Literatus

Dr. Sadao – a happy husband, father, and doctor Sadao was a Japanese surgeon. He studied in America and returned to Japan with Hana, a Japanese girl whom he met there, and married her in Japan and settled down comfortably. While most of the doctors were sent to serve the Japanese army in World War II, Sadao was allowed to stay home because he was wanted by the old General who was dying. But one night, an American soldier got ashore near Sadao’s house. The couple saw that it was an American Navy man and that he was shot, wounded, and was dying. Though unwilling to help his enemy, Sadao took the young soldier into his house and provided him with medical aid. He was in danger from that moment. His servants advised Sadao to let the American die but Sadao could not. He told them that he would turn the American to the police but the servants didn’t believe Sadao. They suspected Sadao’s honesty to Japan. They thought that because Sadao was in America for a while he had developed a love for Am...

 

The theme of The Story Alphonse Daudet talks about the importance of freedom and the preciousness of one’s own language through the story. CHARACTER SKETCHES: Franz: Careless Conscious    of his duties Admirer of nature Observant Sensitive and innocent Thinker. M. Hamel : French teacher Strict Selfish at times Honest and Sensitive man Proud of being French Passionate about the French language SUMMARY The French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have fallen into Prussian hands. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The French teachers were no more required now. M. Hamel the French teacher could no longer stay in the school now. Franz was a student of M.Hamel and he usually never came to school on time Franz realizes the truth that it was his last French lesson today. He immediately regrets and realizes why he had not taken his lesson seriously. M.Hamel gave his last lesson to his students with utmost devotion and sincerity as ...

‘The last lesson’ written by Alphonse Daudet narrates about the year 1870 when the Prussian forces under Bismarck attacked and captured France. The French districts of Alsace and Lorraine went into Prussian hands. The new Prussian rulers discontinued the teaching of French in the schools of these two districts The French teachers were asked to leave. Now M. Hamel could no longer stay in his school. Still, he gave a lesson to his students with the utmost devotion and sincerity as ever. One such student of M. Hamel, Franz who dreaded French class and M. Hamel’s iron rod, came to the school that day thinking he would be punished as he had not learned his lesson on participles. But on reaching school he found Hamel dressed in his fine Sunday clothes and the old people of the village sitting quietly on the backbenches. It was due to an order from Berlin. That was the first day when he realized for the first time that how important French was for him, but it was his last lesson in French. Th...

This MGM short is rarely seen. A scene very much like it was included in the feature THIS LAND IS MINE and this was allowed to fall into desuetude.  Although it nominally refers to the events following the Franco-Prussian War, when most of Alsace and Lorraine were ceded to Germany, this well-made propaganda short clearly refers to the conquest of France during the Second World War and ends with a quote from Victor Hugo and a rendition of the Marseillaise. The performances are simple and telling and must have brought a tear to the eye of its American audience -- even though Alsace and Lorraine were, contrary to what is implied in this short, German-speaking places with the French language pushed by legal dictate on the population.

  About the Author: Alphonse Daudet   was a French novelist and short-story writer. Formerly, a schoolteacher, he quit it to make a living as a journalist in Paris. He took to writing, his poems collected into a volume called “ Les Amoureuses”,  now remembered chiefly as the author of sentimental tales of provincial life in the south of France.  Introduction: The themes of patriotism, freedom of language, and the love for one’s mother tongue are predominant in the story. The people of Alsace and Lorraine was denied the freedom to learn their own language by the Prussians. This story reflects upon the arrogance of the colonizer to forcibly take away the rights of those who are colonized. “The last lesson” stresses the importance of education and the necessity to respect and learn one’s own language. This story draws our attention to the unfair practice of linguistic chauvinism. It refers to an unreasonable pride in one’s own language while disregarding ...