NCERT Class 10 English A Letter to God | Summary, Activities & Question Answers

 

A LETTER TO GOD

-        G. L. Fuentes

Summary

“A Letter to God” is a short story by G. L. Fuentes that highlights faith, hope, innocence and irony. The story revolves around Lencho, a poor farmer whose entire crop is destroyed by a devastating hailstorm.

Lencho lives in a small house on the top of a hill and depends completely on his field for his livelihood. He eagerly waits for rain because his crops need water. At first, the rain brings him great happiness, but soon the weather changes. A violent hailstorm destroys the entire crop. Lencho becomes deeply worried because he has no money or food and fears that his family will have nothing to live on.

Lencho has complete faith in God. He believes that God knows everything and will certainly help him. Therefore, he writes a letter to God, asking for 100 pesos to survive and sow his field again. He takes the letter to the post office. The postmaster is amused by the letter at first, but he is deeply moved by Lencho's faith. He collects money from his employees and friends and sends Lencho 70 pesos in an envelope, signing it “God.”

When Lencho receives the money, he is not surprised because he firmly believes that God has sent it. However, he becomes angry when he finds that there are only 70 pesos instead of the100 he requested. He assumes that the post office employees must have taken the remaining money. He writes another letter to God, asking Him to send the rest of the money directly and warning Him not to send it through the post office.

The story shows the power of faith and human kindness. Lencho's unquestioning faith in God is admirable, while the postmaster's act of helping him reveals the goodness and generosity of human beings. The story also contains irony: the people who help Lencho are the very people he suspects of stealing his money.

In short, “A Letter to God” is a touching story about a farmer's unshakable faith, human kindness, and the irony of misunderstanding.

Oral Comprehension Check

1. What did Lencho hope for?
Lencho hoped for rain, as his crops needed water for a good harvest.

2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Lencho compared the raindrops to new coins because he believed the rain would bring him a good harvest and, consequently, money and prosperity.

3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
The rain suddenly changed into a hailstorm. The hailstones fell for a long time and completely destroyed Lencho’s crops. His fields became white and looked as if they were covered with salt.

4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
 Lencho was deeply sad and worried. He realized that his entire crop had been destroyed and that his family would have nothing to eat. However, he still had faith in God.

 

Oral Comprehension Check

1. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Lencho had complete faith in God. He believed that God would help him in his difficult situation. So, he wrote a letter to God, asking for 100 pesos to recover from his loss and sow his field again.

2. Who read the letter?
The postmaster read Lencho’s letter.

3. What did the postmaster do then?
The postmaster was impressed by Lencho’s strong faith in God. He collected money from his employees and friends and contributed part of his own salary. He sent 70 pesos to Lencho in an envelope, signing it “God.”

 

Oral Comprehension Check

1. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
No, Lencho was not surprised. He firmly believed that God would answer his prayer and send him the money he had requested.

2. What made him angry?
Lencho became angry when he counted the money and found only 70 pesos instead of 100 pesos. He believed that God had sent the full amount but that the post office employees had stolen the remaining 30 pesos.

THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT

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

Lencho has complete faith in God. His faith is clear from his statement, “God, if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.” He also believes that God knows everything and will certainly help him. His decision to write a letter to God asking for money shows his unquestioning faith.

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

The postmaster sends money to Lencho because he is deeply moved by Lencho’s strong faith in God. He does not want Lencho’s faith to be lost. He collects money from his employees and friends and contributes part of his own salary. He signs the letter “God” because he wants Lencho to believe that the money has come directly from God.

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

No, Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money. He had complete and unquestioning faith in God. He was certain that God had sent the money, so he did not feel the need to investigate its source.

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

Lencho thinks that the post office employees have taken the remaining money. He receives only 70 pesos although he had asked God for 100 pesos.

The irony is that the post office employees are the very people who helped Lencho. The postmaster and his employees collected money to help him, but Lencho suspects them of stealing it. Thus, the people who actually help him are misunderstood as dishonest people.

5. Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is?

Yes, there may be people like Lencho in the real world who have strong but unquestioning faith. Lencho is naive and unquestioning. He has great faith in God, but he fails to understand the kindness of the people who helped him. He can also be described as comical because of the way he suspects the post office employees despite their kindness.

Suitable words: naive, unquestioning, comical

6. 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 shown when the hailstorm destroys Lencho’s entire crop. Lencho depends on nature for his livelihood, but the sudden hailstorm leaves him helpless and poor.

The conflict between humans themselves is shown through Lencho’s misunderstanding of the post office employees. The postmaster and his employees help Lencho by sending him money, but Lencho suspects them of stealing the remaining amount. Thus, the story shows how misunderstanding and lack of trust can create conflict between people.

THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE

I.                Look at the following sentence from the story.

Suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall.

‘Hailstones’ are small balls of ice that fall like rain. A storm in which hailstones fall is a ‘hailstorm’. You know that a storm is bad weather with strong winds, rain, thunder and lightning.

There are different names in different parts of the world for storms, depending on their nature. Can you match the names in the box with their descriptions below, and fill in the blanks? You may use a dictionary to help you.

1.    A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: cyclone

2.    An extremely strong wind: gale

3.    A violent tropical storm with very strong winds: typhoon

4.    A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: tornado

5.    A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean: hurricane

6.    A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage: whirlwind

Match the sentences in Column A with the meanings of ‘hope’ in Column B.

A	B
1. Will you get the subjects you want to study in college? I hope so.	A feeling that something good will probably happen
2. I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but I don’t like the way you are arguing.	Showing concern that what you say should not offend or disturb the other person
3. This discovery will give new hope to HIV/AIDS sufferers.	Wanting something to happen and thinking it quite possible
4. We were hoping against hope that the judges would not notice our mistakes	Wishing for something to happen, although this is very unlikely
5. I called early in the hope of speaking to her before she went to school.	Thinking that this would happen (It may or may not have happened.)
6. Just when everybody had given up hope, the fishermen came back, seven days after the cyclone.	Stopped believing that this good thing would happen

 

III. Relative Clauses

1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (which)

I often go to Mumbai, which is the commercial capital of India.

2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)

My mother, who cooks very well, is going to host a TV show on cooking.

3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. (whose)

These sportspersons, whose performance has been excellent, are going to meet the President.

4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)

Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.

5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (whom)

This man, whom I trusted, cheated me.

IV. Using Negatives for Emphasis

a.     The trees lost all their leaves.

The trees had been left without a leaf.

b.    The letter was addressed to God himself.

The letter was addressed to God and to no one else.

c.     The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.

The postman had never seen such an address in his career.

    V. Metaphors

   

Object	Metaphor	Quality or Feature Compared
Cloud	Huge mountains	The mass or hugeness of clouds
Raindrops	New coins	Their value and promise of prosperity
Hailstone	Silver coins	Their appearance and the value Lencho associates with them
Locusts	An epidemic	Their destructive spread and the damage they cause
Hailstorm	A plague of locusts	Its destructive effect on the crops
Man	An ox of a man	His strength, hard work and physical toughness

 

 

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