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Quotes
Franz (The Narrator)
The narrator of the story, Franz is a young school boy in the French region of Alsace-Lorraine in the nineteenth century. Franz is a dawdler when it comes to schoolwork, preferring to spend time in…
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M. Hamel
The school master of a small village school in the French region of Alsace-Lorraine. M. Hamel is stern and intimidating to his pupils, among them the narrator of the story, Franz. He has been…
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Old Hauser
One of the elder villagers who gathers with the children in M. Hamel’s classroom to hear the last lesson. He brings his old primer, an elementary reading textbook, with him to the class, and…
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Prussian Soldiers
Forces of the occupying Prussian power, which has invaded the French region of Alsace-Lorraine and claimed it for Prussia (then consisting of Germany, Poland, and parts of Austria). Franz passes the soldiers doing their drills…
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Minor Characters
Wachter
A blacksmith in a village in the French region of Alsace-Lorraine. As he hurries to school, the narrator, Franz, passes Wachter standing in front of the town hall bulletin-board. Wachter tells him not to go so fast, and Franz thinks the blacksmith is making fun of him.
