Symbolism In The Last Lesson By Alphonse Daudet

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The short story The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet is a lesson that is given by Mr. Hamel. The division between two countries, France and Germany is the reason that he will be delivering his last lesson. The author tells readers how it impacted many people through the eyes of a child, Franz. He is observant to nature and shows empathy but has little interest in attending school and careless about education. Mr. Hamel is a dedicated teacher, who is proud of being French. The narrator characterizes Mr. Hamel as a strict teacher, passionate, and loyal. As Mr. Hamel teach his final lecture. Franz regrets not being attentive and blames himself for not learning French. Franz realizes the importance of literacy. Franz poor punctuality leads to him running late to class. He passes by a crowd surrounded by the bulletin. He arrives to Mr. Hamel’s class and is informed it is his last lecture. He was bewildered of the overwhelming news. Mr. Hamel begins to teach the importance to holding on to the language and states “that we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their …show more content…

Throughout the story, Franz continues to ponder over the transition “I thought to myself: “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” (Daudet, 2001-2004)which indicates his thoughts of possibly losing the French culture entirely. When people in Alsace received an order from Berlin to leave the country, the people’s rights were taken. The Prussians enforced their language and to begin learning German the next day, “The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine” proves the loss of rights to their own language and identity. The disadvantage Franz experienced in the story adjusted his mindset longing to learn. It also awakened the people’s desire to learn

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