Question

Though tempted by the bright day, Franz stated that he had ‘the strength to resist, and hurried off to school’. As the story progresses, the reader realizes that Franz, M Hamel and the villagers would perhaps need ‘the strength to resist’ much larger forces.

Discuss how the story provides strategies for resistance and protection of one’s identity and community through its events and characters. Provide relevant textual details to support your answer.

Answer 1

The story is mainly based on procrastination and linguistic chauvinism. In the opening lines of the story, we see that despite being tempted by the bright day and the beauty of nature, Franz decides to go to school.

Later on, we come to know that the Germans had captured the cities of Alsace and Lorraine, and the teaching of French would be stopped and German would be implemented. Franz, M Hamel and the villagers require the strength to resist the linguistic chauvinism of Germans and retain their own identity. M Hamel provides us the strategy as he says,"When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if they had the key to their prison."

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