A Letter To God
G.L Fuentes
'A Letter to God' is based on the theme of faith, greed and appreciation. Lencho, a poor farmer, has immense faith in God. He writes a letter to God after his crops are destroyed. His prayer is for one hundred pesos in order to buy more seeds and support his family.
Summary
Lencho’s house and crop Lencho had his lonely house in the valley. It was situated on the top of a low hill. From there one could see the river and the fields. Lencho had a good crop. But it needed rains badly It starts raining Lencho saw the sky in the north. It had rain clouds. His wife was preparing the dinner. He told her that God willing it would rain. Soon big drops of rain began to fall. Lencho went out to feel the rain on his body. He was very glad. He said that the drops of rain were new coins. Hailstorm and loss therefrom But soon the hail rained on everywhere. The fields became white as if covered with salt. The crop was totally destroyed. Lencho became sad. He felt that they would go hungry that year. Also they would have no seeds for the next crop. Lencho writes to God But Lencho had a single hope: help from God. He was sure that no one dies of hunger. He had a great belief in God. The following Sunday he went to the post office. He wrote a letter to God to send him one hundred pesos. He wrote ‘God’ as the address. Postmaster collects money for Lencho An employee of the post office showed this letter to the postmaster. The postmaster laughed seeing the address. He wished to have such a faith in God. He had had an idea answer the letter. But reading it he found that the writer needed money. It was to keep the faith of the writer. So he asked all his friends and employees to give some money. Money sent to Lencho The postmaster could collect only seventy pesos this way put the money in an envelope and addressed it to Lencho. He wrote a single word on it ‘God’ as a signature. Lencho receives the money The following Sunday Lencho came to the post office. He asked if there was any letter for him. He was given that letter. Lencho did not show any surprise on seeing the money. He got angry when he counted the money. He felt that God could’not have made a mistake. Lencho’s letter to God, calls post office employees crooks Immediately Lencho wrote another letter to God. He put it into the mailbox. The postmaster opened it. Lencho had written in that letter that he had received only seventy pesos. But he had asked for one hundred pesos. He asked God to send him the rest. But God should not send it through the mail. It was because the post office employees were crooks.
Word Meaning
Move- melt, Shake पिघलना, हिलाना | Delicately- politely मधुरता से | Ruined- destroyed बर्बाद होना |
Questions/Answers
1. What did Lencho hope for?
Answer: Lencho hoped for rains as then only he could get a better yield and thus feed his family.
2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Ans: Lencho’s crops were ready for harvest. As raindrops would have helped in getting a better harvest, resulting in more prosperity, so Lencho compared them with new coins.
3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Ans: The rain was pouring down. But suddenly, a strong wind began to blow, followed by a devastating hailstorm. All the crops in Lencho's fields were destroyed.
4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Ans: After the hail stopped, Lencho's heart was filled with sadness. He was completely shattered. He could see a bleak future for him and his family. He was worried about lack of food for the coming year.
Oral Comprehension Check
1. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Ans: Lencho had faith in God.He firmly believed that God can see everything, and even knows what his people have in their hearts.He strongly felt that God will definitely help him out of this situation. He wrote a letter to God saying that he needed some money to sow his fields again.
2. Who read the letter?
Ans: The postmaster read the letter.
3. What did the postmaster do then?
Ans: The postmaster was deeply moved by Lencho's faith in God. He did not want to disillusion this faith. So he decided to collect the money and also asked his colleagues to contribute so that he can send it to Lencho.
Oral Comprehension Check
1.Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Ans: No, Lencho was not at all surprised to see the letter from God with money inside it. His confidence and faith in God was such that he had expected that God would definitely send money and help him out of this situation.
2. What made him angry?
Ans: When he finished counting money, he found only seventy pesos in it. But he had demanded hundred pesos. He was confident that God could neither make a mistake nor deny him what he had requested. So,he was pretty sure that the post office employees must have taken the remaining thirty pesos.
Thinking about the Text
1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
Ans: Lencho has complete faith in God. The following sentences prove his confidence: (i) 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. (ii) All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience. (iii) “God,” he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.” (iv) He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town. (v) God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested. (vi) It said: “God: of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much.”
2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?
Ans: Postmaster was moved by Lencho’s strong faith in the God. So he decided to send money to Lencho. Moreover, the postmaster did not want to disillusion him or shake his trust in God. So, he signed the letter ‘God’. It was a good ploy to convey a message that God had himself written the letter.
3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?
Ans: No, Lencho did not try to find out who had sent him the money because he trusted God . His faith in God was so strong that he believed that only God could have sent him the money.
4. 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.]
Ans: Lencho had all his doubts on people working in the post office. The irony of the situation is that Lencho blames those who had tried to help him out . In real life also we come across such situations. Many a time you would have tried helping someone and he may get a wrong message.Lencho thinks that the post office people have taken the money. But the fact is that they only tried to help him by sending money. But, on the other hand, Lencho thinks they have stolen his money. He even calls them crooks. Thus, there is an element of irony in this situation.
5.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
Ans: I don't think there can be any such people in the real world. Lencho is literate and yet he writes a letter to God and even posts it without writing an address on it.So,he can rightly be called naive and unquestioning.
6. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Ans: The conflict between humans and nature is shown when a hailstorm struck the field and destroyed his farm. As the crops get damaged, Lencho started feeling sad and gloomy and could foresee his dark future. This appropriately projects the conflict between nature and man. The story also shows another conflict, between humans themselves. The postmaster, along with the help of his colleagues, could manage to collect some money and then sent it to Lencho . They were not related to Lencho in any manner. It was an act of kindness and selflessness on their part. Even though they did a good deed, Lencho blamed them for taking away some amount of money. This shows that man does not have faith in his fellow humans, thereby giving rise to this conflict.
Moral
The moral of the story 'The Letter to god' is that extreme faith in the almighty can give you a ray of hope even in the darkest times.
Useful Links
Very.very nice
ReplyDeleteIt is very useful☺️
ReplyDeleteYes this is very useful information
ReplyDelete