Central idea of the last lesson

The central idea of the story is ‘The Last Lesson’ is linguistic chauvinism of the proud conquerors and the pain that is inflicted on the people of a territory by them by taking away the right to study or speak their own language and thus make them aliens in their own land of birth. The story has a sub-theme also. It highlights the attitudes of the students and teachers to learning and teaching.Though the story is located in a particular village of Alsace district of France which had passed into Prussian hands it has a universal appeal. It highlights the efforts of the victors to crush their victims— the vanquished people in all possible manner—materially spiritually mentally and emotionally. Taking away mother tongue from the people is the harshest punishment. The proper equation between student and teacher his focused attention helpful and encouraging attitude and kind treatment can encourage students to learn better.

The last lesson by Alphonse Daudet is mainly about the longing to learn the mother tongue and love for it. It has a sense of patriotism. The Prussians rejected the freedom of the people of Lorraine and Alsace to learn their own mother tongue. The colonizers took away the basic rights of the people. When the students could not learn their own language, they sensed a feeling of being restricted and missed learning French. The practice of linguistic chauvinism is highlighted in this story to draw our attention. It throws the light upon the utmost pride in one’s mother tongue and considering other languages not equally worthy. People of Lorraine and Alsace were the victims of linguistic chauvinism They were forced to learn German. Franz, a school student who was always reluctant in his French class and never took it seriously, saw how important it was to learn his mother tongue. This quality of people displays that humans respect things more when they see it going. Also, the parents preferred to see their children working well rather than learning French. Later they realize how they missed the French classes and they were sorry about it. How Prussians drilled their land is shown by how unfairly they are treated and have a sense of loss.