NCERT Solutions CBSE Class 12th Flamingo The Last Lesson Chapter 1 Summary, Explanation, Solution - Question & Answers
The Last Lesson Summary
The story is narrated by Franz, a French boy. He is lazy but sensitive and loves to play. He doesn't like studying French and hates his teacher, M. Hamel.
After dominating his districts of Alsace and Lorraine in France, Berlin ordered that schools there teach German instead of French.
It is the last day of their French teacher, M. Hamel, who has been there for forty years. He is full of sadness, nostalgia and patriotism. In recognition of his hard work, the men of the village also attend his 'last lesson'. He is unhappy because he did not learn French, his mother tongue, as a child.
Franz is shocked to learn that this is his last lesson, as he does not know French. Now, all of a sudden, he is interested in learning it and understands everything he was taught that day! He develops an instant liking for teacher M. Hemal and respects him for his honesty and hard work.He feels sad when separated from him and feels ashamed for not being able to recite the participle.M. Hamel tells them that they are all to blame for not being eager to learn, putting it off until the next day. He blames himself for not teaching them honestly.
His patriotism is reflected in his praise of the French language as being the most beautiful and most logical language in the world. He tells the class to protect their language as it is important to be close to their language to escape the prison of slavery. This would help them to be free from the Germans.
He realises the importance of learning his mother tongue and that he is defeated by the Germans because of his illiteracy.
Franz feels that it is not possible to take away a person's language as it is natural to every creature, be it "ku" for pigeons or "French" for French people.
The Last Lesson summary in Hindi
The Last Lesson Short Answer Questions
Q1. What was Franz expected to be prepared with, for school that day?
French teacher of Franz was M Hamel. He said that he would question them on participles. Franz was expected to be prepared with particles that day but Franz did not know anything about participles.
Q 2 What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
Franz noticed that usually when school began there used to be a great hustle and bustle all over the classrooms, which could be heard out in the street, the opening and closing of desks, lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears to understand better, and the teacher’s great ruler rapping on the table but on that day everything was so quiet as a Sunday morning.
Q3. What had been put up on the bulletin board?
For the last two years, all our bad news had come from the Bulletin board. That day the news displayed that an order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The Prussians had taken over the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine and hence the ban on the French language came as a result.
Q4. How did Franz’s feelings about M Hamel and the school change?
Franz felt sorry for not learning his French lessons when he realized that he had to receive his last lesson in French that day. His books, which sometimes before had seemed so troublesome, seemed precious to him and he felt that he could not give them up. He had previously disliked his teacher, M Hemal, but the thought of his departure that day saddened him.
Long Answer Questions
Q1. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in the school that day?
That day when the order came from Berlin an uncanny silence hung about in the air in the school. The teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt not to be a republished shirt, and the little black silk cap, all embroidered, the whole school seemed so strange and solemn. But the thing that surprised me most was to see, on the back benches that were always empty, the village people sitting quietly like ourselves; old Hauser, with his three-cornered hat, the former mayor, the former postmaster, and several others besides. That day M.Hamel had new copies for us,written in a beautiful round hand— France, Alsace, France, Alsace. They looked like little flags floating everywhere in the school-room, hung from the rod at the top of our desks.
Q2. The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them. What illustrates this? Why does this happen?
In this story, there was a French teacher M. Hamel who informed the students and villagers that only German would be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. When they faced instructions from the Germans to give up the French language completely then they realised the value of their language. The normal noisy scene at the school was replaced by the quietness of Sunday.
He praised French as the most beautiful, clearest and most logical language in the world. He said that for the enslaved people, their language was the key to their prison. Then the people realised how precious their language was to them. Franz regretted not having listened carefully during his lessons. This shows people’s love for their own culture, traditions and country. Pride in one’s language reflects pride in the motherland.
Q3. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What could this mean?
When Franz wonders if they will sing to the pigeons in German as well, he uses this
as a metaphor, implying that the French language was as natural to him as it was to
the pigeons. To rob them of their right to speak in their own language and to impose
the German language upon them would call for unnatural treatment.
It is difficult for people to accept the language that is imposed on them. French was
his mother tongue and he was comfortable using it as his lingua franca. Switching to
another language won't be easy.
Q4. When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison.” Can you think of examples in history where a conquered race of people had their language taken away from them or had a language imposed on them?
Mother tongue helps a person to express his/her feelings and thoughts most clearly and profoundly. The conquerors try to force the people of the enslaved territory by applying various measures such as suppressing and imposing their language on them
From time immemorial the conquering nations have imposed their language on the conquered peoples and taken away their language from them. The Romans conquered many parts of Europe and replaced the local languages with their own language - Latin. Later, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French developed from Latin. Muslim invaders captured Arabic and Persian in the countries of Asia. Local religion and language have disappeared in many Arab countries. A new language Urdu developed in India from the mixture of Persian and Hindi.
Q5. Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Do you know what “linguistic chauvinism” means?
"Linguistic extremism" refers to an aggressive and unjustified belief that one's own language is better than all others. It shows excessive or prejudicial support for its own language. Sometimes there is pride in one's own language and language enthusiasts can be easily identified by their extreme enthusiasm for the preservation and propagation of their language. In their enthusiasm, love and support for their language, they forget that other languages also have their own merits, have a long history of art, culture and literature behind them. Excessive pride in one's own language, instead of bringing about unity and winning others over as friends, breeds ill will and disunity. Strong opposition to the adoption of Hindi as the national language by the southern states of India is a direct result of the fear of supremacy by Hindi enthusiasts. The result is that 'One India' has become just a slogan..
Q6. The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them. What illustrates this? Why does this happen?
