The Last Class by Alphonse Daudet Book Review

The story The Last Class by Alphonse Daudet took place during the 1800's when war broke out between France and Germany for the small town of Alsace. M. Hamel was a teacher who had taught at a school for forty years. When it was the final French lesson, some of the villagers who had previously been M. Hamel’s students returned to class to say their goodbyes. Depressed and heartbroken, the students were solemn and silent. During M. Hamel's last class, M. Hamel had taught them some especially valuable lessons that they could apply in their daily lives. The three key point M. Hamel told on the last day were to seize the day and not put it off; a person must finish what one has begun and not abandon it; and, finally, the language one learns is the key to their cultural freedom. 

A person should seize the day and not put it off is an important knowledge everyone should know. M. Hamel expressed this by saying; "’Pshaw! I have time enough. I will learn tomorrow.’ And then you see what happens” (Daudet 3). Sometimes people should not do things tomorrow and finish it that day. M. Hamel says, "It has been the great misfortune of our Alsace always to postpone its lessons until tomorrow” (3). M. Hamel tells them that all of them are at fault for now no longer being keen sufficient to learn, placing off to the next day. He blames himself for now no longer coaching them sincerely. The opposite of seizing the day is procrastination. Procrastination is all about wasting valuable minutes and hours, and causing the days to slip by with in little or nothing to show for the passage of time, while seizing the day helps one to make things happen and get work done. This will encourage people to feel free to let go of their fears and take a leap of faith to achieve success. If one likes it or not, people will one day stop breathing, become cold, and die. 

One must finish what one has begun and not abandon it will help we people do more things in life. M. Hamel taught his students that they should always finish what they began. He teaches this lesson to his class before the church clock hits twelve o'clock, thus students can end their final French class on a good note and avoid missing anything important. One of his students, Franz, notices this and describes how M. Hamel wanted them to have access to all the knowledge he could. M. Hamel desire to ensure that all these children leave France with all the education he can provide. Frantz thinks, “One would have said that, before going away, the poor man desired to give us all his knowledge, to force it all into our heads at a single blow” (3). M. Hamel was able to show his students that they should always finish what they began by holding his class until the end of the lesson. Daudet writes, “However, he had the courage to keep the class to the end” (4). Students should always finish what they begin because the time they spend not doing so is time they are unable to learn anything new. 

Language is an essential key to one's cultural freedom due to the fact one will not forget part of their culture. As Hamel says, “so long as it clings to its language, it is as if it held the key to its prison” (3). Hamel implied that language is still used to hold people together. As Daudet writes, “What! you claim to be French, and you can neither speak nor write your language!” (3). If people do not learn the language, then part of their culture is gone. The importance of language in ones live cannot be overstated. It is a distinctly human ability that allows people to interact and distinguishes one from other primates. Language, on other hand, is much more than a medium of communication. It is also intimately linked to one's history.  

M. Hamel needed to finish a lesson that he had all started forty years before. He had taught three crucial lessons: to seize the day and not put it off; to finish what one has started; and finally, the language one learns is the key to their cultural freedom. M. Hamel was able to provide his students with the finest French lesson they had ever had, ensuring that they remember everything. M. Hamel was also able to inform virtual knowledge to his pupils, which they would be able to apply in their daily lives and pass on to their own children as they grow up. The French language, according to M. Hamel, is the most beautiful language in the world.