Prose Chapter 1
A Letter to God
-G.L Fuentes
Introduction
“A Letter to God” is written by G.L Fuentes. The story revolves a farmer named
Lencho who depends completely on crops for survival and faces devastating
loss after the hailstorm destroys his entire field. Deeply saddened by this
incident, he writes a letter to God seeking for financial assistance.
1. Describe the place where Lencho lived. How did the hail storm change it?
→ Lencho lived in a house which was located on the crest of a low hill in a
valley. From his house, he could see his whole farm. One day while looking at
the sky in the north-east, he predicted that it would rain soon. His prediction
proved to be true. When he was having dinner with his family, it started raining.
However, his happiness did not last long. Soon, strong winds started blowing
and huge hailstones started falling along with rain. Lencho got worried and
hoped that it passes quickly. But the hail continued for an hour. After the hail,
the whole valley became white as if covered with salt. Lencho’s crops were
completely destroyed.
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2. Who was Lencho? What was his problem?
→ Lencho was a simple and hardworking farmer who had worked very hard to
grow his crops. However, due to hailstorm his crops were completely
destroyed. If he did not do something he and his family would die of hunger. He
needed money to sow his farm again, and support his family until the next crop
grew again. This was his problem.
3. What did Lencho compare the raindrops to and why?
→ When Lencho was having dinner with his family, it started raining. He felt so
happy that he went out to enjoy the rain. When he returned, he compared
raindrops to coins. According to him, small raindrops were five cents pieces
and the big ones were ten cents pieces He rightly compared raindrops with
coins as after the rain his crops would be ready to harvest and they would earn
money.
4 . How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho field?
→ When Lencho was having dinner with his family, it started raining. He felt so
happy that he went out to enjoy the rain. However, his happiness did not last
long. Soon, strong winds started blowing and huge hail stones started falling
along with rain. Lencho got worried and hoped that it passes quickly. But the
hail continued for an hour. When it stopped, the whole valley became white as
if covered with salt. Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed.
5. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
→ When the hail stopped after an hour. Lencho went out to check his crops.
However, he witnessed a horrible sight. He saw that all the flowers were gone
from the plants and his crops were completely destroyed. His soul was filled
with sadness. With grief in his heart, he told his sons that even a plague of
locust would have left something for them. The hailstorm left nothing. Thus, he
devastated by the destruction caused by the hailstorm.
6. Lencho had immense faith in God - Comment.
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→ Lencho was a simple and hardworking farmer who had worked very hard to
grow his crops. However due to hailstorm, his crops were completely
destroyed. Although it seemed like a total loss, there was still a ray of hope in
Lencho’s heart. He strongly believed that God knows everything and would
always help his needy children. Thus he writes a letter to God seeking for 100
pesos so that he could sow his farm again and support his family until the next
crops grew. This shows that Lencho had immense faith in God.
7. Who read the letter?
→ Lencho had written a letter to God seeking for help. When the postman saw
that letter, he could not stop himself from laughing. He took that letter to the
postmaster. The postmaster also laughed heartily but he immediately became
serious. He was impressed with the faith of the man who had written that letter.
Not to break his faith from God, he decided to answer the letter so he opened
and read it.
8. Who become ‘God’ to Lencho? Why?
→ The postmaster was impressed with the faith of the man who had written
that letter. Not to break his faith from God, the postmaster decided to answer
the letter, so opened and read it. It soon became clear that he needed more
than ink, pen and paper but also 100 pesos which was huge sum. But the
postmaster stuck to his resolution. He was determined to help the poor fellow
who had lost everything due to hailstorm. Thus, he collected money from his
friends, employees, and relatives as an act of charity and also have gave a part
of his salary. But at last he was only able to gather 70 pesos. He puts the
money in the envelope along with a letter which only contained a single word -
‘God’ to make Lencho believe that it was really sent by the God. Thus the
postmaster becomes ‘God’ to Lencho.
9. Why did Lencho not want the money to be send through mail?
→ Lencho came to ask if there was a letter for him. The postman handed him
the envelope which contained the money. When Lencho opened the envelope
and saw the money, he was not seemed to be surprised at all. This is because
he had immense faith in God. However when he counted the money, it only
added up to 70 pesos. It was 30 pesos less than what he had asked for. He
strongly believed that God could never decline his request or make a mistake.
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This results in him believing that the 30 pesos were stolen by the post office
employees. Thus he writes a another letter to God saying that he doesn’t want
the money to be sent through mail as the post office employees are bunch of
crooks.
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