A Letter To God – Here Is the CBSE Class 10 English Chapter 1 A Letter to God Summary and Detailed explanation of the lesson along with the meanings of difficult words. . All the exercises and Questions Answers are given at the back of the lesson have been covered. Take Free Online MCQs Test for Class 10.

A Letter to God Summary

“A Letter to God” is a short story written by Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes. The story revolves around a farmer named Lencho who is devastated when a hailstorm destroys his entire crop. In his desperation, Lencho decides to write a letter to God, seeking financial assistance to recover from the loss.

Lencho’s faith in God is unwavering, and he believes that God sees everything, even the deepest thoughts and desires of one’s heart. With this belief, Lencho writes a heartfelt letter expressing his need for money and his trust in God’s providence. He addresses the letter to God and sends it through the mail, confident that his plea will be heard.

The postmaster, upon receiving Lencho’s letter, is initially amused by the farmer’s faith and innocence. However, he is moved by Lencho’s sincerity and decides to help him. The postmaster collects money from his colleagues and sends it to Lencho in an envelope.

When Lencho receives the envelope, he eagerly opens it and counts the money. To his dismay, he finds that the amount is not enough to cover his losses. Lencho becomes furious and writes another letter to God, accusing the post office employees of being thieves who stole the rest of the money. This reaction showcases the irony of Lencho’s faith, as he expected a specific outcome and becomes ungrateful when it is not met.

The postmaster, upon reading Lencho’s second letter, is deeply saddened by the farmer’s lack of understanding. He realizes that Lencho’s faith is so strong that he believes God would send the exact amount he requested. In an attempt to preserve Lencho’s faith, the postmaster decides to reply to the second letter, assuring Lencho that the money was not stolen and that God works in mysterious ways.

In the end, the story explores themes of faith, hope, and the irony of human nature. Lencho’s unwavering belief in God’s help and his subsequent disappointment when his expectations are not met highlight the complexities of faith. The postmaster’s attempt to maintain Lencho’s faith while struggling with his doubts adds another layer of irony to the story. “A Letter to God” serves as a reflection on the nature of faith, the power of hope, and the often ironic and unpredictable ways in which human beings perceive and interact with the divine.

Oral Comprehension Check
Page 5

Question 1.
What did Lencho hope for?
Answer:
Lencho hoped for a good rain as it was much needed for a good harvest.

Question 2.
Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Answer:
Lencho compared the raindrops with new coins because they were promising him a good harvest resulting in more prosperity.

Question 3.
How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Answer:
The rain changed into hailstones as a strong wind began to blow and huge hailstones began to fall alongwith the rain. All the crops in Lencho’s field got destroyed because of the weather conditions.

Question 4.
What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Answer:
Lencho was filled with grief after the hail stopped as everything was ruined and there was nothing that he could feed his family with. He could see a bleak future for him and his family.

Page 6
Question 5.
Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Answer:
Lencho had firm faith in God. He believed ‘ that God sees everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience and help everyone in one’s problems. He wrote a letter to God demanding him a hundred pesos to sow his field again.

Question 6.
Who read the letter?
Answer:
Postmaster read the letter.

Question 7.
What did the postmaster do after reading the letter?
Answer:
The postmaster laughed when he read
Lencho’s letter but soon he became serious and was moved by the writer’s faith in God. He didn’t want to shake Lencho’s faith. So, he decided to collect , money and send it to Lencho on behalf of God.

Page 7
Question 8.
Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Answer:
Lencho was not surprised to find a letter with money from God as he believed that God would help him.

Question 9.
What made Lencho angry?
Answer:
There were only seventy pesos in the envelope whereas Lencho had demanded a hundred pesos. The difference in the amount made him angry.

Thinking about the Text (Page 7,8)

Question 1.
Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
Answer:
Lencho has complete faith in God as he is instructed that God knows everything and helps us in our problems. There are few sentences which show this

But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope of 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.

Question 2.
Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter God?
Answer:
The postmaster sends money to Lencho to keep
Lencho’s faith in God was alive and firm as he was completely moved by it.
When the postmaster reads the letter of Lencho to God, he becomes serious and does not want to shake his faith and decides to answer the letter. He gathers money with the help of his post office employees and friends on behalf of God and signs the letter ‘God’ so that Lencho’s faith does not get shaken.

Question 3.
Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why or why not?
Answer:
Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money to him because he never suspected the presence of God and had complete faith in God. He could not believe that it could be – anybody else other than him who would send him the money.
His faith in God was so strong that he believed that he had sent money to him for his help in his problem.

Question 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).
Answer:
Lencho thinks that the post office employees have taken the rest of the money as he had demanded a hundred pesos from God and in the letter there were only seventy pesos and God cannot make such a mistake. So, he assumes that they have stolen the money.
The irony in this situation is that Lencho suspects those people who helped him with his problem and tried to keep his faith alive in God.

Question 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

Answer:
It is almost impossible to find a person like Lencho as he is an unquestioning and naive kind of person. He is not stupid if he doesn’t know who has sent him money or a letter will reach God without any address. It is Lencho’s faith in God. In real world, people are selfish and greedy and Lencho is totally lovable and different.

Question 6.
There are two kinds of conflict in the story between humans and nature and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Answer:
Conflict between Humans and Nature: The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated by the destruction of Lencho’s crop by the hailstorm Lencho was expecting a good rain to have a good harvest as that was the only hope he had for his earnings. He worked so hard to feed his family, but nature turned violent and destroyed everything.
Conflict between Humans and Humans: The story also illustrated another conflict, between humans themselves as the postmaster along with his friends and staff sent Lencho money that Lencho demanded from God although they didn’t know Lencho. Lencho blamed them for taking away some amount of money. He called them “a bunch of crooks”. This shows that man does not have faith in other men, thereby giving rise to this conflict

A Letter to God Extra Questions and Answers Class 10 English First Flight

Very Short Answer Questions
1. Where was the house’ located?
Answer: ‘The House’ was located on the top(crest) of a low hill.

2. Why do you think it is called ‘the’ house and not ‘a house’?
Answer: It is called ‘the house’ and not ‘a house’ because it was the only house in the entire valley.

3. Why did Lencho keep gazing at the sky?
Answer: Lencho kept gazing at the sky because he hoped for rain.

4. How did Lencho feel when it started raining?
Answer: Lencho felt very happy.

5. What was the effect of the rain on the crops?
Answer: Lencho’s crops were destroyed because of the rain and the storm.

6. Lencho had only one hope. What was it?
Answer: Lencho’s only hope was help from God.

7. Who was Lencho?
Answer: Lencho was a hard-working farmer.

8. What had Lencho been doing throughout the morning?
Answer: He had been looking at the clouds in the northeast throughout the morning.

9. What did Lencho’s field need badly?
Answer: His fields needed heavy rain badly.

10. What does Lencho call the rain-drops?
Answer: He calls the big rain-drops ten cent pesos and the small raindrops five cent pesos.

Short Answer Type Questions
1. What were trenches feelings when he found the letter with money in it? What did he do after opening the letter?

Answer: Lencho was not at all surprised to see the money in the letter as he was fully confident about it. He knew that God would send money to him. On opening the letter he found seventy pesos instead of a hundred. So, he wrote another letter to God to send and rest of the amount but now not through the mail as the post office employees were crooks.

2. Whom did Lencho write a letter? What did he ask for?

Answer: When Lencho’s annual crop was completely destroyed due to heavy rains and hailstorms and there was no one to help during the crisis. At that time Lencho wrote a letter to God.
He wrote the letter requesting him to send 100 pesos so that he could sow his fields again till the next crop.

3. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

Answer: The postmaster was a kind, generous, helpful and God-fearing man. When he received the letter written to God asking for 100 pesos, he felt sympathetic towards Lencho. Hence, he decided to help Lencho. He gave a part of his salary and asked other employees to help. He signed the letter ‘God’ in order to preserve the man’s faith in God.

4. How far would you agree that one’s positivity can bring in a spark of brightness even in adverse circumstances?

Answer: It is absolutely true that optimism can bring about a spark of brightness even in adverse situations. It was Lencho’s innocent optimism that eventually led to his getting seventy pesos. In fact, it was his positivity despite the hailstorm that he even wrote a letter to God in the first place. His hope finally triumphed.

5. Why was Lencho angry when he received the letter?

Answer: Lencho had asked God to send him a hundred pesos. But when he opened the envelope he found only seventy pesos in it. He thought that the post-office employees had taken the rest of the money. So he became angry when he received the letter.

6. Lencho describes the post office employees as “a bunch of crooks.”
(i) Were they a bunch of crooks?
(ii) How would you describe them?

Answer: Lencho thought that the post office employees had cheated him. So he calls them “a bunch of crooks.” But they were not crooks. They were kind people. They wanted to help Lencho. So they collected seventy pesos and sent the money to Lencho by mail.

7. Where was Lencho’s house situated?

Answer: Lencho was a farmer. His house was the only one in the valley. It was situated on the top of a low hill overlooking the valley. From this height, he could see the river. He could also see his fields of ripe corn dotted with flowers. The flowers always promised a good harvest.

8. What did Lencho and the earth need immediately?

Answer: The only thing the earth needed was rain. Lencho, being a farmer wished for heavy rain. At least, a shower was necessary. His fields needed water immediately otherwise the crop would be completely mined. So, he would constantly look at the sky towards the northeast.

9. How did the rain come as predicted by Lencho and how did he receive it?

Answer: Lencho’s wife was preparing supper(dinner). The older boys were working in the field. It was during the meal, in the northeast huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. Then, as Lencho had predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. Lencho went out to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. To him, the raindrops were like the new coins.

10. Describe the loss caused by the heavy fall of hailstones in general and to Lencho in particular.

Answer: For an hour, the hailstones rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, and the cornfield. Actually, the whole valley was covered with them. Leaves and flowers were destroyed. Lencho’s fields were covered with a white layer. The corn was totally destroyed. The hail had left practically nothing. There was no chance of any corn that year for Lencho.

Character Sketches of Lencho

1. Draw a character sketch of Lencho, the farmer in about 120-150 words.

Answer: Lencho was a simple man as farmers usually are everywhere. He was a man of limited means and earned his living by farming his fields. His older sons helped him in farming activities. His wife did the same but also managed the kitchen and other household works. Lencho was highly religious. So was his wife. He had unshaken faith in God. He believed that God always helps people with a clear conscience. Therefore, when he lost all hopes and he and his family were on the verge of starvation, he looked towards God for help. His deep faith in God even impressed the postmaster who decided to help him. He was strong and sturdy like an ox. Not only that, he worked day and night in the fields. Being a farmer, he had a deep knowledge of the weather, the winds, and the rains of his region.

He was simple-hearted. He was rustic and inhabitable and thought. He was a little educated to write a letter. He shows his innocence by trying to have a correspondence(connection) with God directly. He wrote ‘To God’ on the top of the envelope and posted the letter into the mailbox.

While he had unshaken faith in God, he mistrusted the motives of men. He could never know and nor did he ever try to know who had sent him those seventy pesos to help him. It is quite ironic that he abused his helpers by calling them ‘a bunch of crooks’.

2. Give a character sketch of the Postmaster in your own words. Don’t you think that he should have deserved better recognition and appreciation for his act of charity?

Answer: It takes all kinds of people to make this world. The postmaster has all that is good in human thinking and behavior. He has a thorough understanding of a sharp, sympathetic, and sensitive mind. He knows how the mind of a God-fearing rustic like Lencho works. He is sensitive and sympathetic to human feelings. He doesn’t want to break the deep faith of the writer in God. The fat and friendly postmaster had a large heart too. First, he laughed at the man who wanted to have a direct correspondence with God. But he soon became serious. After reading the letter, he was deeply moved and impressed by Lencho’s faith in God.

He knew that merely goodwill was not sufficient. The farmer needed financial help. So he collected a sum of 70 pesos from his employees. He also contributed a part of his salary. He did so as to keep Lencho’s faith in God. He wrote a single word as a signature: God.

In the story ‘A Letter to God’, Lencho is the main character. He was a hardworking farmer with minimum resources and worked like an ox in the field. He was a man of faith and hope. Even after losing their only source of income, he did not lose his hope. He loved his family and was worried about it. He was an innocent man as he believed God is like a living person who could send money. He was a firm believer and sought help from God by writing letter to send 100 pesos. But when he received seventy pesos, he called the post-office employees a bunch of crooks. He rewrote a letter to God for the remaining thirty pesos, which shows his firm faith in God.

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