DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, BOPAL, AHMEDABAD

CLASS XII (2021-22)

ENGLISH NOTES

The Last Lesson

Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) – Born in Nimes, France

He was a French novelist. Began his career as a school teacher. Made a living as
a journalist in Paris. Alphonse took to writing, and his poems were collected into a small
volume, Les Amoureuses (1858), which met with a fair reception. He wrote two or three
plays, and began to be recognized in literary communities as possessing distinction and
promise. Morny, Napoleon III's all-powerful minister, appointed him to be one of his
secretaries — a post which he held till Mormy's death in 1865.

Video: https://youtu.be/UeITIRL6B9Q

The Franco Prussian War:

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870
War (July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871) was a conflict between France and Prussia, which
was backed by the North German Confederation and the South German states of Baden,
Württemberg and Bavaria.
The Prussian and German victory brought about the final unification of the German
Empire under King William I of Prussia. It also marked the downfall of Napoleon III and the
end of the Second French Empire, which was replaced by the Third Republic.
The war marked the end of French hegemony in continental Europe and resulted in the
creation of a unified Germany. The humiliating defeat was made complete on May 10,
1871, when the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed, ending the Franco-Prussian War

As part of the settlement, almost all of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine was taken by Prussia
to become a part of Germany, which it would retain until the end of World War I.

Importance of Language:
Wars can have a major effect on language as they can disturb and change the language
ecology of a region. This can lead to either the death of languages or the creation of new
languages.

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Language is intrinsic to the expression of culture. As a means of communicating values,
beliefs and customs, it has an important social function and fosters feelings of group identity
and solidarity. It is the means by which culture and its traditions and shared values may be
conveyed and preserved. Language is fundamental to cultural identity. This is so for people
everywhere. For human beings, their unique world is expressed in their language. For this
reason, it is important that people keep their own language alive.
Language is often a central question in postcolonial studies. During colonization, colonizers
usually imposed their language onto the peoples they colonized, forbidding natives to speak
their mother tongues. In some cases, colonizers systematically prohibited native languages.
They became so dominant that they replaced native languages and became part
of colonized people's identities
In forcing a person to speak a new language, a part of their identity is destroyed. ... Forcing
a colonized people to speak their colonizer's language is so damaging because
doing so takes away their identity.
Language plays a role in cultural Colonisation

Colonial languages were the language of politics, which meant that a lack of fluency was a
natural barrier preventing many colonized people from gaining political power. ... Language
played a critical role in this form of colonialism, marking a cultural claim to conquered
lands, not just a political one.

STORY: 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.
Word / Phrases Explained
Bub: an aggressive or rude way of addressing a boy or man.
Sawmill: a factory for cutting wood
Drilling: exercising
bulletin-board: a notice board for putting up the latest news and communication
Apprentice: trainee
a great bustle: a lot of noise created by many people
rapping: striking
counted on: depended upon
Solemn: serious.
Primer: basic reader of any language
Thumbed: torn and damaged
Thunderclap: used in comparison to refer to something startling or unexpected
Wretches: here, it refers to an unfortunate happening

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Saar: a river which passes through France
Cranky: irritable, short – tempered
where we’ve come out: result
to reproach: blame
hegemony: authority, supremacy

: preponderant influence or authority over others: domination

: the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

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: If a person knows his mother tongue well, no one can enslave him.
Knowing the mother tongue well as a language is a tool to fight domination.
at one stroke: at once, in one go.
Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?
The ‘coo’ sound of the pigeons could be heard in the class and Franz wondered that would
the Prussians force the pigeons also to change their language and coo in German. The writer
wants to say that language comes naturally to a being and it cannot be forced upon anyone –
be it the pigeons or the French men.
worn smooth: had worn out and became smooth due to overuse
twined: twisted
Angelus: prayer song in the church, the start is marked by the ringing of the bell.
Vive la France: Long live France

Linguistic Chauvinism: Inordinate love for one’s own language; this love is so much that
one considers one’s language to be superior to all the other languages of the world.

Themes:
1. Impact of war on lives
2. Patriotism and Resistance
The “Last Lesson” that M. Hamel gives to his students, therefore, is not just a lesson in
language and writing—it is a lesson in patriotism and resistance. Although his land is
occupied by Prussian adversaries who have the advantage of superior military strength, M.
Hamel defies his oppressors using only a French grammar book, a blackboard, and his own
voice. In doing so, he teaches his pupils that even without arms, they have the power to
challenge their subjugation.
3. Culture and Language or Importance of “linguistic identity”

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theme of the tale strongly relates to the subject of language and culture. It is a historical
fate that language and culture are inter- related. Culture of a nation is preserved through its
language.
Daudet’s “Last Lesson,” highlights how people often take language for granted, failing to
realize the extent to which it lies at the very heart of their identity. Language, the story
argues, is not only the means through which people express themselves, it is also the means
through which their culture is preserved and perpetuated.
4. Education and Knowledge:
Franz’s last lesson is thus one that revolutionizes his own conception of his education.
School, Franz learns, is about much more than memorizing boring grammar lessons—school
also equips him with knowledge and values that are indispensable to his identity. While more
short-sighted needs for work and play may have taken precedence in the village, the story
ultimately suggests that it is only the identity instilled through education that has the power to
save Franz and his community in times of danger.
5. Community and Solidarity
The warm, supportive relations that are established and affirmed between M. Hamel, his
pupils, and the villagers during the last lesson, therefore, indicate how the community comes
together through its practice of the values of solidarity and equality. It is through acts and
words of cooperation that the villagers assert not only their commitment to each other, but
also their commitment to their homeland in the face of a foreign threat.

Characters:
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.

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.

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Old Hauser: One of the elder villagers who gathers with the children in M. Hamel’s classroom to
hear the last lesson. He brings his old primer, an elementary reading textbook, with him to the class,
and uses it to help the youngest students read their letters. Like the other villagers and school children,
including the story’s narrator Franz, Hauser is devastated at news that the Prussian authorities who
have occupied the French region of Alsace-Lorraine, where the village is located, have forbidden the
teaching of French in schools. He cries as he helps the young children read and makes everyone else
in the classroom want to cry and laugh at once.

The last French lesson taught by It Hamel symbolizes the loss of language and the loss of
freedom for France. It becomes an emotional lesson rendered by M. Hamel to the villagers,
signifying the changing order of life and its impact on the sensibilities and emotions of
people.

Symbols:

1. The bulletin-board that hangs outside the town hall represents the oppression of the
Prussian occupiers who have invaded the region of Alsace-Lorraine. Franz tells the
reader that over the two years of Prussian occupation, all of the village’s bad news
had come from the board. The foreign occupiers communicate their repressive edicts
and commands there. As such, the board symbolizes the despotism of the Prussian
occupiers, who, day by day, curtail the freedoms of the French villagers. The bulletin-
board is contrasted with the blackboard at the end of the story, an instrument of
education that M. Hamel and his pupils have access to, and which the teacher uses to
inscribe and affirm his and the villagers’ deep sense of patriotism and resistance.
2. The classroom in which the narrator, Franz, gathers with other pupils and villagers to
hear M. Hamel’s last lesson represents the power of education. It is within the space
of the classroom that the gathered crowd receives a lesson from M. Hamel not only in
the French language, but also in patriotism and resistance. In this way, the classroom
in which the lesson takes place symbolizes education’s capacity to shape committed
French citizens, citizens who can withstand foreign occupation of their region of
Alsace-Lorraine by holding on to their French cultural values and identity.
3. The French language is a symbol of French cultural identity. Franz’s teacher, M.
Hamel, lectures the gathered pupils and villagers on the beauty of the French
language, telling them that it is the clearest and most logical in the world. As M.
Hamel himself argues, the French language is the key to French identity—so long as
the villagers hold onto their language, then they can also hold onto their identity, and
thus to their freedom, even in the face of foreign occupation. As such, the language is
not only an embodiment of the villagers’ French identity, it is also the key to their
liberation.
4. The blackboard on which M. Hamel writes the words “Vive la France!” (“Long live
France!”) at the end of the last lesson represents the power of patriotism and
resistance. The words the teacher writes on the board are words that privilege freedom
and autonomy. That the teacher writes these words on the blackboard is significant,
because this board recalls and contrasts with the bulletin-board Franz sees at the
beginning of the story. While the bulletin-board represents the oppression of the
Prussian occupiers, who post their restrictive dictates there, the blackboard functions

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 as a space of liberation, one where M. Hamel—and the villagers—can assert their
resistance and patriotism in the face of foreign invasion.

The Last Lesson: Analysis

The Last Lesson is an intensely poignant story about what it means to speak a certain language
and how closely one’s language is linked to one’s identity. The story demonstrates how the
linguistic chauvinism of one race can lead to the enslavement of another and what we as
individuals can do to overcome such a challenge. Themes of war, identity, linguistic
chauvinism, uncertainty and displacement are replete in the story.

Because the story is narrated from the perspective of a little boy instead of an adult figure, the
story becomes all the powerful in showing the magnitude of the damage that has been done
through neglecting one’s language. This is because a child narrator like Franz represents the
future of France and the French language. Franz’s situation may also be seen as a generational
failure – the failure of his parents and the teacher who did not do enough to inculcate the love of
language in the new generation.
However, as long as the memory of the Last Lesson is fresh in Franz’s mind, the language still
has a future. And the great detail with which he remembers the Last Lesson is a sign of hope: Ah,
how well I remember it, that last lesson!”

The use of the child narrator is very effective in such stories because it allows one to talk about
the most serious matters in the most innocent manner. The simple, straightforward narration by
the child narrator sets the reader completely off guard. Furthermore, the character of Franz elicits
sympathy and the sincere representation of his joys, fears, apprehensions and embarrassment
endears him to the reader. A case in point may be Franz’s musings about the cooing pigeons:
I thought to myself, “Will they make them sing in German, even the
pigeons?”
These seemingly harmless lines present a sharp critique of the linguistic chauvinism of the
Prussians and the repressive nature of the Prussian regime. It also hints at the limits beyond
which they will never be able to assert their brute force.

The deep connection between identity and language becomes prominent when the Prussians,
impose their language on a French speaking populace of the districts they have captured. This

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connection between the two is also expressed in the passage where M. Hamel suggests that by
neglecting the language, the residents of Alsace have given up their identity:
Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you, ‘How is it; you
pretend to be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own
language?’
The theme of uncertainty is seen in the first paragraph of the story through the eyes of the
narrator when he learns the inconvenient fact that it is M. Hamel’s Last Lesson. Also, the lines
spoken by M. Hamel “she (Alsace) puts off learning till tomorrow” shows the mistake of not
recognizing the presence of uncertainty in our lives and taking the present for granted.
Finally, the fact that M. Hamel is being evicted from the place after forty years of service to the
very place brings forth the theme of displacement. His emotional suffering is dealt with in most
empathic terms:
Fancy! For forty years he had been there in the same place, with his garden
outside the window and his class in front of him, just like that… …How it
must have broken his heart to leave it all, poor man
M. Hamel’s individuality isn’t taken into consideration when he is displaced. He is just another
agent of the French Language that must be replaced with one of the German Language.

Significance of the Title

The title is self-revealing. It is the last lesson of M. Hamel in French to his students. German
was to be imposed in the school from the next day and a new teacher would replace M.
Hamel. Even the village elders came to pay respect and listen to the last lesson. The last
lesson makes the students and the people realize the need to guard their native language,
French.
The story ‘The Last Lesson’ highlights the human tendency to procrastinate; hence, man
keeps postponing the lessons of life, oblivious to the fact that life is subject to change. The
people of Alsace always thought they had plenty of time to learn the lessons; therefore, they
did not give much importance to school. They 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 the school and collect birds’ eggs. However, the unexpected happens
and an order is received from Berlin regarding compulsory teaching of German in the schools
of Alsace and Lorraine. It is then that they realise that they would be deprived of what they
had been evading all this while.

The last French lesson taught by M. Hamel symbolizes the loss of language and the loss of
freedom for France. It becomes an emotional lesson rendered by M. Hamel to the villagers,
signifying the changing order of life and its impact on the sensibilities and emotions of
people. The marching soldiers under the windows represent the dawn of Prussia in France,
defeat of the French people and the resultant threat to their language and culture.

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What is the message of the story the last lesson?
The author tries to convey that people generally understand the value of someone or
something in their life often after it is lost to them. For instance, Franz didn’t take his studies
seriously. He didn’t learn his lessons properly. Later he realised that if he would have studied
sincerely, then would have known his language. Now he had only one chance to learn his
language and that too for the last time. Similarly, our wake up calls of life should not come so
late. We must know the importance of every hour.
Q1. The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them.
What shows you this? Why does this happen?
A. When the village men realize that their mother tongue, French will no longer be taught to
them, they realize its importance. Suddenly, they develop an inclination towards learning.
They attend the last lesson of French; bring their old, torn primers to learn the language
which shows their eagerness. They regret putting off learning French to the next day. Now,
finally, the last lesson has arrived, and they cannot read their own language. They are
ashamed of themselves and realize that the Germans have overpowered them due to their lack
of knowing their own language.
Q2. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What
could this mean?
A. Franz is disheartened when he comes to know that he can no longer learn his language –
French. Their district has been captured by Germany and now German will be taught to them.
Franz feels that mother tongue comes to a person naturally, he is born with it and no one can
snatch it away.
Just like the pigeons make the ‘coo’ sound, irrespective of the country from which they are,
similarly, human beings also communicate in their mother tongue. As the Germans are trying
to impose their language on the French, so similarly, Franz feels that they will teach the
pigeons also to ‘coo’ in German language. He has given this example to highlight his point
that language is a natural mode of communication and it cannot be imposed.

ASSIGNMENT
Q.1.What shows M Hamel’s love for the French language?
Q.2.Why does M Hamel reproach himself for his students’ unsatisfactory progress in studies?
Q.3.What changes did the narrator find in the school when the order from Berlin came?
Q.4.Why had the bulletin board become a centre of attention during the last two years?

RTC
“Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes and
now I understand why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room.”
a) Who is referred to as the ‘poor man’ and why?
b) Describe the fine clothes of the man.

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 c) Why were the old men of the village sitting in the room?

Board questions
I. Answer in 30 – 40 words:
Q1: What changes did the order from Berlin cause in the school? [CBSE paper, 2012] (2)
Q2.Why were the elders of the village sitting in the classroom? [CBSE paper, 2014] (2)
Q3. How did M Hamel say farewell to his students and the people of the town?
(CBSE paper, 2016) (2)
II. Answer the following question in 120 – 150 words:
Q1.The order from Berlin aroused a particular zeal in the school. Comment. [CBSE, 2015]
(5)
Q2.Our language is part of our culture and we are proud of it. Describe how regretful
M.Hamel and the village elders are for having neglected their native language, French.
(CBSE, 2016) (5)
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