A Letter to God- Textual Questions

 

Textual Questions and Answers

1. Oral Comprehension Check: (Page 5)

Q1. What did Lencho hope for?

Lencho hoped for a rain shower for his cornfield.

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

Lencho was sure of good profits after the rain shower. He felt confident that his crop would give good yield. So, he referred to the raindrops as new coins.

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

Sometime after the rainfall had begun, the wind became strong and the rainfall had turned into a hailstorm. Lencho’s crop was damaged because of the hailstorm.

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

A. Lencho was sad and disheartened after the hailstorm.

2. Oral Comprehension Check: (Page 6)

Q1. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?

A. Lencho had unwavering faith in God. So, he decided to write a letter to God conveying his problems. He asked for 100 pesos for survival and for investing in the next crop.

Q2. Who read the letter?

A. A postman who was also an employee of the post office read the letter.

Q3. What did the postmaster do then?

A. The postmaster was amazed at Lencho's unshakeable faith in God. He didn’t want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. So, he decided to collect money for Lencho from his friends and colleagues. 

3. Oral Comprehension Check: (Page 7)

Q1. 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.

Q2. What made him angry?

A. Lencho was displeased and felt angry when he found that the money was less than what he had asked for.

Thinking About the Text: (Page 7)

Q1. 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."

 Q2. 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 God. So, with a good intention, 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 that it was actually from God.

Q3. 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 sure of the existence of God. His letter to God got a reply.  He believed that God had sent him the money. So, he didn’t try to find out who had sent the money.

Q4. 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 the postmaster or the employees of the post office had stolen the remaining amount. That is why he wrote God not to send money through the post office next time. Actually the postmaster and the employees had collected the money out of their good intention to keep Lencho's faith in God intact. But they were blamed for stealing the money. The irony here is that, the real helpers were blamed.

Q5. 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 understanding of the actual physical existence of God. He did not question receiving an actual reply from God. He is ungrateful because he is not happy with the 70 pesos he got. Instead, he complained about the missing 30 pesos and blamed the post office people.

Q6. 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 his cornfield. When it started raining, he becomes overjoyed and starts thinking about all the profit that would come in. Soon, his joy is turned into sorrow when the wind becomes strong leading to a hailstorm. This shows the disagreement between man and nature wherein humans want nature to act according to their aspirations. The second conflict 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.

A Letter to God

About the author:

Gregorio López Fuentes (1895-1966) was one of the most important chroniclers of the Mexican Revolution and its effects. His famous works are Campamento (1931; “Encampment”), Tierra (1932; “Earth”), Mi general! (1934; “My General!”), and El Indio (1935; “The Indian”).

Summary

The main character of the story is Lencho, a dedicated farmer. He was expecting a decent harvest. But unfortunately, an untimely hailstorm destroyed his harvest totally. Lencho was very sad although he had a very strong faith in God. He was sure that God would definitely help him out of this adverse situation. He was an extremely simple and straightforward man. He composed a letter to God, in which he asks God to send him one hundred pesos. He then went to the post office and put the letter into the post box,

A postman collected the letter from the letterbox. Obviously, he was amused by reading the address on the envelop. He rushed to the postmaster and showed him the strange letter. The postmaster also chuckled in the same way when he saw the address of God. However, he didn’t want to shake the farmer’s faith in God. So, he read the letter. He decided to help him. As he could not spare 100 Pesos, he asked the employees of the post office to contribute to a good cause. He himself gave a part of his salary for the cause. But he was able to collect only a little more than half the money requested by Lencho. The postmaster put the money in an envelope and addressed it to Lechno. 

The following Sunday, Lencho visited the post office again to find out if there was any letter for him. The postman took out the letter and gave it to Lencho. Lencho was not at all surprised at seeing the money. But when he counted the money, he became angry. He thought that God could not have made the mistake. He took paper and ink and wrote another letter to God and put it into the letterbox.

After Lencho had gone, the contents of the letter were read. In this letter, Lencho had complained to God that he had received only seventy Pesos. This time he requested God to send him the rest of the money also. But he asked God not to send the money through the mail. He thought that the post-office employees were a bunch of crooks and that they had stolen the rest of the money.

Meanings of words and phrases

• crest - the top of a mountain or hill
• dotted - a place having objects scattered or placed in a random manner
• downpour - heavy rain
• intimately - in a way that involves detailed knowledge
• supper - a light informal evening meal
• predict - say or estimate that an event or action will happen in the future
• cent - a monetary unit in various countries
• draped - to be covered
• regarded - to consider or think of in a specified way
• hailstones - small, hard balls of ice that fall from the sky like rain
• resemble - look alike
• plague - an unusually large number of insects or animals infesting a place and causing damage
• locusts - large, tropical grasshoppers with strong powers of flight
• solitary - alone, lonely
• conscience - a person's moral sense of right and wrong
• pesos - the standard unit of money used in Argentina, Mexico, and some other countries
• amiable - goodhearted and kind
• correspondence - communication by exchanging letters
• evident - clearly seen or understood
• goodwill - friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude
• deliberate - intentional
• resolution - determination
• obliged - legally or morally bound to do something
• contentment - a state of happiness or satisfaction
• deny - to refuse to give something requested or desired to someone
• affixed - to stick securely
• crook - a dishonest person  or a criminal

Character Sketches:

Lencho:

Lencho is a lonely, hardworking farmer. Lencho knew his fields well. He was as strong as an ox. Not only did he work like an animal in the fields, but he also knew how to write. Even when his crops are destroyed due to the hailstorm, he doesn’t lose hope and writes a letter to God. Such was his faith in God that when he sees the money in the mail, he is not even a bit surprised. Lencho is also naïve (lacking wisdom). He is innocent as he believed that God would send him the required money, just by asking. He is naïve when he believed that the people in the post office are crooks. Thus we see that although Lencho is a hardworking and god-loving man, his naivety got the better of him. 

The Postmaster:

The Postmaster comes across as a genuine man. He went out of his way to do an act of goodwill for a stranger. Though he broke out laughing as he received the letter, he is determined not to shake his faith in helping the man in need.  He gave away a part of his salary and collected money from his acquaintances so that he could help Lencho retain his faith in God. So, we see that the postmaster was an amiable and kind person.

The theme of the story:

G.L. Fuentes’ "A Letter to God", is a story of a farmer’s undeterred faith in God and his failing faith in humanity. From the very beginning, Lencho shows faith in nature. He was sure that it would rain and he would have a good harvest of corn. He writes a letter to God demanding a hundred pesos. Lencho’s faith in God takes a step further when he writes another letter in anger. He was sure that God would help him with the required money. He assumed that the remaining thirty pesos were taken away by the post office employees. And hence, he asked God not to send the money by mail.

It is rightly said that faith can move mountains. But it is important to know what we should put our faith in. The Almighty does help those in need by his own ways and means. It may be by the means of a random stranger or our teacher or our parents. We must thank each one of them for even the slightest that they may do for us.