The Last Lesson - Alphonse Daudet

Bits-

• 1890, the year Prussia conquered two states of France – Alsace and Lorraine.
• A boy from Alsace is on his way to school. He is unwilling to school and scared of his teacher, Mr. Hamel.
• The boy’s name is Franz. Very lazy and very illiterate.
• While passing the Town Hall, Franz sees so many French citizens overcrowded in front of the bulletin board. They are reading the latest order from the Prussians, their enemies.
• The order said, “No French school will hereafter teach French. All French teachers are hereby ordered to leave the country. Students should attend their schools and learn German as their language. Teachers are already appointed.”
• Franz is illiterate so he cannot read the order. After halting for a while, Franz runs off to his school.
• In the school Franz is told of the new order and of his teacher’s leaving the school.
• Although never interested in learning, Franz for the first time felt like blaming himself.
• He listened to Mr. Hamel’s last lecture. Wonder! He understood every word, every grammar, every rule.
• The last class transformed him life and aptitude. He saw how important it is to be literate, how essential it is to love one’s mother tongue and how painful it is to be denied the right to learn one’s mother tongue!

Main Characters-

1. M. Hamel

• Sincere French teacher
•  knows subject well
• Passionate about French
•  considers French-clearest, most beautiful, logical
•  feels-key to person’s sense of freedom
•  advises to hold on to French
• Proud of being French
•  upset by occupation of Alsace by German
• attached to town, school, people
• Hard Task Master
• particular about discipline and learning
•  students scared
• last day – exercises on all aspects of language
• Sensitive, Honest
• blames himself for selfishness
• emotional by sound of Prussian soldiers

2. Franz

• Sensitive, Honest
• Blames himself for ignoring lessons
•  Wonders if pigeons will coo in German
• Understands feelings of Hauser
• Loves outdoors, sunshine, birds, butterflies, collecting bird’s eggs
• As a student, repents,
• Good observer, notices changes.
• Empathizes with M. Hamel
• Understands emotions, accepts him with faults.

Summary-

The narrator (Franz) started for school very late that morning. He feared his class teacher, would question him on participles. The narrator didn't know anything about it which may please his teacher. Hence, he expected a scolding from him. He thought of running away and spending the day out of doors as the weather was very warm and bright. On his second thought, he decided otherwise and hurried off to school. As Franz walked past the town-hall, he saw a big crowd in front of the bulletin board which displayed all the bad news for two years. The people usually got the news of lost battles and other important information only from there. Usually, there was a lot of hustle and bustle when the school began. The opening and closing of desks and lessons orally repeated loudly in unison created a lot of commotion. But now it was all so still. He could depend on the commotion to get to his desk without being noticed. But now he went in before everybody. He blushed and was quite frightened. But fortunately for him, nothing happened. No punishment. M. Hamel saw and asked him very kindly to take his seat. M. Hamel was in formal clothes that he wore only on inspection and prize days. The whole school seemed quite strange and silent. The most surprising thing was the presence of the village elders. They were sitting quietly on the back benches. M. Hamel mounted his chair and spoke in a grave and gentle tone. "My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you." He told them that an order had come from Berlin. Only German would be taught in the  schools of Alsace. The new master would join the next day. It was their last lesson in French. He wanted them to be very attentive. The narrator felt sorry for not learning his lessons. He never liked his books. He didn't have any interest in grammar and history. But now he developed a fascination for them. Even he started liking M. Hamel. The idea that he would not teach them anymore made Franz forget all about his ruler and the cranky attitude he had towards his students. When it was his turn to recite the participles, Franz got mixed up and confused. But surprisingly M. Hamel didn't scold him. M. Hamel showed his concern that people of Alsace generally gave no importance to French. They ignored learning their own native language. Franz was not the only exception as many others were also guilty on this reason. He declared that the French language was the most beautiful language in the world. It was the clearest and most logical. They must guard it among themselves and never forget it. It appeared that M. Hamel wanted to give them all he knew before going away. All at once the church-clock struck twelve. The trumpets of the Prussian soldiers sounded under their windows. M. Hamel stood up, very pale, in his chair. He tried to speak but some-thing choked him and he was unable to speak it out. Then he turned to the blackboard. He took a piece of chalk and wrote as large as he could: "Vive La France !" (Long Live France !") and made a gesture to them with his hand that  "School is dismissed— you may go."

Questions & Answers- 

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

Answer 1 - Franz was expected to be prepared with participles that day as Mr. Hamel had told the class that he would be taking a test on the topic that day.

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

Answer  2 - Usually when the school began there would be a lot of commotion. But that day everything was quiet and it appeared to be like a Sunday, but the students were at their places and Mr. Hamel was walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm.

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

Answer  3 - The bulletin-board notified the general public about an order from Berlin. It stated that only German was to be taught to students in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.

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

Answer  4 - The order from Berlin brought all the routine hustle-bustle of the school life to a stand-still. The teacher, M. Hamel, became more sympathetic to his students and taught his lessons with more patience. The students became more attentive in their classes. The villagers, who were sitting at the usually empty back benches and had come to show their respect and gratitude to M. Hamel, regretted not going to school more than they did. The order also brought about a great change in the feelings of the people towards their country and their native language. There was a general sadness about not being able to utilise the opportunities of learning French when it was easily accessible.


5. How did Franz's feelings about M. Hamel and school change?

Answer  5 - Franz was shocked when M. Hamel told the students about the order from Berlin and that it was their last French lesson. He forgot about his teacher’s ruler and crankiness. He developed a fondness for M. Hamel at the troubling idea of being separated from him forever. He understood the pain and agony his teacher was undergoing. And, he became more sympathetic towards his teacher.
His school too, now, carried a different meaning. His books and lessons seemed old friends whom he couldn’t give up. He realised with pain how much French meant to him and regretted not being attentive in his classes earlier. Suddenly, he felt that the ‘difficult concepts’ had never actually been difficult.


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

Answer  6 - 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 motherland.

7. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons ?” What could this means?

Answer  7 - Alphonse Daudet’s ‘The Last Lesson’ very prominently raises the question of linguistic and cultural hegemony of the colonial and imperial powers and their lust for controlling the world and influencing their cultures and identities. Prussians acquired the districts of Alsace and Lorraine in Franco-Prussian War , but they were not satisfied with mere political domination ,they desired to enforce their own language on the people of the defeated nation. They released the order that from now German would be taught in schools rather than French. Franz wondered whether they would make even pigeons sing in German. It means that they had grown up using French as their language and now snatching away their language from them would be unfair and unkind. The language was as natural to them as cooing is to the pigeon. So, compulsion to speak another language is like dominating the force of nature and enslaving it. As it is next to impossible to alter the way pigeons sing, in the same way it is difficult for people to accept a language which is forcibly imposed on them. Adopting a new language causes pain and discomfort.

Or

This sentence could possibly mean that however hard the authorities try to embed German language in the culture of Alsace and Lorraine, the natural status of French, for them, will remain unchanged. French flows in the air and the entire place is imbued with its effect. Even though they train students in German, the basic mode of communication would remain unchanged like the cooing of the pigeons.


8. “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.”
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?

Answer  8 - Some examples of the native language taken away from its people and/or imposition of the language of the conqueror are:
(a) Portuguese becoming the lingua franca of Angola.
(b) English imposed on the various Celtic peoples.
(c) Spanish imposed on the Basques and the Catalans.
(d) Turkish imposed on the Kurds.

9. 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

Answer  9 - A linguistic minority in a state does not have as much liberty to exercise linguistic skills as the natives of the state. They initially try to learn the jargons in order to cope with the day-to-day life activities and finally begin to understand the native language with regular interaction. At the workplace and educational organisations, English or the link language helps a lot to cope up with the work and learning process. But, when it comes to understanding the basic norms of the society, in order to socialize, one does face a sort of linguistic barrier during communication.
To keep their language alive, the linguistic minorities can form small communities where they can celebrate their festivals as per their traditions. Moreover, they can continue to speak their native language at their homes in order to make their children learn the language. People must, even, try to visit their native places at regular intervals in order to stay close to their roots.

10. Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far?
Do you know what ‘linguistic chauvinism’ means?

Answer  10 - Yes, it is possible to carry pride in one's language too far if one is fond of one’s own language at the cost of others. Indifference towards other languages is not healthy for any democracy like India.
When the sense of belonging to one's own language crosses the thin line between ‘pride’ and ‘proud’, it becomes linguistic chauvinism. If people feel good about their languages and traditions, they must have tolerance for other languages too. Everybody has the right to follow the religion as well as speak the language as per his/her desire. In fact, it is disparaging to distort the names of communities, for example, Bongs for Bengalis, Gujju for Gujratis, etc.