NCERT - Class 10 English - A Letter To God - GL Fuentes - Complete Notes and Summary

 

Summary of “A Letter to God” by G. L. Fuentes

“A Letter to God” is a short story written by G. L. Fuentes. It tells the story of a poor farmer named Lencho, whose strong faith in God helps him face a difficult situation. The story highlights the power of faith, human kindness, and the irony of human behaviour.

Lencho was a hardworking farmer who lived with his family in a house on the top of a low hill. His field was full of ripe corn, and he expected a good harvest. However, his crops needed rain to grow well. One day, as he had predicted, rain began to fall. Lencho was delighted and compared the raindrops to new coins because he believed that the rain would bring him a good harvest.

Suddenly, the rain turned into a terrible hailstorm. For about an hour, hailstones fell on the house, garden, trees, and cornfield. The hailstorm completely destroyed Lencho’s crops. He felt deeply saddened because his family would have nothing to eat that year. However, he had great faith in God and believed that God would help him in his difficult situation.

The following Sunday, Lencho wrote a letter to God asking for one hundred pesos. He needed the money to sow his field again and support his family until the next harvest. He addressed the envelope to God and posted the letter at the local post office.

When the postman saw the letter, he laughed and showed it to the postmaster. The postmaster was impressed by Lencho’s extraordinary faith in God. He decided to answer the letter so that Lencho’s faith would not be shaken. He collected money from his employees, contributed part of his own salary, and received help from his friends. However, he could collect only seventy pesos, which he sent to Lencho in an envelope signed “God.”

When Lencho received the money, he was not surprised because he firmly believed that God would help him. However, he became angry when he counted the money and discovered that it was only seventy pesos instead of one hundred. He believed that God could never make a mistake or refuse his request. Therefore, he wrote another letter to God asking for the remaining thirty pesos. He also requested God not to send the money through the post office because he suspected the post office employees of stealing the missing amount.

The story ends with a touch of irony. The post office employees had actually helped Lencho out of kindness, but he accused them of being dishonest. Through this incident, the author shows Lencho’s unshakable faith in God, the kindness of ordinary people, and the irony of human misunderstanding.

 

Oral Comprehension Check

1. What did Lencho hope for?

Lencho hoped for rain because his cornfield 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 that the rain would help his crops grow and bring him a good harvest. He compared the big drops to ten-cent pieces and the small drops to five-cent pieces.

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

The rain suddenly changed into a hailstorm accompanied by strong winds. The hailstones fell for about an hour and completely destroyed Lencho’s crops. The field was covered with hailstones, and the corn and flowers were ruined.

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

When the hail stopped, Lencho felt extremely sad and helpless. He realised that his entire crop had been destroyed and that his family would have nothing to eat that year. However, he still had faith in God and hoped for divine help.

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

Lencho had complete faith in God. After the hailstorm destroyed his crops, he wrote a letter to God asking for one hundred pesos to sow his field again and support his family until the next harvest. He posted the letter at the local post office.

6. Who read the letter?

A postman read the letter first and showed it to the postmaster. The postmaster also read it and was deeply impressed by Lencho’s strong faith in God.

7. What did the postmaster do then?

The postmaster decided to help Lencho and protect his faith in God. He collected money from his employees, contributed part of his own salary, and received donations from his friends. He sent Lencho the collected amount in an envelope signed “God.” However, he could collect only seventy pesos instead of the requested one hundred pesos.

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

No, Lencho was not surprised to find a letter containing money. He had complete faith in God and was confident that God would answer his prayer and help him in his difficult situation.

9. What made him angry?

Lencho became angry when he counted the money and found only seventy pesos instead of the one hundred pesos he had requested. He believed that God could neither make a mistake nor deny his request. Therefore, he suspected that the post office employees had stolen the remaining thirty 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. The sentences “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” and “God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested” show his strong and unquestioning faith in God.

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 faith in God. He wants to ensure that Lencho’s faith is not shaken. 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 God has answered his prayer.

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 faith in God and firmly believed that God had answered his prayer. Therefore, he accepted the money without questioning 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 stolen the remaining thirty pesos. The irony is that the post office employees are the very people who collected and sent the money to help him. Instead of being grateful for their kindness, Lencho suspects them of dishonesty and calls them a bunch of crooks.

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

Yes, there are people like Lencho in the real world. Lencho is a hardworking, faithful, and unquestioning person. He has great faith in God, but he is also naive because he fails to understand the kindness of the post office employees. He is ungrateful because he accuses them of stealing the money they collected to help him. His behaviour is also comical because he suspects his helpers while believing that God has sent him the money.

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 illustrated when a destructive hailstorm destroys Lencho’s crops. Although Lencho works hard and hopes for a good harvest, the natural disaster ruins his entire field and threatens his family with hunger.

The conflict between humans themselves is illustrated through Lencho’s misunderstanding of the post office employees. The postmaster and his colleagues show kindness by collecting money to help Lencho. However, Lencho suspects them of stealing the remaining thirty pesos. This situation highlights the conflict between human kindness and suspicion.

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.

gale, whirlwind, cyclone, hurricane, tornado, typhoon

 

I. Match the names of storms with their descriptions

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

II. The word ‘hope’ as a verb and a noun

(a) “I hope it passes quickly.”

Here, hope is a verb. It means to wish or desire that something happens.

(b) “There was a single hope: help from God.”

Here, hope is a noun. It means a feeling of expectation or a possibility that something good will happen

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: a way of being polite
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

Look at these sentences

(a) All morning Lencho — who knew his fields intimately — looked at the sky.

(b) The woman, who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing.’’

The italicised parts of the sentences give us more information about Lencho and the woman. We call them relative clauses. Notice that they begin with a relative pronoun who. Other common relative pronouns are whom, whose, and which.

The relative clauses in (a) and (b) above are called non-defining, because we already know the identity of the person they describe. Lencho is a particular person, and there is a particular woman he speaks to. We don’t need the information in the relative clause to pick these people out from a larger set.

A non-defining relative clause usually has a comma in front of it and a comma after it (some writers use a dash (—) instead, as in the story). If the relative clause comes at the end, we just put a full stop.

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, which, as suggested.

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

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

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

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

5.    This man, whom I trusted, cheated me.

 

IV. Using Negatives for Emphasis

We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show the absence of something, or contradict something. For example:

(a) This year we will have no corn. (Corn will be absent)

(b) The hail has left nothing. (Absence of a crop)

(c) These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins.

(Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from the sky are)

But sometimes negative words are used just to emphasise an idea. Look at these sentences from the story:

(d) Lencho…had done nothing else but see the sky towards the northeast. (He had done only this)

(e) The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. (He had only this reason)

(f) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money. (He showed no surprise at all)

Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact serves to emphasise the value or usefulness of the rain to the farmer.

Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically.

1.    The trees lost all their leaves.

“Not a leaf remained on the trees.”

2.    The letter was addressed to God himself.

“It was nothing less than a letter to God.”

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

“Never in his career as a postman had he known that address.”

 

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