GEMS UNITED INDIAN SCHOOL, ABU DHABI

GRADE 12
PROSE NOTES (FLAMINGO)
THE LAST LESSON
[Link]: “The Last Lesson" refers to the final French lesson taught by the
school teacher M. Hamel in a school in Alsace before the region came under
Prussian rule. The story revolves around the significance of this last lesson
and the emotions it evokes in the teacher, students and villagers.
[Link]: The author, Alphonse Daudet, is a French novelist and short-story
writer known for his sensitive portrayal of human emotions and the impact of
socio-political changes on ordinary people.
[Link] – Time: 1870–71, during the Franco-Prussian War
Place: Alsace, a province in France which was annexed by Prussia (now part
of Germany)
The story unfolds on the last day of French class in a school in Alsace. The
region is taken over by Germans, who enforce German as the new official
language.
4. Genre: Historical Fiction / Realistic Fiction. Based on real historical events
and conveys deep social, political, and emotional themes.

The last lesson’ written by Alphonse Daudet narrates about the year 1870
when the Prussian forces under Bismarck attacked and captured France. The
French districts of Alsace and Lorraine went into Prussian hands. The new
Prussian rulers discontinued the teaching of French in the schools of these
two districts The French teachers were asked to leave. Now M. Hamel could
no longer stay in his school. Still, he gave lessons to his students with utmost
devotion and sincerity as ever. One such student of M. Hamel, Franz who
dreaded French class and M. Hamel’s iron rod, came to the school that day
thinking he would be punished as he had not learnt his lesson on participles.
But on reaching school he found Hamel dressed in his fine Sunday clothes
and the old people of the village sitting quietly on the back benches. It was
due to an order from Berlin. That was the first day when he realized for the
first time that how important French was for him, but it was his last lesson in
French. The story depicts the pathos of the whole situation about how people
feel when they don’t learn their own language. It tells us about the
significance of one’s language in one’s life for the very existence of a race
and how important it is to safeguard it.
  Franz is afraid of going to school as he has not learnt participles.
 He wants to enjoy the beauty of nature. The bright sunshine, the birds
chirping in the woods, Prussian soldiers drilling but resisted.
 Bulletin board: all bad news, lost battles, the drafts and orders of the
commanding officers: wondered what it could be now
 The changes he noticed in the school.
 Instead of noisy classrooms everything was as quiet as Sunday
morning
 The teacher does not scold him and told him very kindly to go to his
seat
 The teacher dressed in his Sunday best.
 Villagers occupying the last benches
 To pay tribute to M. Hamel for his 40 yrs of sincere service and also to
express their solidarity with France.
 Hamel making the announcement that that would be the last French
lesson; realizes that, that was what was put up on the bulletin board.
 Franz realizes that he does not know his own mother tongue
 Regretted why he had not taken his lessons seriously.
 Also realizes the reason why teacher was dressed in his Sunday best
and villagers sitting at the back.
 Hamel realizes that all three, the children , the parents and he himself
are to be blamed for losing respect and regard for the mother tongue.
 Always keep the mother tongue close to your heart as it is the key to
the prison of slavery.
 Atmosphere in class: teacher teaching sincerely and patiently,
students and others studying with utmost sincerity.
 Franz wonders sarcastically if Prussians could force pigeons to coo in
German.
 Hamel overcome with emotions could not speak and wrote on the
black board “Long Live France”.

THEMES-THE LAST LESSON

Language and Identity

One of the most prominent themes in ‘The Last Lesson’ is the inextricable
connection between language and identity. After delivering the news that the
Prussian leadership in Berlin has decreed that the French language will no
longer be taught in the schools of the annexed regions of Alsace and
Lorraine, M. Hamel briefly lectures his students on the importance of holding
onto their language. With a sense of nationalist pride, Hamel says the French
language is the most beautiful language in the world, as well as the most
logical. Hamel understands that the Prussians are replacing French with
German in order to erase the local identity of the people of the region and
guarantee that the region will remain under the authority of the German
Empire. If the people of Alsace and Lorraine no longer speak French but
German, they are less likely to maintain allegiances to France. Hamel
believes that by holding onto their language, his students will hold the key to
their prison: i.e. they will retain their sense of French identity by continuing
to speak the language.

The Value of Education

Although Franz begins the story by running late to school and dreading a
participles quiz for which he has not prepared, when Franz learns he will no
longer be allowed to learn French he suddenly sees value in what Hamel
says, and the lessons are captured by Franz's mind easily. Franz is not the
only person to transform into a diligent student: the room is full of students
focused on their handwriting, and the only sound Franz can hear is pens
scratching into paper. Even men from the village who never took their
education seriously have come to sit in on Hamel's lesson: the men sit
mournfully at the back of the classroom, as though they have come to attend
a funeral for education itself. Hamel gently reprimands his students and the
people of the region for not having taken education and their language more
seriously, but he ultimately reflects that he too never suspected the
opportunity to learn would ever be taken away.

Regret
As another key theme in ‘The Last Lesson’, regret touches every character in
the story. For Franz, regret arrives in the form of an internal monologue about
how he wishes he had spent more time dedicating himself to learning instead
of skipping school to play in nature. Similarly, Hamel regrets that he didn't
put more thought into how he could have engaged students like Franz, whom
he often sent to water the garden instead of sitting in class. Hamel also
regrets that he prioritized his desire to go fishing over his students'
education, taking vacations and cancelling school when he pleased. Regret is
also present in the village people who sit in on Hamel's last lesson,
particularly in Hauser, who has tears in his eyes as he reads along with the
youngest students as they recite rudimentary grammar lessons. Hauser, like
Franz and Hamel, regrets not having understood the true value of learning
French before it became too late; they only appreciate what they have when
it is gone.

LINGUISTIC CHAUVINISM

“Chauvinism” is a devotion for or against something, just based on what you

feel (not necessarily what you may know). So, linguistic chauvinism is the
idea that one’s language is superior to that of others. This happens generally
when the language is that of the ruling class. Linguistic chauvinism is the
overt preference for one language over others. Language is considered to be
the cultural identity of a particular group of people who use it. Hence,
imposing some other language on the people hammers their emotions and is
a step to annex their relationship with their culture. The language of any
country is the pride of that country. It not only defines the culture but also
tells us about the people,literature and history of the [Link] for
some people is just the medium of communication but for others it is the
question of life and death.‘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.

The Last Lesson raises the burning question very innocently through the
words of little Franz that “Will they make them sing in German, even the
pigeons?” This raises the question of immorality of imposing imperial
languages and cultures on the colonies. The child questions that when even
the birds and animals can’t be forced to abandon their language and speak
others then what forces the man to think that it would be prudent force other
human beings to forcibly accept any language other than [Link]
language of a country is not only a medium of communication for the people
but also the link for identity, once the native language is snatched away from
the people. It’s not only the loss of convenient communicating medium but
also the loss of identity for people for what they have been and what they
might become. When a small child like Franz can think of the irrationality
behind snatching away the right of language and identity from people then
why can’t the war lords and colonizers understand the fact?

Main Characters

1. M. Hamel

M. Hamel – The school master of a small village school in the French region of
Alsace-Lorraine. M. Hamel is stern and intimidating to his pupils, among them the
narrator of the story, Franz. He has been teaching at the school for forty years. In
his classroom, he carries a ruler which he raps against his table threateningly. On
the day the story is set, he is dressed in his best finery: a green coat, a shirt with
frills, and a silk cap—clothes reserved for special occasions. Despite his frightening
demeanor, M. Hamel also has a gentler side, revealed on the day that he announces
to those gathered in his classroom that Prussian authorities have banned the
teaching of French in the schools of Alsace-Lorraine. On this day of the last lesson,
M. Hamel not only reveals his empathy and kindness, but also his dignity and
patriotism, lecturing the gathered crowd on the importance of protecting their
language and culture in the face of foreign occupation. Through the character of M.
Hamel, the reader is presented with a figure of resistance who fights his subjugation
not by deploying arms, but by deploying patriotic pride.

Franz
The narrator of the story, Franz is a young school boy in the French region of
Alsace-Lorraine in the nineteenth century. Franz is a dawdler when it comes to
schoolwork, preferring to spend time in the woods or by the local river over going to
class. He doesn’t like learning his French grammar lessons and, when the story
begins, is terrified that his negligence will be found out by his teacher, the stern M.
Hamel. Franz comes to a new appreciation of his education, however, when
Prussian authorities who have occupied his home region announce that school will
no longer be taught in French, but in German. Upon hearing this news, Franz feels a
great sense of remorse and regrets not taking his French education more seriously
while he still had the chance

The story ‘The Last Lesson’ highlights the human tendency to procrastinate.
We keep postponing without realizing the fact that life is subject to change.
The people of Alsace always thought that they had plenty of time to learn
the lesson, therefore, they did give much importance to the school. The
preferred their children to work on the farms and mills instead of having
them learn the lessons. Even Franz, the narrator, always looked for
opportunities to skip school and look for birds’ nests or go sliding on the
banks of the river Saar. However, the unexpected happens and an order is
received from Berlin regarding the compulsory teaching of German in the
schools of Alsace and Lorraine. It is then that the people of Alsace realize
that they would be deprived of what they had not been valuing all this while.
The story is aptly titled as it evokes the consciousness in the reader not to
put off things and do what one can do that day.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

What was unusual about the school that morning?

Franz arrived late to school hoping that he could sneak to his desk under
cover of the usual cacophony of students loudly settling in their seats.
However, his expectations were undermined by the sight of his fellow
students sitting silently and still. There was no bustle, no sound of opening
and closing of the desks, lessons repeated in unison and rapping of the
teacher's ruler on the table. M. Hamel was rather kind towards him and did
not reproach him for being late. Franz went to his desk and noticed that the
teacher had put on a green coat, a frilled shirt and his black silk cap – usually
worn on special occasions like award ceremonies and inspection. To his
surprise, he also saw the residents of his village all huddled up in the
classroom. He saw old Hauser, the former mayor, the former postmaster,
and many others sitting on the back bench of the class, all seated with a
solemn look on their faces.

Why did the village elders occupy the back benches in the classroom?

The village elders occupied the back benches in the classroom to attend the
last lesson delivered by M. Hamel because they felt sorry for not attending
the school ever. They wanted to thank their teacher for his forty years of
faithful service and to show their respect for the country that was no longer
theirs. They not only paid their respects and tribute to Mr. Hamel but also
showed their interest towards their own language which was, perhaps, being
taught for the last time in the village.

“This is your last lesson.” How did Franz react to this declaration of M Hamel?

When M Hamel mounted on the chair and announced that he was there to
teach his last French lesson that day, Franz was shocked and surprised.
These words were a great thunderclap to Franz. He realized that he would
not able to read and speak his own mother language. He felt very guilty for
deliberately ignoring to learn his native language and he suddenly developed
a strange fascination for his language and his school. He also felt sad for M.
Hamel, a man who had given forty years of service to the place and who was
being told to leave it forever. He understood the regret of the village folks at
not having taken their language seriously either.

Why did he say, ‘we’ve all got a great deal to reproach ourselves with’?

M. Hamel said it to Franz when he felt embarrassed at not being able to

answer the question related to participles. He consoled Franz by saying that
everyone in Alsace were to be blamed for them not learning their mother
tongue. The lack of interest in learning French was due to the parents who
wanted their children to work in farm or mill to earn, due to the students who
were reluctant to learn and often put off the lesson for the next day. M
Hamel had also been rather irregular as a teacher. He took leave whenever
he wanted to. Besides, he had often sent the students to water his plants,
and whenever he wanted to go fishing, he just gave them a holiday. So, he
reproached himself too for his students' unsatisfactory progress in studies.

What changes have taken place in the school in the last forty years?

Only the desks and benches had been worn smooth; the walnut-trees in the
garden were taller, and the hopvine that he had planted himself twined
about the windows to the roof. These were the changes Franz believes M
Hamel had witnessed during his tenure as a teacher.

Why did M Hamel write ‘Vive La France ‘on the blackboard?

At the end of "The Last Lesson," the church bell struck twelve and the
trumpets of Prussian military men could be heard outside the classroom
windows. Hamel stood proud and began to address his students and the
village people who had come to sit in on the last lesson. However, Hamel
became choked up with emotion and he summarized the would-be contents
of his speech with the nationalistic motto Vive La France, meaning roughly
"long live France." The spirited slogan captured Hamel's desire for his
students to hold on to their language and culture in the face of oppression
from the German government; at the same time, Hamel's inability to say
anything more attested to his sense of defeat and resignation as a humble
schoolteacher living under the dictates of greater political forces. These
words he inscribed represent an act of resistance; they affirmed his loyalty to
the French republic, even in the face of subjugation to the Prussians, and
embodied his unconquerable allegiance to his native culture and land.

When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is
as if they had the key to their prison.” Explain.

Hamel shows his sentimentality and nationalistic spirit when he speaks of

French as the most beautiful and logical language in the world. Faced with
cultural erasure, Hamel recommends that his fellow Alsatians do what they
can to keep their language, as it is the key to maintaining an identity
independent of the German empire’s oppressive imposition of German-only
instruction. Hamel emphasizes his point with a simile, saying that if enslaved
people retain their language, it is as if they hold the key to their prison.

What was unusual about M. Hamel's dress?

After Prussia took over Alsace-Lorraine, a decree was passed that only
German would be taught in the schools and not French. M Hamel was about
to confer his last French lesson to his students. Still as a tribute to his
profession and to the last French lesson, which he was about to teach, he
dressed himself up with fine clothes. He wore a green coat, frilled shirt and
black silk cap to the class. The dress reflected his sincerity, and the
seriousness with which he had been doing is duties. It gave his profession an
air of nobility too. The ceremonial dress reinforced the sense that something
momentous was happening on that day

What did Hamel announce at the start of the lesson? How did this change Franz’s feelings
towards his school?

Hamel, the teacher, informed the students in a deep, solemn voice that it was their last French
lesson in the school. As German invaders encroached that part of France, henceforth only
German would be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master would come
conduct classes from next day. As this was going to be their last French class, he wanted all of
his students to pay him more attention. The moment Frantz knew this would be his last French
class, he felt sorry for not learning his lessons well. His books, which seemed a burden earlier,
were now his old friends. His feelings about Hamel also changed drastically.

How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel change after the announcement?
Franz was genuinely in dread of a scolding from M. Hamel as he was late to class
and he did not prepare his lesson properly. He was not very fond of M. Hamel but
after the announcement he actually paid attention to M. Hamel and was surprised
to see that he actually understood every word he said. He felt sorry for not learning
his lessons properly. His books that he seemed to hate suddenly became something
that was precious to him. The idea that he won’t see M. Hamel again made him
forget his crankiness.

How does Franz’s feelings about M Hamel and school change? (LA 120-150
words)

Franz isn’t very keen on his French lessons to begin with. On the day the story is
set, Franz expects to be quizzed by his teacher M. Hamel about grammar, but he
hasn’t learned the rules on participles he was supposed to and is unprepared for
questioning. He would have preferred to spend his day outside, in the beautiful
weather, among the fields and the woods, rather than go to class. To Franz, his
French grammar lesson represents the drudgery of school—he finds his schoolwork
boring and pointless, as reflected in his preference for doing other, seemingly more
exciting things. Together, these details establish that Franz initially fails to value his
own language. Yet upon arriving for class and discovering that this is going to be his
last French lesson, Franz is devastated, just as the other pupils and the villagers in
the classroom are. M. Hamel’s announcement that the Prussians have mandated
only the teaching of German in the schools of Alsace-Lorraine, the region they’ve
invaded and home to Franz, makes him realize the importance of his language.
Franz says that he hardly knows how to write in French, and he is terribly dejected
that he must now stop learning the language altogether. ” It is only when he finds
his way of life threatened by foreign occupiers that Franz learns that the language
he has taken for granted is in fact central to his identity, as well as to his freedom

Franz thinks, "Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?" What
could this mean?(LA)

Alphonse Daudet’s ‘The Last Lesson’ very prominently raises the question of
linguistic and cultural supremacy 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 then 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, the 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.
*************