A Letter to God: Summary, Analysis, and Question Answers
A LETTER TO GOD
Summary of the Lesson-
The story A Letter to God deals with Lencho's strong believe in God. Lencho was a poor yet dedicated farmer. When he hoped for a good harvest a hailstorm suddenly destroyed all his crops. This made him very sad. But he had a strong faith in God. He was certain that God would definitely help him if he asks for. Thus, he decided to write a letter to God stating his problems. He requested God to send him one hundred pesos in order to sow his fields again and protect his family from starvation. He went to the post office and dropped it into the mailbox.
An employee or postman collected the letter from the letterbox, and took it to the Postmaster who laughed heartily after reading the letter. But the post Master was moved by the faith of the poor farmer on God. He praised the poor farmer’s faith in God and decided to help him at any cost. Then he asked the employees of the post office to contribute some amount of money , collected from his friends' and he, himself gave a part of his salary so that Lencho’s faith in God is not disturbed. But the money collected was a little less than what Lencho had requested from God (70 pesos out of 100). He then put all the money collected in an envelope, wrote God on the letter and kept it ready for the poor farmer.
The following Sunday, Lencho went to the post office to check if there was a letter for him. The postmaster gently handed over the letter to him. Lencho was not surprised at all to see the letter with money inside the envelope. He confidently opened the envelope to count the money but became angry when he saw that there were only seventy pesos in it. He was sure that God could have never made such a grave mistake. He instantly went to the window to ask for paper and ink and wrote another letter to God, and dropped it into the letterbox. Lencho arrived the following week, asked about any reply from God-if any, took the the money from the envelop. After he counted it, again he wrote a letter and put it in the letter box, After he had left the place, the postmaster opened and read his second letter immediately. In it, Lencho wrote to God that he had requested for one hundred pesos, but he was sad enough to find seventy pesos inside. He even blamed the post office employees and felt that they must have stolen the remaining thirty pesos from his envelope. He urged God to send him the rest of the money since he was in urgent need of it. However, he requested God not to send the money through the mail because Lencho thought that the post office employees were ‘a bunch of crooks’ who might have stolen the remaining money from the envelope.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR--
This story is written by G.L. Fuentes. He was a great Mexican poet and novelist. The message that the author wants to delicately convey to his readers is that – a common man’s faith in God and humanity still prevails in society. Lencho is just an example.
Textual Question answers:
1. What did Lencho hope for?
Answer-
Lencho hoped for a downpour or at least a shower for his ripe corn fields.
2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Answer-
Lencho, the needy farmer, compared the raindrops to ‘new coins’. He considered the big drops as ten-cent pieces and the little ones as fives. Since his crops were ready for harvest, he hoped that the rains would bring him wealth. Hence, he compared the raindrops with ‘new coins’.
3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Answer:
In front of Lencho’s eyes the rain started pouring down as he expected. But in an instant a strong wind blew and very large hailstones began to fall along with rain. The hailstorm continued for an hour and destroyed Lencho’s entire corn field and also all the flowers from the plants of his cultivation.
4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Answer:
As soon as the hailstones stopped, Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. He witnessed that everything of his cultivation was ruined by the hailstorm instantly. Nothing was left even to feed his family for that year.
Oral Comprehension:
Page 6
1.Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Answer:
Lencho, the needy farmer had a strong faith in God. He believed that God’s eyes can see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience. So he wrote a letter to God stating that he needed a hundred pesos to sow his field and feed his family that year.
2.Who read the letter?
Answer:
An employee collected the letter and the Postmaster read Lencho’s letter addressed to God and laughed at it as well.
3.What did the Postmaster do then?
Answer:
In the beginning, having read the letter, the Postmaster laughed loudly. But very soon he became serious thinking over Lencho’s strong faith in God. He didn’t like to shake the Lencho’s faith in the God. Therefore, he came up with an idea to collect money from his employees and friends, give a part of his salary and sent it to Lencho through an envelop.
Oral Comprehension Check
Page 7
1. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Answer:
Not at all, Lencho was not surprised receiving a letter from God with money in it. He was very confident and had strong faith in God that his request was specially considered by Him.
2. What made him angry?
Answer:
As soon as Lencho counted the money, he found only seventy pesos, instead of the hundred pesos which he demanded or asked for. He was confident that God could neither make a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested for. So he understood that the post office employees must have stolen thirty pesos from the envelope. According to him they are ‘a bunch of crooks’.
Character Sketches (3 Marks Each)
1. Character Sketch of Lencho:
Lencho is the protagonist of the story, portrayed as a man of unwavering faith and immense hard work. He is described as an "ox of a man" due to his dedication to his fields. Despite his poverty, he possesses a simple and innocent mind; he does not find it unusual to write a letter to God and expects a direct reply. However, his extreme faith also makes him somewhat naive and suspicious, as he fails to recognize the human kindness of the post office employees, mistakenly calling them a "bunch of crooks."
2. Character Sketch of the Postmaster :
The Postmaster is a fat, amiable, and sensitive individual who serves as the representative of humanity in the story. Initially, he laughs at Lencho’s letter, but he quickly becomes serious, moved by the farmer's deep faith. He is a generous and empathetic leader who goes out of his way to collect money from his employees and gives up a part of his own salary to help a stranger. His primary motive is to ensure that Lencho’s "faith in God" remains unshaken, showing that kindness often works in anonymous ways.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. Where was Lencho's house situated? A) In a city
B) On the crest of a low hill
C) In a valley
D) Near the forest
Ans: B) On the crest of a low hill
2. What did Lencho compare the large raindrops to? A) Silver coins
B) Pearls
C) New coins
D) Diamonds
Ans: C) New coins
3. Which crop was growing on Lencho's fields? A) Barley
B) Corn
C) Rice
D) Wheat
Ans: B) Corn
4. What destroyed Lencho's fields? A) Heavy rainfall
B) A flood
C) A hailstorm
D) A landslide
Ans: C) A hailstorm
5. The field looked as if it were covered in ______ after the storm. A) Salt
B) Sugar
C) Ice
D) Cotton
Ans: A) Salt
6. Lencho compared the quantum of damage with: A) An attack by rats
B) A plague of locusts
C) A fire
) None of the above
Ans: B) A plague of locusts
7. What was the only hope left in the hearts of Lencho's family? A) Help from the government
B) Help from neighbors
C) Help from God
D) Help from the bank
Ans: C) Help from God
8. How much money did Lencho ask for? A) 100 pesos
B) 70 pesos
C) 1000 pesos
D) 50 pesos
Ans: A) 100 pesos
9. What was the postmaster's first reaction on seeing the letter? A) He felt sad
B) He broke out laughing
C) He got angry
D) He ignored it
Ans: B) He broke out laughing
10. Why did the postmaster decide to reply to the letter? A) He was a good man
B) To preserve Lencho's faith in God
C) He knew Lencho personally
D) He wanted the money
Ans: B) To preserve Lencho's faith in God
11. How much money was the postmaster able to arrange? A) 100 pesos
B) Nil
C) 1000 pesos
D) 70 pesos
Ans: D) 70 pesos
12. How did Lencho feel when he counted the money? A) Grateful
B) Joyful
C) Angry
D) Relieved
Ans: C) Angry
13. What did Lencho think of the post office employees? A) Helpful people
B) A bunch of crooks
C) Unkind people
D) Proud people
Ans: B) A bunch of crooks
14. What did Lencho ask God NOT to do in his second letter? A) Not to help him again
B) Not to send the money through mail
C) Not to forgive the postmaster
D) Not to send less money
Ans: B) Not to send the money through mail
15. What is the irony in this story? A) Lencho was sad after the rain even though he wanted it.
B) The postmaster laughed but then helped Lencho.
C) Lencho blamed the people who actually helped him.
D) There was no help from God.
Ans: C) Lencho blamed the people who actually helped him.
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