A Letter to God

                                                              A Letter to God By G. L. Fuentes

Comprehension Check(Page 5)

Q1. What did Lencho hope for?

Ans:  Lencho  hoped for a spell of a shower as it would ensure good harvest for his crops.

Q2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?

Ans:  Lencho was expecting raindrops as they would pave the way for healthy harvest. Rain-fed harvest would bring financial gain for him in the market. Therefore, Lencho  thought that raindrops are like ‘new coins.

Q3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?

Ans:  A spell of downpour suddenly gave way to torrential rain accompanied with hailstones.  For an hour the hailstones rained on the field resulting in a complete damage to Lencho’s crops.

Q4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?

Ans:  After the storm had passed over, Lencho stood in the middle of the field and told his sons with a heavy heart that a plague of locusts would have spared his crops to some extent. But the hail  had left nothing for him for the entire year.

Comprehension Check (Page 6)

Q5.  Who or What did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?

Ans: Lencho had profound faith in the dispensation of almighty God whose eyes are able to discern every minute thing.

He decided to write a letter to God entreating Him to send him hundred pesos  to sow his field again and to sustain himself till the time his crops had full harvest.

Q6.Who read the letter?

Ans:  An employee of the post office  spotted the envelope addressed to God and took it to the postmaster, who eventually read the letter.

Q7. What did the postmaster do then?

Ans:  On seeing  the letter of Lencho addressed to God, the postmaster burst out into laughter. But he  was taken aback to  see his unflinching faith on God. He immediately  entreated his employees to give donation  for an act of charity for Lencho and send the sum to Lencho.

Comprehension Check (Page 7)

Q8.  Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

Ans: No, Lencho did not appear to have been surprised on receiving a letter with money inside it. His faith in God was so profound and unshaken  in nature that he  was expecting  that  his wishes would be obliged by God.

Q9. What made him angry?

Ans: On counting the pesos he discovered  only seventy pesos instead of hundred. His unflinching faith in God made him believe that God could not make any mistake. Therefore, the post  office officials incurred his wrath and he held them  guilty of stealing his thirty pesos.

                                              Thinking about the Text( Page 7)

Q1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in ? Which sentences in the story tell you this?

Ans: Lencho had complete faith in the dispensation of the almighty God.

The following sentences reinforces the faith of Lencho in God.

(i)But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God.

(ii)All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.

(iii)“God,” he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.”

Q2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

Ans: The Postmaster was highly impressed by Lencho’s unflinching faith in God. Therefore, in order to sustain his faith on God, the postmaster decided to do the act of charity by sending money to him.

He signed the letter ‘God’ so that Lencho’s expectation from God remained unshaken.

Q3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money go him? Why/Why not?

Ans: No, Lencho did not try to find out as his unflinching faith on God did not allow him to think otherwise. He never thought even in his wildest dreams that someone else could even send him money on behalf of God.

Q4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?

Ans: Lencho thinks that the post office employees have taken the rest of the money.

The irony in the situation lies in the fact that instead of being grateful to the charitable gesture shown by the post office employees, Lencho   considers them a bunch of crooks and becomes suspicious of them.

Q6.There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?

The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated when there was a mismatch of Lencho’s expectation of rain being a harbinger of new coins for him. On the other hand , nature represented by torrential rain and hailstones threw cold water in Lencho’s expectation by destroying his crops. Therefore, the conflict between man and nature which always exists, is justified.

The conflict between humans is also  justified when Lencho shows an act of ungratefulness and  suspects post office officials of being  a bunch of crooks. He refuses to even enquire where the money has come from. Therefore, the act of  not trusting post office employees is a metaphor to the fact that man has lost faith in man and thus illustrates the conflict between humans. 

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