The order from Berlin aroused a particular zeal in the school.comment.
Answers
Answer :
In the short story 'The Last Lesson' by Alphonse Daudet, the atmosphere at school on the day of the last lesson was quite different from usual. There was a lot of sadness and solemnity due to the order from Berlin that only the German language would be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.
The French teacher, M. Hamel, was very sad and emotional that he would have to leave the school after forty years of teaching his mother tongue there. There was also a profound change in his behavior and he was more polite than usual.
He displayed his zeal and enthusiasm towards the French language by calling it the most beautiful, clearest and logical language in the world. He asked his students to guard their mother tongue among them and never forget or lose it under any circumstances. He asked the students to take a sense of pride in their native language. He supported his views with the reason that when the people of a country are enslaved and forced to use a foreign language, their mother tongue holds the key to their prison.
He had also brought new copies for the students in which “France, Alsace, France, Alsace” was written in a beautiful round hand.
The back benches of the classroom were occupied by the village elders who were attending the class as a mark of respect for their mother-tongue.
It is true the order from Berlin aroused zeal and patriotism in the hearts of the residents of Alsace and Lorraine. Most of the villagers came to attend the school after the order; they wanted to say good-bye to their beloved teacher M. Hamel. The order made them serious. Earlier when everything was normal, they avoided learning French; but now when their mother-tongue was being deprived of them, they did not want to lose it. They were feeling patriotic; they wanted to learn French. Even Franz wanted to learn. To him M Hamel was looking like a great teacher. But earlier he used to consider him cranky. Even M Hamel was feeling so much patriotic. He wanted to teach them the entire French language; he was very sad as he had to leave the school and the village where he had taught for forty years.