Chapter 1 – A letter to god Notes

Content structure

1. About the Author – G.L Fuentes
2. Theme of A letter to god
3. Summary of A Letter to God
- Part – I
- Part – II
- Part – III
4. Word Meanings
5. Oral Comprehension Check
- Part – I
- Part – II
- Part – III
6. Exercise questions and answers (NCERT)
- Thinking about the Text
- Thinking about Language

1. About the Author – G.L Fuentes

Gregorio López y Fuentes (G.L. Fuentes) was a Mexican writer born on 17th November 1897. He is best known for his famous short story A Letter to God. He was one of the important literary voices of the Mexican Revolution and also worked as a school teacher in Mexico City. In 1921, he began writing under the pen name G.L. Fuentes. In 1935, for his contribution to literature, he received the National Prize for Arts and Sciences. He passed away on 10th December 1966.

2. Theme of A Letter to God

Firstly, the story shows how deeply Lencho believes in God. He loses all his crops but still has full faith that God will help him.
Secondly, it highlights Lencho’s innocence and simple nature. He does not realize that it was the post office workers who helped him, not God directly.
Thirdly, the story reminds us that acts of kindness are not always noticed or understood. The post office workers helped him out of kindness, but Lencho wrongly thinks they took some of the money.

People do not always say thank you, even when we do something kind. They may not see that we are trying to help and might think wrongly about us, but we should keep doing good and stay kind.

3. Summary of A Letter to God

Part – I

The story is about a farmer named Lencho who lives with his family in a small house on a hill in a valley. From there, he could see his fields full of ripe corn and flowers, and he hoped for some rain to help the crops grow well. One day, he noticed dark clouds in the sky and told his wife that it was going to rain. She agreed, saying it would come if God wished. While the family was having dinner, big drops of rain began to fall, just as Lencho had expected. He felt very happy and said the raindrops looked like coins falling from the sky. However, the rain soon turned into a strong storm with large hailstones that looked like silver coins. At first, the children ran out to collect the hail, but the storm grew worse. For an hour, the hail fell heavily, damaging the house, the garden, and the fields. When it was over, the ground looked white like it was covered with salt, and all the crops were destroyed. Lencho felt heartbroken and told his sons that even a plague of insects would have caused less damage. That night, the whole family was filled with worry, knowing that all their hard work had been wasted and they might not have any food that year.

Part – II

Lencho and his family were heartbroken and worried after a heavy hailstorm destroyed all their crops. Their hard work had gone to waste, and they had nothing left to eat or sell. Even in this difficult time, Lencho didn’t lose hope. He strongly believed that God would help him. On Sunday morning, he wrote a letter to God, asking for 100 pesos so he could buy seeds and support his family until the next harvest. He placed the letter in an envelope, wrote “To God” on it, and dropped it in the town’s post office mailbox. When a postman saw the letter, he laughed and showed it to the postmaster. The postmaster also laughed at first, but then he felt moved by Lencho’s deep faith. Wanting to keep that faith alive, he decided to send a reply. He collected money from his coworkers, gave some of his own, and even asked friends to donate. Although he couldn’t raise the full 100 pesos, he managed to collect a little more than half. He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and signed it with just one word—”God.”

Part – III

The next Sunday, Lencho came to the post office a little earlier than usual to see if there was a letter for him. The postman handed him the letter, and the postmaster watched from his office, feeling happy and proud for doing a good deed. Lencho wasn’t surprised at all to see the money inside because his faith in God was very strong. But when he counted the money and found only seventy pesos instead of a hundred, he became angry. He was sure that God couldn’t have made a mistake or given him less than he had asked for. Lencho believed that someone must have taken the rest of the money, and the only people who could have done that were the post office workers. So he asked for paper and ink and began writing another letter to God. It was hard for him to express his thoughts, but he managed to finish it. In the letter, he thanked God for the money but asked Him to send the rest in some other way, because he believed the post office employees were a bunch of crooks. Then he put the letter in the mailbox, not knowing that it was those same people who had helped him out of kindness.

4. Word Meanings

Word	Meaning
Crest	top of a hill
Draped	covered (with cloth)
locusts	Crystal
Conscience	an inner sense of right and wrong
Peso	Crystal
Amiable	friendly and pleasant
Contentment	satisfaction
Dotted	full of
Downpour	heavy rain
Intimately	closely
Supper	dinner
Predicted	forecast
Approaching	coming towards
Exclaimed	cry out suddenly in surprise, or pain
Regarded	consider
Hailstones	crystal
Resemble	same kind of appearance
Exposing	reveal
Plague	Crystal
Solitary	desolate, alone
Ox of a man	a very strong man
Correspondence	talking by exchanging letters with someone
Goodwill	reputation
Resolution	decision
Obliged	grateful

5. Oral Comprehension Check

Part – I

1. What did Lencho hope for?
Ans: Lencho hoped for rain because his plants needed water. He thought if it rained, his crops would grow well and he would get food and money for his family.

2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Ans: Lencho said the raindrops were like new coins because he thought the rain would help his crops grow well and bring him money from a good harvest.

3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Ans: The rain turned into a hailstorm with big pieces of ice, which fell on Lencho’s fields and destroyed all his crops.

4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Ans: Lencho felt very sad and hopeless when the hail stopped, as he knew all his crops were destroyed and he had nothing left to feed his family.

Part – II

1. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Ans: Lencho had strong faith in God and believed that God would help him, so he wrote a letter asking God to send him 100 pesos to support his family and buy seeds after the hailstorm destroyed his crops.

2. Who read the letter?
Ans: The postman read the letter first and then showed it to the postmaster.

3. What did the postmaster do then?
Ans: The postmaster was moved by Lencho’s strong faith in God. He wanted to help, so he collected money from the other workers and his friends and sent some of it to Lencho in an envelope with the name “God” written on it.

Part – III

1. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Ans: No, Lencho wasn’t surprised because he truly believed that God would send him the money he had asked for.

2. What made him angry?
Ans: Lencho became angry when he found only seventy pesos in the envelope because he believed that God had sent all 100 pesos, and the post office workers had stolen the rest.

6. Exercise questions and answers (NCERT)

1. What did Lencho hope for?
Ans: Lencho hoped for good rain as it was very much needed in his field of ripe corn for a good harvest.

2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like “new coins’?
Ans: The crops of Lencho’s field were ready to be harvested. And raindrops will help him to get a good return. So when it rained, he saw it in the form of “new coins”.

3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Ans: The rain suddenly changed into a very devastating hailstorm that fell on Lencho’s house, the hillside, the garden, and the cornfield, completely destroying his crops.

4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Ans: Lencho felt heartbroken and hopeless when the hail stopped, as the storm had destroyed everything and he believed they would have no corn to eat that year.

5. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Ans: Lencho had faith in God and felt that he was present everywhere, watching everything. So he wrote a letter to God.

6. Who read the letter?
Ans: The postman and the postmaster both read the letter.

7. What did the postmaster do then?
Ans: The postmaster was amazed after reading Lencho’s letter and didn’t want to break his faith in God. So, he decided to help by collecting money from others and sending it to Lencho on God’s behalf.

8. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Ans: No, Lencho was not surprised to find a letter for him with money because he was sure that God would help him.

9. What made Lencho angry?
Ans: Lencho became angry when he counted the money and found only seventy pesos instead of the hundred he had asked for. He was sure that God couldn’t have made a mistake or refused his request, so he believed that the post office employees had taken the missing 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 trust in God as he said that God is watching everything he will not let us die due to hunger. Some sentences show us his belief in God.

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.
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.
“God”, he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.
He wrote ” To God” on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town.
God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.

2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter God?
Ans: The postmaster sends money to Lencho so as not to break his belief in God. When the postmaster reads the letter of Lencho, which he has written to God, he is amazed to see this kind of belief in God. He collected the amount of money demanded by Lencho from god with the help of his employees. But they were not able to collect the full money. So they send the money collected on behalf of God and sign the letter’ so that Lencho’s faith does not get shaken.

3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why or why not?
Ans: No, Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money to him. Because he was sure that God had sent him money. His trust in God was so strong that he never suspected that it could be anybody else other than God who would send him 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 thought that the postmaster along with his employees had taken the rest money as he did not receive the full amount of money that he demanded from God. And he is sure that God cannot make such a mistake. So, he blamed the postmaster and his employees.
The ironic situation in this is that Lencho blamed those people who helped him in his need selflessly not to break his trust in God.

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: No in the real world it is impossible to find a person like Lencho as he is an honest and naive person. He is not stupid if he doesn’t know who has sent him money or a letter will reach to God without any particular address. It is nothing but Lencho’s trust in God. In the real world, people are selfish, greedy and ungrateful as well. And Lencho is totally unquestioning person.

6. There are two kinds of conflict in the story between humans and nature and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Ans: Conflict between Humans and humans: This story also demonstrates the conflict between humans themselves. The postmaster along with his friends and staff tried to send Lencho money that he demanded from God although they didn’t know Lencho. On the other hand, Lencho blamed them for taking away some amount of money. He called them a bunch of crooks. This shows that mankind doesn’t have faith in men, and gives rise to this conflict.

Conflict between Humans and Nature: This conflict is demonstrated by showing the destruction of Lencho’s crops by the hailstorm he expected a good rain to get a good harvest as that was the only solution for him to get rid of his poor situation. He worked so hard to manage his family, but nature turned violent and destroyed his crops and broke his hope as well.

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 a 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

A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: cyclone
An extremely strong wind: gale
A violent tropical storm with very strong winds: typhoon
A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: tornado
A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean: Hurricane
A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage: Whirlwind

II. Match the sentences in column A with the meaning 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.	thinking that this would happen (it may or may not have happened.)
3. This discovery will give new hope to HIV/AIDS sufferers.	stopped believing that this good thing would happen
4. We were hoping against hope that the judges would not notice our mistakes	wanting something to happen (and thinking it quite possible)
5. I called early in the hope of speaking to her before she went to school.	showing concern that what you say should not offend or disturb the other person a way of being polite.
6. Just when everybody had given up hope, the fishermen came back, seven days after the cyclone.	wishing for something to happen, although this is very unlikely.

Ans:

A	B
1. Will you get the subjects you want to study in college? I hope so	thinking that this would (it may or may not have happened)
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.	a feeling that something good will probably happen.
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.	wanting something to happen (and thinking it quite possible)
6. Just when everybody had given up hope, the fisherman came back, seven days after the cyclone.	stopped believing that this good thing would happen.

III. Relative Clauses

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

1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (which)
Ans: 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)
Ans: 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)
Ans: 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)
Ans: Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.

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

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

1. The trees lost all their leaves.
Ans: Not a single leaf was left on the tree.

2. The letter was addressed to God himself.
Ans: It was nothing but a letter to God.

3. The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.
Ans: Never in his career as a postman had he seen that address.

V. Metaphors

In pairs, find metaphors from the story to complete the table below. Try to say what qualities are being compared. One has been done for you.

Object	Metaphor	Quality or Feature Compared
Cloud	Huge mountains of clouds	The mass or ‘hugeness’ of mountain
Raindrops	New coins	The raindrops looked shiny and valuable, just like new coins
Hailstones	Frozen Pearls	The hailstones looked white, round, and hard like pearls made of ice
Locusts	Plaque of Locusts	The locusts came in large numbers and caused damage, like a bad disease
Farmer	An ox of a man	artistic value, the hugeness of ice.

Chapter 1 – A letter to god Notes

Content structure

1. About the Author – G.L Fuentes

2. Theme of A Letter to God

3. Summary of A Letter to God

Part – I

Part – II

Part – III

4. Word Meanings

5. Oral Comprehension Check

Part – I

Part – II

Part – III

6. Exercise questions and answers (NCERT)

Thinking about the Text

Thinking about Language

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