, a sudden
interest arises in him for learning French. Moreover, he pays careful attention and learns
everything taught on this last day.

Instantly, he develops liking for the teacher M. Hamel. His feelings of hatred for him suddenly
came to an end. Moreover, Franz develops respect for the hard work and sincerity of his
teacher. Franz is sad and ashamed for being unable to recite his lesson.

Hamel explains that they all are at fault for lacking eagerness to learn. Furthermore, he also
includes himself in this fault. He blames himself for lack of sincerity in teaching them.
There is a reflection of his patriotism in his praise for the French language. He says that the
French language is the most logical and beautiful language in the world. It seems that M. Hamel
got emotional on this occasion. Furthermore, he asks the class to guard their language. He says
that being close to one’s language is a way to escape the clutches of slavery. This language will
assist them in attaining freedom from the Germans. The people realize the significance of their
mother tongue. Moreover, they feel the reason for their defeat is illiteracy.

Franz feels that it is impossible to remove one’s language from a person. This is because it is
something that is natural to a person. This means that no matter how hard the opposition may
try, they will fail to remove one’s language.

Conclusion

The Last Lesson summary reflects on the importance of one’s language for any race and why it
is crucial to safeguard it.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q1. What was Franz expected to be prepared for school that day?

That day Franz was expected to be prepared with participles because M. Hamel had said that
he would question them on participles. Franz did not know anything about participles.

Q2. What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?

Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street.
But it was all very still that day. Everything was as quiet as Sunday morning. There was no
opening or closing of desks. His classmates were already in their places. The teacher’s great
ruler, instead of rapping on the table, was under M. Hamel’s arm.

Q3. What had been put up on the bulletin-board?

For the last two years all the bad news had come from the bulletin-board. An order had come
from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The Germans had put
up this notice on the bulletin-board.

Q4. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?

M. Hamel had put on his best dress—his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt and the little black
silk cap, all embroidered. The whole school seemed so strange and solemn. On the back
benches that were always empty, the elderly village people were sitting quietly like the kids.
Q5. How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change?

Franz came to know that it was the last lesson in French that M. Hamel would give them. From
the next day they will be taught only German. Then he felt sorry for not learning his lessons
properly. His books, which seemed a nuisance and a burden earlier, were now old friends. His
feelings about M. Hamel also changed. He forgot all about his ruler and how cranky he was.

Q6. The people? in this story they suddenly realise how precious their language is to them.
What shows you this? Why does this happen?

M. Hamel told the students and villagers that henceforth only German would be taught in the
schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Those who called themselves Frenchmen would neither be able
to speak nor write it. He praised French as the most beautiful, the clearest and most logical
language in the world. He said that for the enslaved people, their language was the key to their
prison. Then the people realised how precious their language was to them. This shows people’s
love for their own culture, traditions and country. Pride in one’s language reflects pride in the
motherland.

Q7. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeonsT’ What could this
mean?(There could be more than one answer.)

This comment of Franz shows a Frenchman’s typical reaction to the imposition of learning
German, the language of the conquerors. Being deprived of the learning of a mother tongue
would mean cutting off all bonds with the motherland. Teaching the pigeons to sing in German
indicates how far the Germans would go in their attempts of linguistic chauvinism.

Q8. “When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had
the key to their prison.”
Can you think of examples in history where a conquered people had their language taken away
from them or had a language imposed on them?

Mother tongue helps a person to express his feelings and thoughts most lucidly and intimately.
Conquerors try to subdue and control the people of the enslaved territory by enforcing many
measures such as use of force to crush dissent and imposing their own language on them.

From time immemorial the victorious nations have imposed their own language on the
conquered people and taken away their own language from them. The Romans conquered
many parts of Europe and replaced the local languages by their own language— Latin. Later on
Spanish, Pourtuguese, Italian and French developed from Latin. The Muslim invaders imposed
Arabic and Persian in the countries of Asia overpowered by them. In many Arab countries the
local religion and language have disappeared. In India, a new language Urdu developed from
the mixture of Persian and Hindi.
Q9. What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do you think they can keep their
language alive? For example:
Punjabis in Bangalore
Tamilians in Mumbai
Kannadigas in Delhi
Gujaratis in Kolkata

The linguistic minority in any state is easily marked and faces the same discrimination as the
religious, social or ethnic minorities. There is, however, a pronounced difference in the treatment
meted out and the level of acceptance displayed by the majority community in that region/city.
Some cities like Delhi, Mumbai are cosmopolitan in outlook.

The linguistic minority tries to preserve its identity through intimate contact, interaction and
preservation of their language in social get-togethers, family functions and festivals of their own
region. Adherence to social customs and traditions in family gatherings/group meetings of
women also promote the unity between members of the linguistic minority.

In short, they create a mini-Punjab in Bangalore, mini-Chennai in Mumbai, mini-Bangalore in

Delhi and mini-Surat in Kolkata.

Q10. Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Do you know what “lin¬guistic
chauvinism” means?

‘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.

Word Meaning

S.N Words Meanings

o
1 Dread To feel extremely
worried or
frightened about
 something that is
going to happen or
that might happen
2 Scolding The act of
speaking angrily to
someone because
of not obeying your
words
3 Participle The form of a verb
that usually ends
in "ed" or "ing" and
is used as an
adjective
4 Chirping A short, sharp,
high-pitched sound
of a bird
5 Drilling Training or
instructing in a
military exercise
6 Bulletin-b A board on a wall
oard for putting up
notices
7 Crowd A large group of
people who have
come together
8 Battle A fight between
armed forces
9 Hurry To move or do
things more
quickly than
expected or to
make someone do
10 Blacksmit A person who
h makes and repairs
iron objects and
horseshoes
11 Apprentic Someone who
e works for an
employer for an
agreed period to
learn a new skill,
often for a low
wage
12 Frighten To make someone
feel fear
13 Unison Acting or speaking
together, or at the
same time
14 Out of Breathing with
breath difficulty, panting,
gasping
15 Rapping Strike sharply with
a ruler or similar
implement several
times against a
hard surface
16 Commoti A state of
on confused and
noisy disturbance
17 Blush To become red in
the face, usually
from
embarrassment or
shyness
18 Ruler A narrow, flat
object with straight
edges you can use
to draw straight
lines and has
markings used to
measure
19 Frill A long, narrow
strip of cloth with
folds along one
side that is sewn
along the edge of
a piece of clothing
or material for
decoration
20 Embroide Cloth decorated
red with patterns sewn
on with thread
21 Inspectio The act of looking
n at something
carefully, or an
official visit to a
building or
organisation to
check that
everything is
correct and legal
22 Strange Unusual or
surprising; difficult
to understand or
explain
23 Solemn Serious and
without any
humour
24 Surprise An unexpected or
astonishing event
25 Spectacl An unusual or
e unexpected event
or situation that
attracts attention,
interest, or
disapproval
26 Primer A small book
containing basic
facts about a
subject, used
mainly when you
are beginning to
learn about that
subject
27 Attentive Paying close
attention to
something
28 Thunderc Used in similes to
lap refer to something
startling or
unexpected
29 Wretches An unfortunate or
unhappy person
30 Nuisance A person or thing
causing
inconvenience or
annoyance
31 Faithful People who are
always loyal to a
particular group or
organisation
32 Respect A feeling of deep
admiration for
someone or
something elicited
by their abilities,
qualities, or
achievements
33 Dreadful Causing or
involving great
suffering, fear, or
unhappiness;
extremely bad or
serious
34 Trouble To cause someone
to be worried or
nervous
35 Reproac Express to
h (someone) one's
disapproval of or
disappointment in
their actions
36 Anxious Feeling or showing
worry,
nervousness, or
unease about
something with an
uncertain outcome
37 Blame Feel or declare
that someone or
 something is
responsible for a
fault or wrong
38 Fishing The activity of
catching fish,
either for food or
as a sport
39 Enslave Make someone a
slave
40 Floating Not fixed in one
position, place, or
level
41 Grammar The study or use
of the rules about
how words change
their form and
combine with other
words to express
meaning
42 Amaze Surprise someone
greatly; fill with
astonishment
43 Patience The capacity to
accept or tolerate
delay, problems, or
suffering without
becoming annoyed
or anxious
44 Beetle An insect with a
hard shell-like
back
45 Scratch Marking the
surface of
something with a
sharp or pointed
object
46 Rod A thin straight bar,
especially of wood
or metal
47 Hook A piece of metal or
other hard material
curved or bent
back at an angle
for catching hold of
or hanging things
on
48 Gaze A long look,
usually of a
particular kind
49 Window An opening in the
wall or roof of a
building or vehicle,
fitted with glass in
a frame to allow
light or air and
allow people to
see out
50 Walnut A nut with a
slightly bitter taste,
a series of folds in
it, and a hard shell
51 Emotion A strong feeling
deriving from one's
circumstances,
 mood, or
relationships with
others
52 Hopvine The twining stem
of the hop plant
53 Dismiss Order or allow to
leave; send away
54 Gesture A movement of
part of the body,
especially a hand
or the head, to
express an idea or
meaning