The Last Lesson Summary & Analysis

The narrator’s comments—his dread of being late for class, as well getting a scolding from his teacher—communicate to the reader that he is a young child. Furthermore, the fact that the narrator has not learned the lesson on participles indicates that he is not the most diligent pupil, but rather a procrastinator when it comes to his schoolwork.

The narrator’s negligence of his schooling is further reflected in the temptation that he feels to skip school all together. The Prussian soldiers that he sees allude to the presence of conflict in the region. In fact, these soldiers signal to the reader that the story is set during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). During this conflict, Prussian forces invaded the French region of Alsace-Lorraine. In spite of the beautiful day and the chirping birds, therefore, the presence of the soldiers indicates that all is not well in this idyllic French landscape.  

The bulletin-board is the instrument through which the Prussian occupiers of the village communicate their edicts to the villagers. In this way, the bulletin-board is also a symbol of Prussian occupiers’ oppressive power. France is losing the war to the Prussians, and this is why foreign forces have occupied the narrator’s village and the region more broadly. That the villagers perceive the news and orders posted by the Prussians on the board as “bad” points to their subjugation—they are under the control of a foreign power, one that imposes demands and restrictions on them that they are unable to challenge.

Wachter’s comment to the narrator indicates that this community is tight-knit. The narrator knows the blacksmith by his first name, while Wachter uses the nickname “bub” to refer to the narrator. Though the blacksmith is indeed making fun of the narrator’s hurry, he is doing it endearingly and with humor.

The eerie silence that the narrator encounters upon arriving at school indicates that something is awry on this school day. Children are naturally loud and boisterous, as they are on normal school days, but this unusual silence suggests that something drastic has silenced them. The quiet is therefore a bad sign—not only because it means that the narrator can’t sneak to his desk unseen, but because it suggests that something is amiss.

The narrator’s feelings upon entering the classroom before the assembled students and teacher points to the extent of his terror of M. Hamel in particular. This indicates the power imbalance in the relationship between the little pupil and his intimidating teacher. M. Hamel has the power to punish the narrator severely, and it is this which renders the narrator so afraid.

M. Hamel’s unexpected kindness towards the tardy narrator again alerts the reader to the fact that nothing is normal on this school day. The teacher seems to have suddenly shed the severity to which his students, including Franz, are accustomed. Furthermore, the teacher’s special clothing—elaborate dress for special occasions—reinforces the sense that something momentous is happening on this day.

As the narrator takes in his surroundings properly for the first time, he sees more signs confirming that this is an unusual school day. The solemnness in the room extends from and echoes the silence he had first encountered upon arriving at school. That various elder village notables are also assembled in the room is a further indication that this is a special day—but not in a good way, considering how gloomy everyone seems. That elders have come together with children in the room is also significant, because it suggests that the entire village community has assembled in the classroom. There are people of various statuses and occupations: not only young students, but a former mayor, a former postmaster, and old man Hauser, as well as M. Hamel. This broad array of individuals represents a cross-section of the entire village community gathering together in the classroom.

M. Hamel’s shocking announcement reveals the lengths to which the occupying Prussian authorities are willing to go to control and subjugate the French citizens of Alsace-Lorraine. Not only have they gained military control of their land, but they also desire to control the villagers’ means of self-expression, by banning the French language and imposing German instead. This Prussian order, therefore, indicates that the Prussian authorities seek to subjugate not only the villagers’ physical existence, but also their minds.

Franz’s own shock over M. Hamel’s announcement indicates that the new Prussian order represents an unprecedented repression of freedoms in the village. It is an escalation of foreign oppression, as indicated by the fact that so many were gathered around the bulletin-board earlier in the day, when Franz had passed by the town hall on his way to school.

M. Hamel’s announcement has a second effect on Franz: it jolts him into reassessing the value of his education. While Franz has clearly been negligent in applying himself to his studies, as indicated by the fact that he has not even bothered to learn the rule for participles he was assigned for this school day, the news that the Prussian authorities have banned the teaching of French awakens him not only to how little he knows of his own language, but also how much he wants to learn. Furthermore, Franz begins to have a new appreciation for his teacher, realizing that M. Hamel, in spite of his customary severity, has much knowledge to offer him, knowledge from which Franz will now be cut off.

That M. Hamel is wearing his best clothes in honor of this last lesson indicates the teacher’s own great respect for his office, as well as the seriousness with which he has undertaken, and is undertaking, his duties as teacher. The day of his last lesson is indeed a momentous occasion requiring special dress, as it marks the end of his forty years of service to the school and to the village. The dress reflects M. Hamel’s dignity, giving him—and his vocation—an air of nobility. The presence of the elder villagers in the room reveals their appreciation and gratitude for M. Hamel’s service, as well as for the education of which he is a purveyor. The teacher’s dignified dress and the presence of villagers on this day of the last French lesson reveals the community’s desire to honor their country and mother tongue, both of which are under attack by the Prussian invaders.

Franz’s failure to recite the rule for participles takes on a new, grave significance on this momentous day. The neglect of his school work suddenly seems not only to be a neglect of some grammar rules, but also a neglect of his own duties as a French citizen and a French speaker whose language and identity are under threat from foreign occupiers. It is for this reason that Franz feels such immense shame upon being unable to recite the rule.

M. Hamel again acts with kindness by choosing not to scold Franz, but rather extrapolating from his failure to show how all the natives of Alsace-Lorraine have failed in their educational duties. By connecting the occupiers’ justification of their conquest of Alsace-Lorraine with the failure of the Alsatians to know their own language properly, M. Hamel makes explicit the link between language and power. The Prussians can justify their claim to Alsace-Lorraine because they can contend that the Alsatians are not true Frenchmen, as they cannot even speak nor write their own language properly. As such, the power that the Prussians can have over the natives of the region is directly linked to the natives’ grasp of their language, and therefore of their French identity.

M. Hamel highlights how the villagers have privileged labor over education. By sending out their children to work instead of encouraging them to learn, the villagers have prioritized the value of money over the value of learning. M. Hamel, however, doesn’t take a high-handed or condescending attitude towards the adults and children whom he lectures. By casting blame on himself as well, he posits himself as an equal culprit in the negligence of the children’s education. The tone and words that he adopts are ones that cast aside hierarchies and distinctions, positing adults, teachers and children as all culpable for the same mistakes.

M. Hamel’s great love for his mother tongue is reflected in the praise that he lavishes on it. Furthermore, his comment on the importance of guarding the language emphasizes the link between language, identity, and freedom. Language not only expresses cultural identity, it constitutes its very essence. Without language, those who are subjugated cannot hold onto their identity, and therefore also to their freedom.

Franz’s concentration and grasp of the French lesson reflects the fact that, for the first time, he is applying himself fully to his studies. He has finally come to understand the value and significance of his education. His impression that the teacher has never explained things so clearly also points to M. Hamel’s own power and competence as a teacher, in fulfilling the duties of his office on this day of the last lesson. 

M. Hamel’s assignment of the words “Alsace, France” to the class indicates the teacher’s intention of instilling a sense of patriotism in his pupils. The exercise functions not only to improve their writing skills, but to challenge the Prussian claim to Alsace-Lorraine by linking Alsace to France. In this way, the students are guided to express and assert their patriotic allegiance to France.

Franz’s impressions of M. Hamel in these moments of silence deepen and nuance his understanding of his teacher. While before the last lesson, Franz knew his teacher only as a fearful taskmaster, over the course of the last lesson he has witnessed other sides of the teacher emerge. Not only has the teacher expressed kindness towards him and the rest of the class, as well as a deep sense of patriotism, but here he seems to embody other emotions: sadness, loss, and nostalgia. He must give up the classroom that has been a home to him for forty years.

M. Hamel’s insistence on seeing through all the lessons to the very last also reveals another side of the teacher to Franz: his dedication. In spite of M. Hamel’s tumultuous emotions, the teacher is determined to fulfill every aspect of his duties on this last day. The extent to which the village community has come together during this last lesson is reflected in old Hauser’s act of helping the babies read their letters. This act reflects the solidarity between young and old, as the old help along, and participate in, the education of the youngsters. The poignancy of this act moves the entire class.

The trumpets of the Prussian soldiers that sound along with the striking of the clock remind the reader of the ominous presence of the foreign occupiers just outside the school doors. M. Hamel’s inability to speak during the final moments of the lesson reflects the tumult of his emotions on this occasion. And yet, even in the midst of this tumult, M. Hamel manages one final act of resistance: by inscribing the words “Long Live France!” on the blackboard, M. Hamel makes a final challenge to the oppressive power of the Prussians, asserting his allegiance to his motherland, France. In this way, he again uses the instruments of education—in this case the blackboard—to assert his freedom and that of his country.