The last lesson essay by M.Hamel critical analysis
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The Last Lesson is a first person narrative whose speaker is a little boy named Franz. The boy is a resident of Alsace-Lorraine district of France that has lately been occupied by the Prussians.
The story begins one fine morning when we find little Franz hurrying off to school. He is quite scared as the French teacher M. Hamel is supposed to question the students on the past participle. Franz hasn’t learnt it yet. With great effort, Franz resists the temptation to bunk his class and goes unwillingly to school. He sees a crowd gathered around a bulletin board, the medium through which all of the bad news had reached Alsace: lost battles, droughts and the orders of the commanding officers. Franz banks heavily on the usual commotion of the class and plans to quietly slip into his bench without attracting the attention of M. Hamel. However, he finds that the garden outside the school is as silent as on a Sunday morning.
He peers through the window and sees his classmates in their respective seats. Frightened and ashamed, he opens the door and enters the class. Surprisingly, M. Hamel is rather kind towards him and doesn’t reproach him for being late. Franz goes to his desk and notices that the teacher has put on a green coat, a frilled shirt and his black silk cap – usually worn on special occasions like award ceremonies and inspection. To his surprise, he also sees the residents of his village all huddled up in the classroom. He sees old Hauser, the former mayor, the former postmaster, and many others sitting on the back bench of the class, all seated with a solemn look on their faces. While Franz begins guessing the reason behind such an unusual day, M. Hamel drops the bombshell: