A letter to God summary,question and answer. (2025)

 

                                                                  Chapter 1

                                                              A letter to God

                                                       SUMMARY                                             

“A Letter to God” is a short story written by Gregorio López y Fuentes. It tells the story of a poor farmer named Lencho who lives in a small house on a hill with his family. He depends entirely on farming for his survival.

One year, when his crops badly need rain, a storm comes — but instead of helpful rain, it turns into a destructive hailstorm that destroys the entire crop. Lencho is heartbroken, as this crop was his only hope for food and income.

Despite the tragedy, Lencho has strong faith in God. He writes a letter to God, asking for 100 pesos so he can sow his fields again and feed his family. He mails the letter, addressing it simply to "God".

The postmaster, touched by Lencho’s faith, decides to help. He and other post office employees collect money, but they can only gather 70 pesos. The postmaster sends the money to Lencho in an envelope signed "God".

When Lencho receives the letter, he is not surprised that God answered. But when he counts the money and finds only 70 pesos, he becomes angry. He writes another letter to God, asking Him to send the rest — but not through the post office, because he believes the post office employees stole the money.

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Moral/Message:
The story highlights faith, innocence, and human kindness, but also shows how strong faith can lead to misjudgment, as Lencho doubts the very people who tried to help him.

1.       What did Lencho hope for?

    Ans.- Lencho hoped for a good rain for his crops. 

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

  Ans.- He compared the raindrops with new coins because his crop really needed rain for being a good harvest. So when it rained, he said, “The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives”.  

  

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

  Ans.- The rain changed into a hailstorm. Huge hailstones began to fall along with the rain. Hails fell on the house, the garden, the hillside and the cornfield. All the crops destroyed because of the hailstorm.      

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

   Ans.- Lencho felt completely broken. His soul was filled with sadness when he saw the condition of his field. The hailstones had left nothing. He felt that they would have no corn that year.    

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

 Ans.-  Lencho had strong faith in god. He believed that God can see everything and help everyone in one’s problem. He wrote a letter to God for help. 

6.       Who read the letter?

  Ans.- The postman saw the letter and went to the postmaster. They read Lencho’s letter (to God). 

7.       What did the postmaster do then?

 Ans.- The postmaster read the letter and started laughing, but soon he became serious when he got to know about Lencho’s strong faith in God. Lencho had written a letter to God to help him with money. The postmaster did not want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. So he collected money and sent to Lencho on behalf of God.

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

Ans. – Lencho was not surprised at all to find a letter for him with money. It was because he had full faith in God. He knew that God knew everything and he was sure that God would help him.

9.       What made him angry?

Ans. – Lencho got angry when he opened the letter and counted the money. There were only 70 pesos whereas he had requested God to send him 100 pesos. He thought that the post office had stolen his money. This made him angry.

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

Ans. – Lencho has complete faith in God. He believes that God knows everything and helps us in our problems. These are some sentences which shows this:

 “All through the night, Lencho thought only of his hope: the help of God, whose eyes.... see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience”.

 

11.   Why does the postman send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

Ans. – The postmaster doesn’t want to break Lencho’s strong faith in God. He wants to keep Lencho’s faith in God alive and strong. So the postmaster decides to send money to Lencho in the name of God and writes ‘God’ in the letter.

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

Ans. - Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money to him. He was fully confident and it was his strong faith in God. He believed that nobody but only God could send money for his help in his problem.

13.   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 in strange amusing because it is the opposite of what is expected.)

Ans. – Lencho thinks that the post office officials have taken the rest of the money. He had asked for 100 pesos to God but there was only 70 pesos in the letter. The irony in the situation is that the post office officials helped him by contributing money but he thought them ‘crocks’.

1  Are there people like Lencho in the real word? What kind of person would you say he is? You may select appropriate word from the Box to answer the question.       

Ans. – It is almost impossible to find a person like Lencho in the world. He is such a person who has firm faith in God. In today’s world, people are greedy and selfish while Lencho is totally different. He is naive, unquestioning and comical.