The Last Lesson: Summary

The Last Lesson is a powerful story by the author Alphonse Daudet. In the Last Lesson, the author describes events in 1870, when Bismarck’s Prussian army seized France. Prussian rule extended to Lorraine and Alsace. The French language was no longer taught in these two provinces. As a result, M. Hamel, a school teacher of the French language, was dismissed from his duty. Despite this, his last lesson was filled with commitment and sincerity. Little Franz, a student of Mr M. Hamel, was scared as he reached the school late. However, he was terrified to learn that this was his last ever French lesson. The story is highly impactful as we read it.

Franz’s Final French Lesson 

Franz, a French kid from Alsace, is the narrator of this story. He is shown initially despising the character of M. Hamel, his strict French instructor, who wants the students to learn the grammar of the language.

After taking over the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, Berlin ordered that the German language, rather than the French, would be taught in the schools. As a result, it was M. Hamel’s last day as the school’s French instructor. This instructor had been employed at the school for the past forty years. On being dismissed from his duty, the stern instructor displayed a rather strangely calm attitude and later exhibited his strong patriotic emotions when he wrote “Vive la France” on the blackboard with chalk. He’s filled with agony and sadness not because he lost his job but because the French people had lost the freedom of using their native tongue. 

Franz is taken aback when he discovers that this is his final French session. He is taken aback since he has not learnt to speak or write French so far. In fact, all this time he had a general disregard for the subject as he found it cheering to roam about in nature rather than doing the class. It was in his last class that Franz realised that he probably never paid attention to what M. Hamel said and for the first time, he felt French was an easy language. He realises that he could not bear the pain of not being able to learn the language anymore.

Franz’s Respect Towards M. Hamel 

He quickly develops a fondness for M. Hamel, the teacher. His thoughts of hatred towards him are abruptly dissipated. Franz also develops an appreciation for his teacher’s effort and genuineness. Franz feels depressed and embarrassed at his inability to recite his lesson.

They were all at blame, according to Hamel, for not being eager to learn. The students who found the lessons dull, the parents who needed their children to work on the field to earn a little more and himself, who asked little Franz to water his garden instead of asking him to study. It seemed in his last class, he put all his efforts and patience to make the students understand their lessons. Without faltering once, he keeps engaging the students in one of the most beautiful deliberations on the need and beauty of the language French. This is the most impactful part of the story ‘The Last Lesson’.

M. Hamel’s Love For the French Language 

Hamel is an avid learner and instructor of the French language. He regards French as the world’s most coherent and beautiful language. M. Hamel seemed to have been emotional at this point. He advised the students to be careful with their words. He said that knowing one’s language is a way to break free from slavery’s grip. This language would help them gain independence from the Germans. The students are encouraged to recognise the importance of their mother tongue. Furthermore, he believed that illiteracy is to blame for their downfall. In the climactic scene of the story, M. Hamel faltered from his stern and calm appearance and choked while expressing his gratitude in his very last class. He expressed his strong emotions for his motherland by writing on the blackboard, “Vive la France.” 

Importance of the Mother Tongue 

‘The Last Lesson’ emphasises that a person’s right to language cannot be removed from them. This is because it is a person’s origin. This indicates that no matter how hard the opponents try, they will not be able to change one’s language.

About the Author

Alphonse Daudet is regarded as one of the most recognisable figures in French literature. He wrote his first novel at the age of fourteen. Many of Alphonse’s paintings were inspired by events in his life. ‘Trente ans de Paris’ and ‘Souvenirs d’un homme de lettres’ both carry autobiographical details of his life. Despite the fact that he died in the last decade of the nineteenth century, his name is still well-known among French writers.

Conclusion

Hamel, a true learner and instructor of the French language takes his final class as the Germans have decreed that from the next day onwards, the schools would only teach German and not French as their curricula. Hamel regarded French as the world’s most beautiful, clearest and most rational language. On his last day of class, he does not rebuke his students for not being able to answer correctly but instead mentions that it is a collective effort to keep the glory of the mother tongue alive.