A Letter to God

About author

Gregorio Lopez Y Fuentes was born on July 11, 1897, at Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. He
first went to sea as a deck boy with his father at the age of ten. As a teenager, Fuentes worked
on cargo ships that went out of the Canary Island to Trinidad and Puerto Rico. He also sailed to
the Spanish parts of Valencia and Sevilla to South America. He migrated permanently to Cuba
at the age of twenty-two. Fuentes, a lifelong cigar smoker, died from cancer in 2002 at the age
of 105 years. 

Introduction
The story, "A Letter to God" by G.L Fuentes revolves around the idea of having unquestionable
belief in something. The story is set in a Latin American country. Lencho, the farmer, who is the
protagonist of the story, writes a letter to God seeking help from the almighty after discovering
his entire crop yield destroyed by a devastating hailstorm. Although, his wishes get fulfilled
partially, if not completely, he is ungrateful in the end and questions the honesty and modesty of
the post-masters who actually helped him with money (anonymously) in the name of god.

Summary
The story, "A Letter to God" by G.L. Fuentes depicts unwavering faith of a farmer in God. It
begins with a farmer, named Lencho expecting for a rain shower to nourish his field of corn. He
is confident that his harvest is going to yield him huge profits just like it does every year. To his
utmost excitement, rainfall did happen but sooner, it turned into a hailstorm destroying his entire
crop field. The damage posed a threat to the family's survival as their entire livelihood was
dependent on the year's produce. Although disheartened, the family had robust belief in the
almighty. Lencho, despite having worked day and night at the field, knew how to write and thus,
decided to write a letter to God explaining his situation and asking for help. He went to town to
post his letter addressed "To God". The letter on being noticed by the postmaster, at first
amused him, but then motivated him want to do something for the farmer so as to keep his
immense belief intact. He contributes from his salary and collects money from his colleagues
and friends who willingly contributed for an act of charity. To his dismay, he could only collect 70
pesos which he wrapped in an envelope to make it seem like a reply from the deity. On having
found the letter, the writer (Lencho) is not at all shocked, but instead, he gets angry on finding
that the amount is less than what he had expected. He again writes a letter to God conveying
his disappointment and distrust in the employees of the post office who he thought had stolen
the remaining amount.

New Words-
Crest- Top of a hill
Dotted- Full Of
Downpour- Heavy Rain
Intimately- Closely
Exclaimed- cry out suddenly in surprise, strong emotion, or pain.
Regarded- Consider Or Think Of In A Specified Way
Draped- Adorn, Cover, Or Wrap (Someone Or Something) 
Hailstones- A Pellet Of Hail
Resemble- Have A Similar Appearance To Or Qualities In Common With (Someone Or
Something); Look Or Seem Like.
Exposing- make (something) visible by uncovering it.; reveal
Plague - a destructively numerous inflow or multiplication of a harmful animal, infestation
locusts- Insects which fly in big groups and destroy crops
solitary-  Existing alone; lonely.
conscience- an inner sense of right and wrong.
ox of a man- hardworking
daybreak- The time in the morning when daylight first appears
Pesos- the basic monetary unit of Mexico, several other Latin American countries, and the
Philippines
Amiable- Friendly And Pleasant
Correspondence- Communication by exchanging letters with someone.
goodwill- friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude
resolution- a firm decision to do or not to do something.
obliged- grateful
contentment- Satisfaction
 
Questions and answers-
Q1. What did Lencho hope for?
A. Lencho hoped for a rain shower for his crop field.
 
Q2.  Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like 'new coins'?
A. After the rain shower, everything was going as per Lencho's plan and he had immense
confidence that his harvest would yield substantial profits. Thus, he referred to the droplets as
"new coins, the larger ones being equivalent to ten pesos and smaller ones, five pesos.
 
Q3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho's fields?
A. Soon after the rainfall had begun, the wind became strong leading to a hailstorm. As a result
of which, Lencho's crop fields got withered, the trees had shed their leaves and the flowers had
fallen.
 
Q4. What were Lencho's feelings when the hail stopped?
A. Lencho was extremely disheartened and his soul was filled with immense sadness.
Hailstones had completely destroyed his crop. He feared his family would starve that
year.
 
Q5. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
A. Lencho had unwavering faith in God. Thus, he decided to write a letter to God conveying his
grievances and asking for 100 pesos for survival and rejuvenation of crops.
 
Q6. Who read the letter?
A. A postman who was also an employee of the post office read the letter.
 

Q7. What did the postmaster do then?

A. The postmaster was amazed at Lencho's unshakeable faith in the deity and thus, to retain it,
he decided to collect money for him from his friends and colleagues.  
 
Q8. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
A. Lencho was not at all surprised on seeing the letter because this is what he was expecting.
Instead, he was angry when he found that the amount was less than what he had asked for.
 
Q9. What made him angry?
A. Lencho was displeased when he found that the money was less than what he had asked for.

Q10. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you
this?
A. Lencho has immense faith in God. These lines are evident to this fact: "Lencho showed not
the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence - but he became angry
when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied
Lencho what he had requested."
 
Q11. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter
'God'?
A. The postmaster did not want to shake the writer's faith in the almighty, and thus, out of
virtuous intentions, decided to collect money for "an act of charity" . He also signed the letter
in the name of God to conceal his identity as he wanted Lencho to think it was actually a reply
from God.
 
Q12. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?
A. No, Lencho did not try to find out the sender because he was very optimistic about the
existence of almighty and that, his letter is actually received and replied to, by God. It was his
unshakeable faith that made him not question the identity of the sender.
 
Q13. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the
situation? (Remember that the irony of a situation is an unexpected aspect of it. An
ironic situation is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what is expected.)
A. Lencho thought that it is the postmaster or the employees of the post-office who had stolen
his remaining amount, as is evident from his second letter to God where he requests the deity
not to send money by mail next time. The irony here is that, it was actually the postmaster and
the employees who had collected the money out of their clean intent to keep Lencho's faith
intact, but are the ones who ended up getting blamed for stealing the missing amount.
Q 14. Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you
say he is? You may select appropriate words from the box to answer the question.

Greedy, naive, stupid, ungrateful,

Selfish, comical, unquestioning

A. No, it is hard to find people like Lencho in reality. Lencho is naive and unquestioning because
of his lack of judgement about the actual physical existence of God. He did not question
receiving an actual reply from the almighty. Also, he is ungrateful in some manner because on
seeing 70 pesos, he is not happy but instead, complained about the missing 30 pesos.
 
Q15. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and
between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
A. The story "A Letter to God" depicts two types of conflicts; one between man and nature and
the other among men themselves. In the beginning of the story, the farmer hopes for a rain
shower for the benefit of his corn field. On actually receiving rain, he becomes overjoyed and
starts thinking about all the profit that would come in. Not much later, his joy is turned into
sorrow when the wind becomes strong leading to a hailstorm. This depicts the disagreement
between man and nature wherein humans want the nature to act according to their aspirations.
The second divergence arises when Lencho starts doubting the honesty of the post-office
employees who actually helped him with the money anonymously. This is the conflict among
men themselves, wherein, we are ready to trust in the idea of God's existence but we are not
ready to trust each other.

Value Based Questions-

Question 1.
Lencho seemed to be an impulsive man who felt suddenly elated at the rainfall and later
became sad to see the destruction which the rain had caused. Did he lack tolerance? Did
he not have the courage to face the challenges of life? Elucidate it discussing the values
one must possess to face any type of situation in about 80-100 words.
Answer:
Lencho seems to be an impulsive man, as he had hoped for a good rain. But he became
despaired on seeing the destroyed crop. He had tolerance and the courage to face the
challanges in life. His firm faith in God made him to write a letter and the tolerance in him kept
him waiting for the reply. He accepted the seventy pesos and again faced the situation writing a
second letter demanding for the rest of the amount. In the same manner one must face the
situation courageously and be tolerant to overcome the difficulty.

Question 2.
The Post Master represents the people who still believe in helping others. Mention those
values of the Post Master which you would like to emulate. Write it in about 80-100
words.
Answer:
The postmaster represents the people who still believe in helping others. To keep Lencho’s faith
in God alive, the postmaster co-operated with his employees and collected the amount. He had
love and empathy towards Lencho knowing his situation. He was compassionate and even did
not let Lencho know that they were helping
him. He sent the amount to Lencho in the name of God. In a nutshell, the postmaster possesed
values like helping others, loving nature and compassionate.

Question 3.
Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like new coins ? How did the same rain change
the face of Lencho’s field ?
Answer:
Lencho was a farmer who was waiting eagerly for the rain as his crops needed a downpour, a
shower. The rain did come. Lencho felt as if they were new coins. The big drops of rain,
according to him, were ten cent pieces and the little ones were that of five. He was quite
satisfied with the rainfall. But suddenly the strong wind began to blow and with the rain very
large hailstones began to fall. He hoped for it to pass quickly which did not happen. The rain,
which till then was a hope for better future, changed. It shattered all his hopes and changed the
face of his field. The whole standing crop was ruined. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The
hailstorm left Lencho in need and starvation.

Question 4.
How did the hailstorm shatter Lencho’s hope and dreams ?
Answer:
The rain that was welcomed by Lencho, all of sudden, changed into hailstorm. It rained for an
hour. The whole corn field was turned white due to snow. It was totally destroyed. There was
not a leaf left on the trees. The hail destroyed everything. Lencho’s hope changed into despair
and badly shattered his dreams of better future. It left him helpless and starving for the
remaining year.

Question 5.
Lencho addresses the post office employees as a ‘bunch of crooks’, why ? Give reasons
in support of your answer. 
Answer:
The hailstones ruined Lencho’s crop and left Lencho helpless. So he thought of writing a letter
to God to help him for his destructed crop. Lencho requested God to send hundred pesos. The
postmaster sent him 70 pesos. Lencho became angry when he counted the money. He thought
that 30 pesos were taken by the post office employees. He warned God to send thirty pesos
more and beware of those employees who were a bunch of Crooks.

Question 6.
Who was Lencho and what circumstances forced him to write a letter to God?
Answer:
Lencho was a hardworking farmer who lived with his family on a crest of a low hill. He was very
caring and God loving man. Though, he was a farmer he could read and write. Lencho eagerly
waited for the rainfall in order to get good harvest and he became happy when it came. But the
pleasing rain changed into hailstorm and destroyed his crop.
He became sad and was worried about his family as they might remain hungry that year. His
last hope was the help from God as he had complete faith in him. Hence, he wrote a letter to
God asking him to send hundred pesos to survive and to reharvest.

Question 7.
Give a character-sketch of Lencho.
Answer:
Lencho was a simple man and a hardworking farmer. He worked as an ox in his field.
Lencho’s entire crops were badly destroyed by the hailstorm. So, he became very sad as he
was worried about his family. He was an optimistic person. Although his only source of living
was taken away, he didn’t lose hope. He had his last hope in God. He was confident that God
would help him in his distress. Lencho was an innocent atheist who didn’t know that there was
no such living person as God who could send him money. He had blind faith in God and sought
solution of his problem’Trom God only.

Question 8.
Sketch the character of the postmaster in the story ‘A Letter to God”.
(or)
How do you like ,the character of the postmaster in the story ‘A Letter to God?” Give
reason for your answer.
Answer:
The postmaster was a fat and friendly fellow. He was a sensible human being. He first laughed
looking at the letter which had a strange address. But soon he became serious. He was
surprised at the faith that Lencho had in God. He wanted his faith not to be shaken.
The postmaster himself gave a part of his salary and also requested his employees and a few
friends to contribute for charity. He felt happy and satisfied when Lencho received the money.
This shows that he was a kind and empathetic person as well. He loved to help others.

Question 9.
How did the postmaster and post office employees help Lencho? How did he react to
their help?
Answer:
The Postmaster and post office employees were very generous as they contributed for the act
of charity. First they laughed when they saw Lencho’s letter to God, but soon they were
impressed by his faith in God. They decided to send some money to Lencho so that his faith in
God does not get shaken. They collected seventy pesos and sent it to Lencho.
When Lencho got the envelope and opened it to count money, he became angry. He again
wrote a letter to God demanding the remaining thirty pesos. He thought that post office
employees had taken away the remaining money and called them a bunch of crooks, which was
not justified at all as they were the people who had helped him. But it shows his innocence and
firm faith in God.

Question 10.
How did the hailstones affect Lencho’s field? What was Lencho’s only hope?
Answer:
Lencho, a hardworking farmer, worked like an ox for a good harvest, depended completely on
his fields to  take care of his family. He expected a good harvest that year. He needed a
downpour for the crops to ripe, but the rain followed by hailstorm completely destroyed the
crops.
It made him sad. He was worried for his family as he loved them so much. But Lencho had firm
faith in God and believed that nobody died of hunger. So, he decided to seek help from God. He
wrote a letter to God and asked him for a hundred pesos to survive and to sow new crop.

Question 11.
“Humanity still exists”, this is what we get to know after reading A letter to God’ in which
firm faith in God of a poor farmer and helpfulness of the post office employees are aptly
depicted thought. Write a paragraph on the values in it, in about 80-100 words. Give the
paragraph a suitable title. [CBSE 2012]
Answer:
Existence of Humanity
After reading ‘A letter to God’, our faith in humanity stirs for strong. We learn from the story that
there still are people who help others without any self-interest. The postmaster and the post
office employees lay an example for every one of us to be kind. Though they all laughed at his
letter, they were really moved by the grip of faith Lencho had in God. The way they all decided
to help the stranger in his hard times restores our faith in the existence of humanity and
motivates us to be a noble and kind person.

Question 12.
Describe Lencho’s qualities in light of his faith in God. Do you have faith in God like
Lencho? Was Lencho’s reaction towards post office employees right?           [CBSE 2015]
Answer:
Lencho was a poor farmer who totally depended on the harvest to survive and fulfil basic needs
of his family. Once his crops were destroyed due to heavy rainfall and hailstones and he was
afraid to think how his family would survive. He believed that God would help him in this plight.
He had firm faith in God, he believed that God would not let him be hungry.
Now-a-days faith in God like Lencho is almost impossible and unseen. People are very much
aware that nobody is willing to help others without any self interest. Lencho’s reaction towards
post office employees was not right or justified but it was just because of his innocence as he
could not believe that God had done such a mistake. It were only the post office employees who
had stolen money according to him.

Q1- Where was Lencho's house situated?

A) bottom of the hill
B) top of a hill
C) top of a plateau
D) in a city
 
Q2- What was the only thing that the Earth needed according to Lencho?
A) a shower
B) a snowfall
C) strong winds
D) sunlight
 
Q3- Where did Lencho expect the downpour to come from?
A) north
B) north-east
C) north-west
D) south-east
 
Q4 - What did Lencho compare the large raindrops with?
A) silver coins
B) pearls
C) diamonds
D) new coins
 
Q5- Which crop was growing on Lencho's fields?
A) Corn
B) Barley
C) Rice
D) None of the above
 
Q6- What destroyed Lencho's fields?
A) heavy rainfall
B) hailstorm
C) landslide
D) flood
Q7- The field looked as if it were covered in _______.
A) salt
B) locusts
C) sugar
D) ice
 
Q8- Lencho compared the quantum of damage with
A) attack by rats
B) attack by crows
C) plague of locusts
D) None of the above
 
Q9- What was the only hope left in the hearts of Lencho's family?
A) compensation from government
B) help from farmer's association
C) help from God
D) there was no hope left
 
Q10- How did Lencho decide to contact his last resort?
A) by visiting them personally
B) through a letter
C) through e-mail
D) through fax
 
Q11- How much money did Lencho ask for?
A) 100 pesos
B) 1000 pesos
C) 10 pesos
D) 500 pesos
 
Q12- What was the immediate reaction of the postman on seeing the letter?
A) laughed whole-heartedly
B) cried
C) felt sad about what happened
D) felt empathetic
Q13- The postmaster was a fat, amiable man. What is the meaning of amiable?
A) rude
B) helpful
C) friendly
D) enthusaistic
 
Q14- On seeing the letter, the postmaster was moved by Lencho's ______
A) unwavering faith
B) handwriting
C) love for God
D) determination
 
Q15- Why did the postmaster decide to reply to Lencho's letter?
A) he was a good man
B) he felt empathetic
C) to preserve Lencho's faith in God
D) all of the above
 
Q16- What else did the reply demanded apart from goodwill, ink and paper?
A) lost crop
B) money
C) God's signature
D) new seeds
 
Q17- How much money was the postmaster able to arrange?
A) 100 pesos
B) Nil
C) 1000 pesos
D) 70 pesos
 
Q18- What did the postmaster feel on experiencing Lencho receive the letter?
A) contended
B) proud
C) overwhelmed
D) all of the above
 
Q19- Why was Lencho not surprised on seeing the money in the envelope?
A) he was too sad to acknowledge it
B) he had unwavering faith in God
C) he was an ungrateful man
D) none of the above
 
Q20- How did he feel when he counted the money?
A) grateful
B) joyful
C) relieved
D) angry
 
Q21- What did Lencho think of the post-office employees?
A) bunch of crooks
B) rude
C) unhelpful
D) proud
 
Q22- What did Lencho ask for in his second letter?
A) more money
B) remaining amount and not send it by mail
C) remaining amount and send it by mail only
D) he didn't ask for anything
 
Q23- What is the irony in this lesson?
A) Lencho was sad after the hailstorm even though he was the one waiting for a
shower
B) Postmaster laughed at Lencho but still helped arrange money for him
C) Lencho blamed the post office employees who in fact helped him
D) there is no irony
 
Q24- What type of conflict does the chapter highlight?
A) conflict between nature and humans
B) conflict among humans
C) conflict among God and nature
D) both 1 and 2
 
Q25- Who is the author of the lesson 'A Letter to God'?
A) G.L. Fuentes
B) J.k. Rowling
C) William Shakespeare
D) Roald Dahl

ANSWER KEY

1 B 11 A 21 A

2 A 12 A 22 B

3 B 13 C 23 C

4 D 14 A 24 D

5 A 15 C 25 A

6 B 16 B

7 A 17 D

8 C 18 A

9 C 19 B

10 B 20 D