About the Author:

Alphonse Daudet is the author of Class 12 English Flamingo (Prose) Chapter, The
Last Lesson. Born in 1840, he was a French novelist and short-story writer.

About the Story/ Synopsis of the Story

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 France cities Alsace and Lorraine have been
conquered by the Prussian men and it’s the last lesson of M.Hamel in France. Check
the summary below for a complete and brief explanation of the chapter, The Last
Lesson.

Theme of The Last Lesson

The Last Lesson aims at showcasing the longing for your 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, culture during wars. The lesson further takes a
step ahead in showing what impact the political situation of a country has on
children. Here, Franz suddenly developed love and affection for his mother tongue,
culture, and teacher. It explains that it is the behavior of a human to feel
attached to something that he/she 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 who wished to teach French to his
french kids. Very passionate about his work. Strictly in nature, Franz was afraid
of him and he carried an iron ruler to scare the children. Nationalist and the
feeling of patriotism since 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. Though he was a strict teacher with a shaped mind, since he
kept the students hooked to his conversations

Franz- Franz is a fun 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 and
learn new activities. He is sort of ignorant and unaware of the political situation
in his country since he didn’t know about the orders from Berlin and chose to run
to the class instead of looking at the bulletin. He is observant since he observes
M Hamel very closely and knows about his reactions, behaviour, and occasions when M
Hamel wore his Sunday suit. He is emotional by nature since he suddenly developed a
soft corner for his language, nation, and M Hamel after acknowledging that he is
neither going to learn French from next day nor he is going to be the student of M
Hamel.

Summary (Important Points)

In 1870, during the France-Prussian War, Prussia (Germany, Poland, and parts of
Austria) conquered two French districts, Alsace and Lorraine. After the conquer,
Berlin ordered the French districts to stop teaching French in all the schools
across the districts and hire new teachers who could teach German, instead of
French.
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 teacher in a school of the Prussia conquered states 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 only.
After entering the class, Franz notices that the last benches that were usually
empty were that day filled by the villagers. On hearing about the orders from
Berlin, he realized that all of them were there to applaud 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 M Hamel was never going to teach them
again.
As the clock struck twelve and noises of Prussian soldiers were audible to them, M
Hamel with a very heavy hard wanted to bid goodbye to his classroom, his students,
his French lessons. But the tears in his eyes and heaviness in his heart choke him
and force him to 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 anger and grief, he asked the students to go
and said that the class was dismissed.