The Last Lesson Class 12: Summary, Themes and Question-Answers

The Last Lesson in Class 12 Flamingo is Alphonse Daudet's story about a French schoolboy's final French lesson after his region is taken over by Prussia. In this post you will read the full summary in order, meet the main characters, understand the themes, and practise with board-style question-answers.

Background: the author and the war

Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French novelist and short-story writer. The story is set during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), in which France was defeated by Prussia, led by Bismarck. Prussia at the time included modern-day Germany, Poland and parts of Austria.

After the defeat, the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine passed into Prussian hands. The story shows what this political change meant for ordinary people, especially in the village school.

Summary: a morning unlike any other

A morning of dread. Franz, the young narrator, is late for school. He is afraid of a scolding from his teacher, M. Hamel, because there is to be an oral test on participles and he has not prepared at all. The warm, bright day and the Prussian soldiers drilling in the field behind the sawmill tempt him to skip school, but he resists and hurries on. At the town hall, he sees a crowd at the bulletin board, which for two years has been the source of all the bad news: lost battles and military drafts.

A strange classroom. Normally the school day begins with a great bustle: desks opening, lessons repeated aloud together, and the teacher's ruler rapping on the table. Today the school is as quiet as a Sunday morning. Franz has to walk in with everyone watching, but M. Hamel speaks to him kindly. Franz notices that M. Hamel is wearing his beautiful green coat, frilled shirt and embroidered silk cap, kept for inspection and prize days. On the back benches, usually empty, sit village people: old Hauser with his three-cornered hat and primer, the former mayor and the former postmaster. Everyone looks sad.

Summary: the announcement and the last lesson

The announcement. M. Hamel tells the class that an order has come from Berlin: only German is to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master arrives tomorrow, so this is their last lesson in French. For Franz, the words are a thunderclap. He realises he can hardly write his own language. His grammar and history books, once a nuisance, now feel like old friends. He forgets M. Hamel's crankiness and feels sorry for him.

Regret. When Franz cannot say the rule for participles, M. Hamel does not scold him. He says the great trouble with Alsace is putting off learning until tomorrow. Now the occupiers can mock them for claiming to be French when they cannot speak or write their own language. He blames the parents, who sent children to work on farms or mills, and himself, for sending pupils to water his flowers and giving holidays when he wanted to go fishing.

The last exercises. M. Hamel calls French the most beautiful, clearest and most logical language in the world, and urges everyone to guard it. Franz understands the grammar lesson with surprising ease. In the writing lesson, new copies say "France, Alsace"; the only sound is pens scratching. Old Hauser spells the letters with the little ones, his voice trembling. Franz looks at the pigeons and wonders, "Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?"

The end. As the clock strikes twelve, the Prussian trumpets sound. M. Hamel stands to speak but is choked with emotion. He writes "Vive La France!" (Long Live France) on the blackboard as large as he can, leans his head against the wall, and dismisses the class with a gesture.

Characters

• Franz: a young schoolboy who dislikes lessons at first but is transformed by the news. His regret and sudden love for French carry the story.
• M. Hamel: the French teacher who has taught for forty years. He seems cranky at first, but in the last lesson he is kind, patient and deeply patriotic.
• Old Hauser and the villagers: they come to thank M. Hamel for forty years of faithful service and to show respect for the country that is theirs no more. Their presence also shows regret for not attending school more.

Themes and message

• Language and identity: M. Hamel says that when a people are enslaved, holding fast to their language is like having the key to their prison. A shared language keeps a people's identity and unity alive under occupation.
• The cost of putting things off: the whole community, students, parents and teacher, realises too late that they had always delayed learning.
• War and education: the war reaches into the classroom and takes away the right to learn in one's own language.
• The unnaturalness of force: Franz's question about the pigeons shows how absurd it is to impose a language on people.

Grammar focus: the past perfect

The story uses the past perfect (had + past participle) for actions that happened even earlier than the main events. In "M. Hamel had said that he would question us", the teacher spoke before the morning Franz left for school. In "I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk", Franz's plan was made before he reached school.

Board-style question-answers

1. Why was Franz afraid of going to school that morning? He was late and had not prepared the lesson on participles, on which M. Hamel was going to question the class.

2. What was unusual about the school that day? There was no bustle; it was as quiet as a Sunday morning. M. Hamel wore his special green coat, frilled shirt and silk cap, spoke kindly to Franz instead of scolding him, and the back benches were filled with village elders.

3. What order had come from Berlin? Only German was to be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master would arrive the next day.

4. Why were the village elders in the classroom? They came to thank M. Hamel for forty years of faithful service and to show respect for the country that was theirs no more. Their presence also showed regret for not going to school more.

More question-answers: regret and resistance

5. What, according to M. Hamel, was the great trouble with Alsace? People always put off learning until tomorrow. Now the occupiers could mock them for calling themselves French without being able to speak or write French.

6. Whom did M. Hamel blame, and why? The parents, for sending children to work on farms or mills for extra money, and himself, for sending pupils to water his flowers and giving holidays when he wanted to go fishing.

7. Explain: holding fast to their language is like having the key to their prison. Language keeps a people's identity and unity alive. As long as they keep their language, they cannot be fully conquered culturally, even under occupation.

8. What does Franz's thought about the pigeons suggest? It shows how unnatural the forced change of language is, and questions how far the conquerors' control can really reach into people's lives.

9. How does M. Hamel end the last lesson? Too moved to speak, he writes "Vive La France!" in large letters on the blackboard, leans his head against the wall, and dismisses the class with his hand.

How to write a strong answer

Use claim, evidence and explanation. For a character question on M. Hamel, state the change in him (claim), use details such as his special clothes and his message on the blackboard (evidence), and say what these show about him (explanation).

To revise this story and the rest of Flamingo at your own pace, study this chapter with Joy.