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M. Hamel
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 uses it to help the youngest students read their letters. Like the other villagers and school children, including the story’s narrator Franz, Hauser is devastated at news that the Prussian authorities who have occupied the French region of Alsace-Lorraine, where the village is located, have forbidden the teaching of French in schools. He cries as he helps the young children read and makes everyone else in the classroom want to cry and laugh at once.
Old Hauser Quotes in The Last Lesson
The The Last Lesson quotes below are all either spoken by Old Hauser or refer to Old Hauser. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Last Lesson Quotes
[…] the thing that surprised me most was to see, on the back benches that were always empty, the village people sitting quietly like ourselves; old Hauser, with his three-cornered hat, the former mayor, the former postmaster, and several others besides.
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Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Franz is forced to enter the silent classroom before the eyes of the entire congregation, including M. Hamel’s. And yet, M. Hamel doesn’t scold Franz for his late arrival, but rather kindly asks him to take his seat—yet another indication that something strange is going on. After doing so, Franz notices not only that regular school pupils are assembled in the classroom, but villagers as well. More than that, it seems an entire cross-section of the village community has come together, people of different statuses, occupations, and backgrounds. The presence of these adults in the room establishes Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam
After the writing, we had a lesson in history, and then the babies chanted their ba, be bi, bo, bu. Down there at the back of the room old Hauser had put on his spectacles and, holding his primer in both hands, spelled the letters with them. You could see that he, too, was crying; his voice trembled with emotion, and it was so funny to hear him that we all wanted to laugh and cry.
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As the last lesson comes to a close, M. Hamel has the very youngest of the pupils—the infants—chant the alphabet. One of the elder villagers in the class that day, Hauser, uses his old primer, a reading book, to help the babies along. Old Hauser’s action shows how, under the peril of Prussian foreign occupation, the French villagers come together as community, and in solidarity. The old help the young along, supporting them and participating in their education, as Hauser does here. Furthermore, Hauser’s own emotions infect those around him—the rest of class wants to cry along with him, and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita
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Old Hauser Character Timeline in The Last Lesson
The timeline below shows where the character Old Hauser appears in The Last Lesson. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Last Lesson
...village people assembled on the benches at the back of the room, including old man Hauser, the former mayor, and the former postmaster of the town. Everyone looks gloomy. Old Hauser...
(full context)
...onto a history lesson, before the babies are given their turn to recite ABCDs. Old Hauser, sitting at the back and reading from an old primer, helps them by spelling the...
(full context)
