1 The Last Lesson
1 The Last Lesson
1 The Last Lesson
1. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Franz was expected to be prepared with his lesson on participles that day. M. Hamel, his
French teacher had announced that he would question the class on participles. But poor
Franz didn’t know even the first word about them.
2. What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
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. His teacher, M Hamel had on
his ceremonial clothes. But the most unusual thing was that the village people were
sitting quietly on the back benches, which were usually empty.
An order that had come from Berlin had been put up on the bulletin board. The order
was that from the next day only German would be taught in the schools of Alsace and
Lorraine. The new teacher would join the school from the following day.
4. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
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.
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?
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. To show their affection for the language many elderly people came to attend
school, occupying the last benches, which had usually remained vacant earlier. The
strongest evidence of how important their language became can be taken from Hamel’s
mesmerising last lesson. Everyone was extremely attentive. Franz too found the lesson
quite easy to understand.
7. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What could
this means?
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.