character sketch of M. Hamel

M. Hamel had been a devoted French teacher for 40 years. He was a strict disciplinarian and his students were terrified of him and his ‘great ruler’. However, he was a respectable man. On the last day of school, many villagers, who had been taught by him at some point of time, had come to attend his lecture and pay homage to him. He gave great importance to learning French and considered it to be the most beautiful language of the world. However, he was melancholy and depressed that French had been banned from being taught, after France was overtaken by Prussia. His sorrow was evident in the gloomy way he sat in the class while his students were completing their writing assignment. He became nostalgic looking at the classroom and the adjoining garden. Before leaving the class, he broke down and so, could not speak any parting words.