THE LAST LESSON BY Alphonse Daudet

Key points of the lesson:

 The Last Lesson is based on the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s.
During the war, France was defeated by Prussia which consisted of Germany, Poland,
and various parts of Austria.
 The French cities Alsace and Lorraine have been conquered by the Prussian men and
it is the last lesson of M. Hamel, a French teacher for the last 40 years.
 The Last Lesson aims at showcasing the longing for one’s mother tongue, and culture
when lost in the war. It tries to explain the pain, sadness, and grief of all those who
lose their lands, language and culture during war.
 Franz who had neglected his studies throughout, suddenly developed love and
affection for his mother tongue, culture, and teacher. This explains that it is the
behaviour of a human to feel attached to something/ someone whom he is about to
lose, 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. Very passionate about his work. A
Nationalist and a patriot as he took great pride in introducing the French language and culture
to his students. Courageous --since he took the last lesson even after the order from Berlin.
Franz- Franz is a fun loving 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 like seeking bird’s
eggs, going sliding on the Saars and watching the Prussian soldiers drilling. He is observant
since he observes M Hamel very closely in his Sunday suit. (Green coat, frilled shirt and
black silk cap)He is emotional by nature since he suddenly developed a soft corner for his
language, nation, and M Hamel on knowing that his teacher would leave the next day.
Sequence of incidents of the lesson / (Summary)
Franz, as usual, is late for the class and on the way notices Prussian soldiers drilling, people
hanging on the bulletin board to check the updates of the war, and a solemn classroom.
He notices that the area around the school is very silent.
M Hamel, the French teacher, 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 like inspection days only.
After entering the class, Franz notices that the last benches that were usually empty were
occupied by the villagers.
On hearing about the orders from Berlin, he realized that all of them were there to pay tribute
to 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 work and listened
to M Hamel with full attention, dedication, and devotion since they were aware of the fact
that they were never going to learn French again and it was M. Hamel’s Last lesson.
As the clock struck twelve, with tears in his eyes and heaviness in his heart he was choked
and could 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 grief, he asked the students to go and
said that the class was dismissed.