A Letter to God

1. About the author & the text

‘A Letter to God’ is written by G. L. Fuentes, a Latin-American author. The story was originally written in Spanish and later translated into English, which is why the money is counted in pesos (the currency of several Latin-American countries) and in cents. It is the very first chapter of the Class 10 prose textbook First Flight.

The story explores a single, delicate question raised in the ‘Before You Read’ note: “They say faith can move mountains. But what should we put our faith in?” Through the simple farmer Lencho, the writer shows us a faith so complete that it cannot even imagine being wrong — and quietly contrasts it with the real, practical kindness of ordinary people. The tone is warm and slightly humorous, and the whole story turns on one twist of irony at the end.

2. Summary — Part 1: The lone house and the promise of rain

The story opens with a description of a house — the only one in the entire valley — sitting on the crest of a low hill. From this height one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with flowers that always promised a good harvest. The one thing the earth needed was a good downpour, or at least a shower.

The farmer Lencho, “who knew his fields intimately”, had spent the whole morning watching the sky to the north-east. He told his wife, “Now we’re really going to get some water, woman.” The wife, busy preparing supper, answered, “Yes, God willing.” The older boys worked in the field while the smaller ones played, and the family sat down for the midday meal.

3. Summary — Part 2: Rain turns to a destructive hailstorm

During the meal, exactly as Lencho had predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. The man went outside just to feel the rain on his body, and returned exclaiming with joy: “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.” To a farmer, rain meant money — a good crop.

But suddenly a strong wind blew and, along with the rain, very large hailstones began to fall. The boys ran out to collect the “frozen pearls”. Lencho grew worried: “It’s really getting bad now… I hope it passes quickly.” But it did not pass quickly. For a full hour the hail rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the cornfield and the whole valley. The field turned white, as if covered with salt. Not a leaf remained on the trees, the corn was totally destroyed and the flowers were gone.

4. Summary — Part 3: Despair, and a single hope

Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. Standing in the middle of the ruined field he told his sons, “A plague of locusts would have left more than this… This year we will have no corn.” That night was a sorrowful one: “All our work, for nothing.” “There’s no one who can help us.” “We’ll all go hungry this year.”

But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house there was a single hope: help from God. Lencho comforted them, reminding them of what they had been taught: “Don’t be so upset, even though this seems like a total loss. Remember, no one dies of hunger.”

5. Summary — Part 4: The letter to God

Lencho was “an ox of a man”, working like an animal in the fields, but he still knew how to write. All through the night he could think of only one hope — the help of God, “whose eyes… see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.” The following Sunday, at daybreak, he wrote a letter that he himself would carry to town and post.

The letter said: “God, if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes, because the hailstorm…” He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope, put the letter inside, and, still troubled, went to town. There he placed a stamp on the letter and dropped it into the mailbox.

6. Summary — Part 5: The postmaster’s kindness

A post-office employee, who was also a postman, took the letter to his boss, laughing heartily — never in his career had he known such an address. The postmaster — a fat, amiable fellow — also broke out laughing, but he quickly turned serious. Tapping the letter on his desk, he said, “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter. Starting up a correspondence with God!”

So that he would not shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster decided to answer the letter. But to answer it he needed money. He asked his employees for money, gave part of his own salary, and several friends were obliged to give something ‘for an act of charity’. It was impossible to gather the whole hundred pesos, so he sent the farmer only a little more than half. He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho, with a single word as a signature: God.

7. Summary — Part 6: The ironic ending

The next Sunday Lencho came a bit earlier than usual and asked if there was a letter for him. The postman himself handed it over, while the postmaster watched with the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed.

Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money — such was his confidence — but he became angry when he counted it. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested. So Lencho went to the window, asked for paper and ink, and wrote a second letter to God. He affixed a stamp with a blow of his fist and dropped it in the mailbox.

The curious postmaster opened it. It read: “God: Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the mail because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks. Lencho.” The very people who gave from their own pockets were called thieves — this is the story’s great twist.

8. Significance of the title

The title ‘A Letter to God’ is perfectly chosen because the entire plot turns on a literal letter that Lencho writes and posts to God, with ‘To God’ written on the envelope. It is unusual and instantly catches attention — people do not normally write postal letters to God.

The title also captures the theme of faith: Lencho’s belief is so complete that he treats God as a real person who reads mail and sends money. Finally, it sets up the irony — God does not reply, humans do; yet Lencho still addresses his angry second letter to God. The title therefore points to both the faith and the twist at the heart of the story.

9. Themes

• Unquestioning faith in God: Lencho’s faith is firm as a rock. He is sure his letter will reach God and that money will come — and he shows “not the slightest surprise” when it does. His faith never wavers, even at the end.
• The kindness and generosity of human beings: The postmaster and his staff quietly give from their own salaries and savings to help a stranger, simply to keep his faith alive. True charity is shown by people, not by miracles.
• Irony & the limits of blind faith: The man whose prayer is actually answered by kind humans dismisses those humans as ‘crooks’. Blind faith can make us ungrateful and blind to the goodness right in front of us.
• Conflict — man vs nature and man vs man: Nature (the hailstorm) destroys Lencho’s crop; then a human conflict appears when Lencho wrongly accuses the helpful employees of stealing.
• Hope: Even in total ruin, hope (“a single hope: help from God”) keeps the family going.

10. Character sketches

Lencho — A farmer who lives by his hands and his beliefs. He is hard-working (“an ox of a man, working like an animal”) and knows his fields intimately. His most striking quality is his blind, unshakeable faith in God, whom he trusts like a person. He is also simple and a little naive — he genuinely posts a letter to God. Yet he is demanding and ungrateful: he is not surprised by the money, gets angry that it is short, and rudely brands the kind employees ‘crooks’. He has firm confidence bordering on stubbornness.

The Postmaster — Described as a fat, amiable (friendly and pleasant) fellow. He first laughs at the strange address, but quickly becomes serious and admires Lencho’s faith: “What faith!” He is kind, generous and sensitive — he refuses to shake Lencho’s faith and gives part of his own salary to help. He represents the goodness of ordinary people and feels “the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed”.

Lencho’s wife & sons — A pious, hard-working family. The wife says “Yes, God willing” and shares the family’s faith; the boys work in the fields and innocently run out to collect hailstones, not realising the disaster.

11. Message, moral & values

• Faith gives strength, but blind faith can make us unfair to the people who actually help us. We should keep our eyes open to human kindness.
• Help and charity are real human virtues. The postmaster shows that doing good quietly, without reward, is the highest goodness.
• Gratitude matters. Lencho’s ingratitude is a warning — we must recognise and thank those who help us instead of taking it for granted or blaming them.
• Hope and hard work help us survive even the worst losses; nature can be cruel, but human goodness offers comfort.

12. Literary devices & narrative technique

• Situational irony (the main device): Lencho prays to God, but humans answer his prayer; and the man who is helped insults his helpers as ‘crooks’. The whole climax is built on this unexpected reversal.
• Imagery: Vivid pictures fill the story — “a field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers”, hailstones like “frozen pearls”, and the field “white, as if covered with salt”.
• Metaphor: Raindrops are called “new coins”; Lencho is “an ox of a man”.
• Simile: “working like an animal”; the field “white, as if covered with salt”.
• Personification of nature/God: God is treated as a being who reads letters and sends money; the rain ‘promises’ a good harvest.
• Third-person narrative: An all-knowing narrator lets us see both Lencho’s faith and the postmaster’s thoughts, which sharpens the irony.
• Gentle humour: The laughing postman, the address ‘To God’, and the signature ‘God’ create warmth and comedy.

13. Word meanings

• Crest — the top of a hill.
• Downpour — a heavy fall of rain.
• Intimately — very closely; in great detail.
• Draped — covered (as with cloth).
• Hailstones — small balls of ice that fall like rain.
• Plague of locusts — a huge swarm of insects that fly in groups and destroy crops.
• Sorrowful — full of sadness.
• Conscience — an inner sense of right and wrong.
• Peso — the currency of several Latin-American countries.
• Amiable — friendly and pleasant.
• Correspondence — the writing and exchanging of letters.
• Goodwill — a feeling of kindness and helpfulness.
• Resolution — a firm decision to do something.
• Obliged — forced or made to feel it a duty (to do something).
• Charity — the giving of help, especially money, to those in need.
• Contentment — a feeling of satisfaction and happiness.
• Affixed — stuck or fixed onto something.
• Crooks — dishonest people; cheats.