A LETTER TO GOD

G.L. FUENTES
EXPLANATION
● Lencho, the farmer, lived in a house on top of a hill. From there, a river
and a ready-to-harvest corn field were visible.

● The field belonged to Lencho and he had the utmost confidence that
the harvest would reap great profits. The only thing that he awaited
was rainfall.

● In this hope, he spent an entire morning gazing at the sky in the

north-east direction from where he expected to see the clouds.
EXPLANATION (Continued)
● The man, while looking at the sky, confidently told his wife that they
were going to have a rain-shower. The lady seemed to agree and
wished that everything would happen as they hoped and expected.

● Their older children were working at the field and the younger ones
were playing near the house when Lencho's wife called everyone
for dinner. It was during that time, it began to rain, proving the
farmer's prediction to be true.
EXPLANATION

● The wind was pleasant and clouds could be seen approaching from the
north-east sky. Lencho went out of the house and took pleasure in
watching the falling rain drops.

● He referred to the drizzle as coins, large droplets being equivalent to ten

cents and the smaller ones, five cents. He said so because these
raindrops would ensure a good crop which would eventually get them a
lot of money.
EXPLANATION (Continued)
● On seeing everything go as expected, Lencho reflected upon the field
and the flowers covered with droplets which seemed as if they were
wrapped in a curtain of rain.

● Suddenly, strong winds started blowing, leading to a hailstorm. The

writer referred to these pellets of frozen raindrops as "new silver coins”.

● The innocent boys became playful and went out in the rain to play and
collect these hailstones which looked like "frozen pearls".
EXPLANATION
● The farmer now started worrying and hoped that the storm would pass
by quickly. However, to his utmost disappointment, the storm continued
on.

● Eventually, the hailstones covered the entire valley including the house,
garden, hillside, and the cornfield. It made everything look so white that
it seemed as if it was covered in salt.

● While the rainfall was beneficial for the crops, the hard pellets of frozen
raindrops were extremely harmful to the crop.
EXPLANATION (Continued)
● Lencho became stressed and disappointed as everything had
suddenly gone against the plan. The trees had lost their leaves, the
corn was smashed and the flowers had also fallen off the plants.

● While standing in the withered field, he conveyed his dismay and

sorrow to his sons by commenting that the effect of the storm proved
to be worse than that of crop-destroying insects.

● All his hard work had been destroyed. He felt helpless as nothing in
the field was salvageable. He feared that they might end up starving
this time.
EXPLANATION
● Even after everything had gone wrong, the family still had hope in their
hearts. They had faith in the almighty even though they had nothing left.

● They gave each other support and recalled a saying which assured that
no one ever died of starvation.

● The family tried to maintain a positive outlook in the face of an

unexpected adversity. It was their faith in the power of God which enabled
them to show such positivity even under the circumstances.
EXPLANATION (Continued)
● Lencho spent his entire night thinking of the only option which was left
to him and that was to seek the help of God.

● He thought of writing a letter to God conveying his grievances.

● Despite spending all these years working at the farm, he still knew how
to write.

● He started writing on Sunday morning and thought of mailing the letter

himself by going to the post office in the town.
EXPLANATION
● In his letter to God, Lencho communicated his poverty-stricken situation
and mentioned that he needed 100 pesos to re-plant the crops and for
the survival of his family until they were ready to harvest.

● On the envelope, he wrote, "To God” then, at the post office, placed a
stamp on the letter and dropped it in the mailbox.

● A postman noticed Lencho's letter and showed it to the postmaster. They

both felt amused, but the postmaster, usually a friendly and pleasant
man, immediately developed a sense of seriousness.

● He was astounded at the amount of faith Lencho had in God and wished
to keep it intact.
EXPLANATION
● With good intentions, the postmaster read the letter and thought of
replying to it so as to keep the writer's belief intact.

● But the writer expected the reply in a different way. He needed

something more than just a reply from God.

● The farmer had demanded 100 pesos to help his family in their time
of dire need. The postmaster along with his colleagues and a few
friends collected a pool of money to help Lencho.
EXPLANATION
● Despite his best efforts, the postmaster was only able to collect a bit more
than half of the amount Lencho had asked for. He then addressed it to
Lencho along with a letter which was signed by God.

● Next Sunday, Lencho came looking for the reply a bit earlier than expected.
The postman handed him the letter waiting to see him react joyfully. The
postmaster, feeling satisfied, oversaw it from his office.

● However, contrary to the postmaster’s expectations, the farmer got

disheartened after seeing that the money was less than what he had asked
for. His faith was still undeterred and he believed that God couldn’t possibly
have made such a mistake.
EXPLANATION
● After going through the contents, Lencho started looking for ink and paper to
write to God again. On completing, he affixed a stamp on to the letter.

● As soon as he dropped it into the mailbox, the postmaster took it out to read
it. Lencho had complained that he had only received seventy pesos and he
really needed the remaining amount.

● He doubted the integrity and honesty of the post office employees and
suggested that the money should not be sent via post.

● He was sure that God had sent him the entire amount but the staff at the
post office must have stolen the missing amount.
KEY POINTS
CHARACTERS
LENCHO
● A hardworking farmer
● He has immense faith in God
● His faith and hope is such that he confidently writes a letter to God and
expects that he will receive what he has asked for.
● His blind faith in God however makes him oblivious to the kindness of the
people around him.
● So while he has faith in the Almighty, he clearly lacks faith in his fellow
human beings.
CHARACTERS

THE POSTMASTER
● A friendly and amiable man
● Does not hesitate to do all he can to help a stranger
● His initial intention is to preserve Lencho’s faith in God
● But ultimately his inherent spirit of kindness leads him to collect the money
needed by Lencho
● He even urges his friends and fellow employees to help the man in need
 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 a rain shower to
nourish his field of corn.
● He was confident that his harvest was going to yield him huge profits. To his
utmost excitement, it began to rain but soon, 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 unshakable 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 the town to post his letter addressed to ‘God’.
 SUMMARY (CONTINUED)
● The letter on being noticed by the postmaster, at first amused him, but then
motivated him to want to do something for the farmer so as to keep his
immense belief intact.
● He contributed from his salary and collected money from his colleagues
and friends who contributed for an act of charity. However, he could only
collect 70 pesos. He wrapped them up in an envelope to make it seem like
a reply from God.
● On receiving the letter, Lencho was not at all shocked, but instead, he got
angry on finding that the amount was less than what he had expected.
● He again wrote a letter to God conveying his disappointment and distrust in
the employees of the post office as he thought that they had stolen the
remaining amount.
THEME
● The story, ‘A Letter to God’ by G.L. Fuentes revolves around the
idea of having unquestionable belief in something or someone.
● Lencho, the farmer, who is the protagonist of the story, writes a
letter to God seeking help from the Almighty after his entire crop
yield is destroyed by a devastating hailstorm.
● Although, his wishes get fulfilled partially, if not completely, he is
ungrateful in the end and doubts the honesty of the post office
employees who had actually helped him (anonymously) in the name
of God.
MESSAGE

The short story ‘A Letter to God’ is about the innocence of a poor farmer
who becomes a victim of natural calamity. The author in this short story
throws light on three important things:
● Blind-faith
● Generosity
● Hope
MESSAGE
Blind-faith
● Lencho has an all consuming faith in God.
● For him, God is omnipresent and all knowing.
● He is sure that all he has to do is communicate his distress to
God and God would help him.
● Hence, he writes a letter to God, seeking help after his crops are
destroyed.
MESSAGE
Generosity / Kindness
● Generosity of the postmaster and other employees of the post office
● The postmaster is moved by the desire to preserve Lencho’s faith
● When he opens the letter, he is moved by the spirit of kindness
● Thus, he decides to collect money for him
● He contributes a part of his own salary and also convinces the other
employees to do so
● The irony of the story is that Lencho believes the post office employees
to be “a bunch of crooks” who have stolen his money. Little does he
realize that they are the ones who actually helped him.
MESSAGE
Hope
● As a farmer, Lencho and his family depend upon a good harvest for survival
● A good harvest is often dependent upon good weather conditions
● A farmer has no choice but to survive on hope and faith
● Lencho, like farmers all over the world, depends upon a good rainfall to ensure
a good harvest
● Even before it begins to rain, he anticipates its arrival
● He feels a sense of hope and happiness when he sees the clouds rolling in
● However, all his hopes are dashed when the rainfall changes to a sudden
hailstorm
 THE ENDING
● Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their
intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. It may also
be a situation that ends up in quite a different way than what is generally
anticipated.
● The story ends with Lencho walking away from the post office, his faith in God
intact. However, just as firm is his belief that the post office employees are
dishonest people who have stolen a portion of the money God had sent him.
● This is ironic as the post office employees are the ones who gave him the
money and did what they could to preserve his faith in God.
 QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
Q1. 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.

Q2. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do when his
crops were destroyed?
A. Lencho had an unwavering faith in God. Thus, he decided to write a
letter to God conveying his grievances and asking for 100 pesos for his
survival.
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
Q3. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he
sign the letter as '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 as an act of
charity. He also signed the letter in the name of God to conceal his identity
as he wanted Lencho to think that it was actually a reply from God.
Q4. How did the post office employees help Lencho?
A. The post office employees, at the urging of the post-master, agreed to
donate a portion of their salaries to help Lencho. Thus, the post office
employees managed to collect about seventy pesos to help Lencho.
LONG ANSWER QUESTION
Q1. There are two kinds of conflicts in the story: between humans and nature, and
between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated in the story ‘A
Letter to God’?
Ans 1. The story ‘A Letter to God’ depicts two types of conflicts; one between man
and nature and the other among men themselves. At the beginning of the story, the
farmer hopes for a rain shower for the benefit of his corn field. When it rains, 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. However, it is not always the
case.
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.
LONG ANSWER QUESTION
Q2. The story ‘A Letter to God’ reaffirms one’s faith in humanity. Comment.
Ans 2. The story ‘A Letter to God’ is about a poor farmer Lencho. Lencho finds himself
in dire straits after an unexpected hailstorm destroys his crops completely. The only
thing that gets him through his terrible circumstances is his faith in God. He is sure that
if only he were to write to God and ask for help, he would receive it.
When Lencho writes and posts his letter, we see something other than divine
intervention. Unexpectedly, Lencho’s letter is read and answered by the postmaster of
the post office. The postmaster manages to find a way to help Lencho. He contributes
a portion of money from his salary and urges the other employees at the post office to
do the same. He manages to convince them that this would count as an act of charity
towards their fellow man.
The story ends on an ironic note as Lencho believes that the post office employees
were crooks. He doesn’t realize that they were the ones who had helped him. However,
as a reader, one’s faith in humanity is reaffirmed due to the unselfish actions of the
postmaster and the post office employees.