The Last Letter

7/25/2019 The Last Letter

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CS Academy, Vallipurathanpalayam, Erode

Class : XII English handout

The last letter Pt. a!aharlal "ehru

After a succession of letters, Nehru is writing his last letter to his daughter, Indira.

He begins the letter by quoting Benjamin Disraeli, the great statesman of the

nineteenth century: !ther men condemned to e"ile and ca#ti$ity, if they sur$i$e,

des#air% the man of letters may rec&on those days as the sweetest of his life.'

Nehru doesn(t go to the e"tend of com#aring himself with Benjamin Disraeli but he

admits that his life in #risons was not $ery sweet though writing and reading hel#ed

him during his im#risonment.

He also admits that he is not not a literary man, nor a historian.

He feels li&e a dabbler in many things.

o He began with science at college,

o And then too& to law,

o And, after de$elo#ing $arious other interests in life, )nally he ado#ted the

#o#ular and widely #ractised #rofession of goal*going in India + the wor& of a

#olitician -emember, goal is an old word for #rison.

A #rison, with no libraries or reference boo&s at hand, is not the most suitable

#lace in which to write on historical subjects yet Nehru reminds Indira of the great

history of the world, of India.

He insists that one should ha$e sym#athy for the #ast when he learns history.

Nehru e"#lains the im#ortance understanding history this way + to understand a

#erson who li$ed long ago, we ha$e to understand his en$ironment, the conditions

under which he li$ed, the ideas that )lled his mind. It is absurd for us to judge of #ast

#eo#le as if they li$ed now and thought as we do.


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He says, history is not a magic show, but there is #lenty of magic in it for those

who ha$e eyes to see.

It is im#ortant to note he says ne"t + If we loo& u#on #ast history with the eye of

sym#athy, the dry bones will )ll u# with esh and blood, and we will see a mighty

#rocession of li$ing men and women and children in e$ery age and e$ery country,

di/erent from us and yet $ery li&e us, with much the same human $irtues and human

failings.

Here Nehru gi$es a gist of the world history through 0gy#tian, Babylonian and the

Indian ci$ili1ations.

He then mentions the coming of the Aryans to India and their s#reading and

conquering.

He also gi$es a $i$id #icture of the 2hinese ci$ili1ation.

Islam in India and the 3ughal 0m#ire.

4he -enaissance of learning and art in western 0uro#e.

4he disco$ery of America and the sea*routes to the 0ast. 2hristo#her 2olumbus,

5asco De 6ama.

In$entions of machines, engines, automobiles and the de$elo#ment of ca#italism

-ise of 0uro#e and America.

4he s#read of industrialism and 0uro#ean domination and im#erialism. 4he British

0m#ire.

4he wonders of science in the modern world. 7hotogra#hy, $ideogra#hy, medica

ad$ancements, etc.

6reat em#ires ha$e risen and fallen and been forgotten by man for thousands of

years, till their remains were dug u# again by #atient e"#lorers8archaeologistsfrom

under the sands that co$ered them, yet many an idea, many a fancy, has sur$i$ed

and #ro$ed stronger and more #ersistent than the em#ire.


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After this, Nehru mo$es on to the gifts of the #ast% bene)t of learning history.

o All that we ha$e today of culture, ci$ili1ation, science, or &nowledge of some

as#ects of the truth, is a gift of the distant or recent #ast to us.

o 9e ha$e obligations to our #ast and to our future.

o !ur obligation to the future is greater than those we owe to the #ast

because the #ast is #ast and done with, we cannot change it% the future is yet to

come, and #erha#s we may be able to sha#e it a little.

o Both, #ast and future betray us.

o 4he #ast has gi$en us some #art of the truth, the future also hides many

as#ects of the truth, and in$ites us to search for them.

o adly, the #ast is often jealous of the future and holds us in a terrible gri#,

and we ha$e to struggle with it to get free to face and ad$ance towards the

future.

The great lessons that history can teach us.

o History ne$er re#eats itself.

o 9e cannot learn anything from history by sla$ishly trying to co#y it, or by

e"#ecting it to re#eat itself or remain stagnant.

o 9e can learn something from it by loo#ingbehind it and trying to disco$er

the forces that mo$e it.

o History teaches us of growth and #rogress and of the #ossibility of an in)nite

ad$ance for man.

o History has no other way of answering old questions than by #utting new

ones.' ;


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o 4he $ery stones that they respect$ully#ut one on to# of the other, or

car$ed into beautiful designs, tell us of this faith.

The age o$ 'eason

o !ur age is an age of disillusion, of doubt and uncertainty and questioning.

o 9e can no longer acce#t many of the ancient beliefs and customs.

o 9e ha$e no more faith in them, in Asia or in 0uro#e or America.

o 9e search for new ways, new as#ects of the truth more in harmony with our

en$ironment.

o And we question each other and debate and quarrel and e$ol$e any number

of isms' and #hiloso#hies.

o >i&e ocrates who questioned in the ancient Athens, we too as& questions

but do not get all answers.

(i$e sometimes appears to %e meaningless %ut it is rich and )aried.

o 6reat seas

o 4he mountains

o

now and glaciers

o tarlit nights

o 4he lo$e of family and friends

o 2omradeshi# of wor&ers in a common cause

o 3usic and boo&s

o 4he em#ire of ideas.

Thoughts and action*

o Being sel)sh, ignoring the #roblems of other #eo#le is not at all desirable.

o 4hought must lead to action. Action is the end of thought.'

o All thought which does not loo& towards action, is a treachery.'

o If we are the ser$ants of thought, we must be the ser$ants of action.


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o 7eo#le a$oid action often because they are afraid of the consequences, for

action means ris& and danger.

o Danger seems terrible from a distance% it is not too bad if you ha$e a close

loo& at it.

+eneral uestions

?. -hy !as it dicult $or "ehru to !rite a%out history in the prison/ 0o!

did "ehru manage to !rite a%out history e)en in the prison/

As a #rison has no libraries and reference boo&s, it is hard to write about history in a

#rison. Nehru, ne$ertheless, had had to rely $ery largely on the many note*boo&s

which he had accumulated since his )rst im#risonment.

@. -hy does "ehru say that he had %een a da%%ler in many things/

Nehru )nds it hard to de)ne his #erson. He began with science at college, and then

too& to the law, and, after de$elo#ing $arious other interests in life, )nally he became

a nationalist and #olitician whose life under the British was nothing but im#risonment.

. 0o! did reading and !riting help "ehru in the prison/

Although not &nown as a writer, Nehru admits that the many years he had s#ent in

the prisonhad been the sweetest in his life. He recalls that reading and writing

hel#ed him wonderfully to get through the trials of the #rison life and loneliness along

with detachment.

. 0o! is the li$e o$ a !riter in prison di1erent $rom the li$e o$ other people

in 2en3amin 4israeli5s opinion/

Benjamin Disraeli, the great statesman of the nineteenth century, has written: !ther

men condemned to e"ile and ca#ti$ity, if they sur$i$e, des#air% the man of letters

may rec&on those days as the sweetest of his life.' By this he says that a writer can

ne$er get tired in a #rison because he )nds the #rison a right #lace to write with more

#owerful feelings and shar# words.

C. -hat induces "ehru to !rite this last letter/

At the end of se$eral long letters, Nehru feels li&e adding a few ourish( lines to


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decorate all the other letters so he thin&s of writing another letter as the last,

concluding letter.

E. -hat does "ehru call the goal6going pro$ession/

In Nehru(s o#inion, the #rofession of a #olitician calls for im#risonment and torture so

gaol*going refers to going to a #rison.

F. -hy is it important to loo# upon history !ith sympathy and

understanding/

4o understand a #erson who li$ed long ago, one will ha$e to understand his

en$ironment, the conditions under which he li$ed and the ideas that )lled his mind. It

is absurd for us to judge of #ast #eo#le as if they li$ed now and thought as we do.

9hen we understand the #ast #eo#le with their limitations, we get a clear

understanding about them and our judgment will not be wrong.

G. 70istory is not a magic sho!, %ut there is plenty o$ magic in it $or those

!ho ha)e eyes to see.8 E9plain.

3any historical e$ents may a##ear to be unbelie$able for #eo#le in the modern time

because there ha$e always been heroes and heroism in the #ast. If we loo& u#on #ast

history with the eye of sym#athy, the dry bones will )ll u# with esh and blood, and

we will see a mighty #arade of li$ing men and women and children in e$ery age and

e$ery 1one, di/erent from us and yet $ery li&e us, with much the same human

qualities + good and bad. 4hese historical wonders can be a##reciated only by #eo#le

who ha$e &een interest in history.

Ans!er in a%out ;;


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C. History, it is said, has many lessons to teach us% and there is another saying that

history ne$er re#eats itself. 0"#lain the message con$eyed by the two sayings.

E. As a historian, write a #aragra#h based on Nehru(s $iews, on the #ath brea&ing

e$ents of the @?st century that ha$e signi)cantly contributed to the growth and

#rogress of humanity.

The Last Letter

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