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The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet
ABOUT STORY
The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet
The short story 'The Last Lesson' by Alphonse Daudet is mainly about the longing of the French people to learn the mother tongue and their love for it. The story has sparked a sense of patriotism. In 'The Last Lesson', the Prussians banned the freedom of the people of Lorraine and Alsace districts, especially in the matter of learning their own mother tongue. They started forcing all the natives to learn the German language instead. The German colonisers took away the basic rights to the speech of the people. When students could not learn their own language, they felt restricted and forced to do something they enjoyed and found relaxing.
Here in the story, the practice of linguistic chauvinism is highlighted, especially to draw the readers' attention. It reflects the main idea of pride that one owns in their mother tongue and considers other languages not equally worthy.
People from both Lorraine and Alsace districts were the victims of linguistic chauvinism. All of them were forced to learn German. Franz, a little school student who was always reluctant in his French class and never took it seriously, even saw the importance of learning the French language, i.e., his mother tongue. This quality of people always shows that humans respect things more when they see them going away. The parents in the districts also preferred to see their children working well rather than learning French. In the later years, they realised the importance of their mother tongue. They even realised how much they missed learning French and felt sorry about it. How the Prussians drilled their land showed how unfairly they were treated in their own homeland.
MAIN SUMMARY
The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet
"The Last Lesson" is a short story by French novelist Alphonse Daudet. This story is set against the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War. It is narrated from the perspective of a little boy named Franz.
In this story, "The Last Lesson," the author narrates events about the year 1870, when France was captured by Bismarck-led Prussian forces. Furthermore, during that time, both the Lorraine and Alsace districts went under Prussian rule. The teaching of French was specifically stopped in these two districts. All the French teachers were ordered to leave. As a result, M. Hamel was not able to stay at his old school. Despite this, the last lesson taught by him was full of devotion and sincerity. A student of M. Hamel was afraid of him.
This student was expected to be punished when he came to school that day. However, he learned that this would be his last lesson. Soon, he realised the importance of the subject. This story shows us how people feel when they do not learn their own language.
Here in this story, we find the complete narration by this French boy, named Franz. Franz is quite a lazy boy. However, despite his laziness, Franz loves to play and has a sensitive nature. In addition, Franz was not closely related to his teacher, M. Hamel. He hates his teacher, M. Hamel, and doesn't have an interest in studying French.
After France takes over the districts of Alsace and Lorraine, an order comes from Berlin to teach German instead of French in the schools there.
Also, it is the last day of the school's French teacher, M. Hamel. This teacher has been working at this school for forty years. In addition, the teacher has a sense of patriotism. He is also full of grief and nostalgia. The men from the village also attend his 'last lesson' so that he can be honoured and respected. The entire village is regretting and feeling sad as they did not learn their mother tongue in their childhood.
Franz feels a big shock when he learns that this is his last lesson in French. He is shocked because he doesn't know French. In addition, on learning about the last lesson by M. Hamel, a kind of sudden interest arises within him for learning French. He pays much attention and learns everything taught on this last day.
Instantly, he develops feelings of liking for the teacher, M. Hamel. His feelings of hatred for M. Hamel suddenly came to an end. Furthermore, Franz develops respect for the hard work and sincerity of his teacher. Franz feels sad and ashamed for being unable to recite his lesson.
M. Hamel points out that they are all at fault for a lack of eagerness to learn. Besides, he also involves himself in this mistake. He even blames himself for his lack of sincerity in teaching them.
There is a kind of reflection of his patriotism in his praise for the French language. He opines that the French language is the most logical and beautiful in the entire world.
On this occasion, M. Hamel seems to be emotional. Furthermore, he urges the class to preserve their language. He says that being close to your own language is a fine way to escape from the clutches of slavery. This language would help them gain independence from the Germans. People in the class understand the importance of their mother tongue. Moreover, they realise the main reason behind their defeat is their illiteracy.
Franz realises that it is impossible to remove a language from a person. This is because it is a natural thing for a person to do. This means that opponents will fail to remove one's language, no matter how hard they try.
CONCLUSION OF THE STORY
The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet
Thus, this story, "The Last Lesson," reflects on the importance of one's language to any race as well as the nation and why it is important to preserve it.
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