The Last Lesson

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to
them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?
Ans: 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.
Q2. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons” What
could this mean?(There could be more than one answer.)
Ans: 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
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.
Q3. “When a people are en slaved, 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?
Ans: 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, Portuguese, 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 missxture of Persian
and Hindi.
Q4. What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do you think they can
keep their language alive?
Ans. 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 an 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 a
Q4. Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Do you know what
“linguistic chauvinism” means?
Ans. ‘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.

[Link] ban on teaching French strengthened the resolve of the French to learn
their language. Give evidence from the text to prove/disapprove the above
statement.
Ans:‘The Last Lesson’ clearly brings out the resolve of the French to hold fast to their
language. The order from Berlin imposing German language on them made them more
determined to respect and learn their language. This was evident in the last lesson of M.
Hamel. All the backbenches were occupied by villagers, including old Hauser, former
mayor, former postmaster, etc. That day students in the class were quiet and eager to
make the best of the last opportunity to learn their mother tongue.
M. Hamel taught the last lesson with immense patience and told his students to
safeguard their language. He reminded them that they would be able to liberate
themselves only if they kept their language with them. Even the students realised the
importance of their language and listened to their teacher carefully. They could not be
distracted by beetles or the cooing of the pigeons.
[Link] was the last lesson different from earlier lessons?
Ans:The last lesson was different from earlier lessons in many ways. It revealed the love
and respect of the teacher and students for their mother tongue. M. Hamel spoke very
kindly and taught very patiently. He did not scold anybody that day. It seemed as if he
wanted to give all that he knew before going away. He was in his best attire and his ‘iron
ruler’ was no more in use. This lesson was attended by villagers to show their love and
respect for their mother tongue and M. Hamel. The students listened very carefully and
everybody was absolutely quiet. Franz was sorry for not learning his lesson. The last
lesson was an emotional time which stirred patriotic feelings and awakened the
villagers to the importance of their mother tongue.
[Link] a character sketch of M. Hamel. [Foreign 2012]
Ans:M. Hamel was a teacher at a school in a village in the French districts of Alsace and
Lorraine. He used to teach French. He had been teaching his mother tongue for the last
forty years. He loved his profession from the core of his heart and had a deep sense of
respect for the mother tongue. He had always been very particular and strict in
imparting the knowledge of the language to his pupils. The news, that French would no
more be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine and that this was going to be his
last lesson, completely shattered a calm and composed M. Hamel. He tried his level best
to remain calm and composed but broke down at the end. He felt tormented by the fact .
that people had become indifferent to learning French and appealed to them to keep
their language alive.
M. Hamel was a patriot in the real sense. He regarded the mother tongue to be a means
of holding one’s identity and self-respect. He blamed not only the parents and children
but himself also for neglecting French. His concern and love for his country’ is evident at
the end of his last lesson, when, he writes on the black board “Vive La France!’ in bold
letters.
Que8. Write a character sketch of little Franz.
Ans:Franz was a typical school boy. He was carefree and hated to go to school. He was
afraid of his French teacher M. Hamel’s ‘iron ruler’. He was more interested in spending
his time outside the school. Many times, he missed the school and went in search of
‘bird’s eggs’ or watching the Prussian soldiers drilling at the sawmill. He did not realise
the importance of learning his mother tongue till the time his country passed into
Prussian hands and teaching of French was banned. This came as a thunderbolt to him
when he came to school and found it to be his last French lesson. At this point, he
lamented the loss of his language. His entire perspective towards the language and the
teacher changed. He was surprised to learn and understand everything on the last day
and did not find M. Hamel strict during the lesson. He was not able to understand the
severity of war and wondered whether “the pigeons would be made to coo in German”. .