Cbse Class 12 English The Last Lesson Revision Notes

The Last Lesson Revision Notes
About the Author:

Alphonse Daudet is the author of Class 12 English Flamingo (Prose) Chapter, The
Last Lesson. Born in 1840, he was a French novelist and short-story writer.
About the Story/ Synopsis of the Story

The Last Lesson is based on the backdrop of Franco-Prussian War of 1870s. During
the war, France was defeated by Prussia which consists of Germany, Poland, and
various parts of Austria. The France cities Alsace and Lorraine have been conquered
by the Prussian men and it’s the last lesson of M.Hamel in France. Check the
summary below for complete and brief explanation of chapter, The Last Lesson.
Theme of The Last Lesson

The Last Lesson aims at showcasing the longing of your mother tongue, culture,
when lost in the war. It tries to explain the pain, sadness, and grief of all those who
loose their lands, language, culture during wars. The lesson further takes a step ahead
in showing what impact does the political situation of a country makes on children.
Here, Franz suddenly developed love and affection for his mother tongue, culture,
and teacher. It explains that it is the behaviour of a human to feel attached with
something that he/she is about to loose, and that same thing isn’t given much
importance, love, and attention when is freely and readily available.
Character Sketches:
M Hamel- A dedicated and determined teacher who wished to teach French to his
french kids. Very passionate about his work. Strict in nature since Franz was afraid of
him and he carried an iron ruler to scare the children. Nationalist and the feeling of
patriotism since he took great pride in introducing French language and culture to his
students. Courageous since he took the last lesson even after the order from Berlin.
Though he was a strict teacher with a shape mind, since he kept the students hooked
to his conversations
Franz- Franz is a fun and active boy who likes to do a variety of activities. He is
disinterested in learning French but is usually eager to explore new things and learn
new activities. He is sort of ignorant and unaware of political situation in his country,
since he didn’t knew about the orders from Berlin and chose to run to the class
instead of looking at the bulletin. He is observant since he observes M hamel very
closely and knows about this reactions, behaviour, and occasions when M Hamel
wore his Sunday suit. He is emotional by nature since he suddenly developed a soft
corner for his language, nation, and M Hamel after acknowledging that he is neither
going to learn French from next day nor he is going to be the student of M Hamel.
Summary (Important Points)

 In 1870, during the France-Prussian war, Prussia (Germany, Poland, and parts of
Austria) had conquered two French districts, Alsace and Lorraine. After the
conquer, Berlin ordered the French districts to stop teaching French in all the
schools across the districts and hire new teachers who could teach German,
instead of French.
 Franz, as usual is late for the class and on the way notices Prussian soldiers
drilling, people hanging on the bulletin board for checking the updates of the war,
and solemn classroom. He notices that the area around school is very silent.
 M Hamel, the teacher in a school of the Prussia conquered states informs his
students that this was his last French lesson because of the orders from higher
authorities. M Hamel does not scold Franz that day for being late to the class
and for not learning his lessons. Instead he starts recalling memories when he
used to scold students for doing the same and how all of them behaved in a
manner that they had sufficient time to learn French. He further talks about
French being a beautiful language. M Hamel wears his special suit, the one he
carries on Sunday morning and on special occasions only.
 After entering the class, Franz notices that the last benches that were usually
empty were that day filled by the villagers. On hearing about the orders from
Berlin, he realised that all of them were there to applaud M Hamel for his
dedicated forty years of faithful service, and to feel sorry for not taking French
classes and not going to school.
 That day all of them did their class works and listened to M Hamel with full
attention, dedication, and devotion since they were aware of the fact that they are
never going to learn French again and M Hamel is never going to teach them
again.
 As the clock struck twelve and noises of Prussian soldiers were audible to them,
M Hamel with a very heavy hard wanted to bid goodbye to his classroom, his
students, his French lessons. But the tears in his eyes and heaviness in his heart
choke him and force him to not say a word.
 He takes the chalk in his hand and writes on the blackboard ‘Vive La France’,
which means Long Live France’. With utter anger and grief he asked the students
to go and said that the class is dismissed.
Important Lines from the Text with their meanings

1. “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in plenty of time!”
Answer. The watchman says this to Franz as he sees him running for the
class. The watchman through these words wishes to inform Franz with
sadness that now there’s a lot of time for him to reach the school to learn
French lessons and that he does not have to hurry for the lessons, since they
would now not be taught in the school.
2. 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.
Answer. By this sentence, M Hamel wishes to tell the students that they must
hold onto their language and guard it/protect it so that it can never be
forgotten. The line says that when a country is enslaved by some other
countrymen,they leave the impact of their language and culture all over the
place since language is the matter of pride.
3. “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”

Answer. By this line Franz wants to express the fear of being under German
possession. He wishes to say that will the oppression from the Germans be so
engraved in their roots that the birds (pigeons) will also start speaking
German. Birds are free animals who have their own language and persona.
Will German be so influential on Alsace and Lorraine, and will they steal away
the essence of France so much that the pigeons will also start speaking their
language?

Cbse Class 12 English The Last Lesson Revision Notes

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Cbse Class 12 English The Last Lesson Revision Notes

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The Last Lesson Revision Notes

About the Author:

About the Story/ Synopsis of the Story

Theme of The Last Lesson

Summary (Important Points)

Important Lines from the Text with their meanings

2. When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their

3. “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”

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