Question

what do you think of mr M Hamel as a teacher

Answer 1

M.Hamel had been a devoted French teacher for 40 years. He was a strict disciplinarian and his students were terrified of him and his 'great ruler'. However, he was a respectable man. On the last day of school, many villagers, who had been taught by him at some point of time, had come to attend his lecture and pay homage to him. He give great importance to learning. French and considered it to be the most beautiful language of the world. However, he was melancholy and depressed that French had been banned from being taught, after France was overtaken by Prussia. His sorrow was evident in the gloomy way he sat in the class while his students were completing their writing assignment. He became nostalgic looking at the classroom and the adjoining garden. Before leaving the class, he broke down and so, could not speak any parting words.

Answer 2

M. Hamel is a man of strong principles. He is also a strict teacher and a fierce patriot. On the day of the last lesson, it is patriotism that becomes most apparent in him He excuses Franz for being late, which would not have been the case on any usual day. Franz notices that M. Hamel had put on his Sunday clothes to mark the occasion and made his students copy the words 'Alsace' and 'France' repeatedly on pieces of paper . And we get a glimpse of his patriotism in the end when unable to teach anymore, choked by emotions, he writes on the board "Vive la France!", without paying heed to the official rules that had come from the German administration in Berlin.

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