A detailed study of 'A Letter to God' by Gregorio Lopez Fuentes

1. A Letter to God
By Gregorio Lopez Fuentes

2. Gregorio López y Fuentes
(Nov 17, 1897 – Dec 10, 1966)
was a Mexican novelist,
poet, and journalist.
His stories were seen as exciting,
humorous, and symbolic of Mexico.
A realist, many of his works
concerned the oppression
of Native Americans.
He was awarded the
National Prize of Arts and Sciences
in 1935 by the Mexican govt.
Author’s Introduction

3. Characters of the Story
Major Characters
• Lencho(farmer)
• Postmaster
Minor Characters
• Lencho’s Wife
• Postman
• Lencho’s Kids
• Employees at the post office

4. Short Summary
The story, "A Letter to God" by G.L. Fuentes depicts unwavering faith of a
farmer in God. It is set in a Latin American Country. It begins with a farmer,
Lencho expecting some rain to nourish his field of corn. He is confident that
his harvest is going to yield him huge profits just like it does every year. As he
expected, it does rain but soon the rain turns into a hailstorm destroying his
entire crop field. The damage poses a threat to the family's survival as their
entire livelihood was dependent on the year's produce. Although
disheartened, the family has robust belief in the Almighty. Lencho decides to
write a letter to God explaining his situation and asking for 100 pesos as a
help. He writes his letter and goes to town to post his letter addressed
"To God".
Contd…

5. Short Summary
The letter, on being noticed by the postman and then by the postmaster,
amuses the postmaster and makes him wonder about the immense faith
this farmer had on God. He is tempted to open the letter, read it and reply
to the farmer so as to keep his immense belief intact. But upon opening the
letter, he realises that this reply would require more than pen and paper.
But, since he has resolved to help the farmer, he contributes from his salary
and collects money from his colleagues and friends who willingly contributed
for an act of charity. To his dismay, he could only collect 70 pesos which he
puts in an envelope to makes it look like a reply from the Almighty. Upon
receiving the letter with the money inside it, Lencho is not at all surprised,
but instead, he gets angry on finding that the amount is less than what he
had expected. He again writes a letter to God conveying his disappointment
and distrust in the employees of the post office who, he thought, had stolen
the remaining amount.

6. Difficult Words
1. Intimately – very closely
2. Regarded(here) – saw
3. Hailstone – pellets or bullets of hard ice in round lumps raining from the
sky
4. Solitary – set apart from others
5. Correspondence – conversation
6. Resolution – firm determination
7. Brow – forehead
8. Affix- paste
9. Crook – cheat or thief

7. Theme of the Story
There is not one but two themes in this story:
1. Faith can move mountains – When we have a firm belief on God, He
comes to help us in myriad ways. Lencho has immense and honest faith
in God. His faith emboldens him to write a letter to God asking for a 100
pesos. His honest and innocent faith is what compels the postmaster to
help Lencho.
2. Good deeds sometimes go unnoticed – The postmaster helped Lencho
out of his own goodwill and compassionate nature. But Lencho, having
an unquestioning faith in God, felt it was God who had sent money and
the post office employees had stolen it. The goodness of the postmaster
wasn’t recognised. Our good intentions and actions aren’t always
rewarded. Sometimes they go unnoticed too.

8. Conflicts in the Story
• Between Man and Nature: The conflict between man and nature is shown
in the form of the hailstorm which completely destroys Lencho’s crops.
Lencho had expected some rain for a good harvest. Instead, the weather
turned violent and it started raining hailstones. This conflict clearly points
that man depends on nature for his life and livelihood but nature doesn’t
always act according to man’s wishes.
• Between Humans: The postmaster helps Lencho but Lencho, instead of
being grateful, blames the postmaster and his colleagues for stealing
money. He even goes to the extent of calling them ‘a bunch of crooks’ This
conflict between the postmaster and Lencho tells us that a man doesn’t
always believe in another man , and this often gives rise to conflict.

9. Irony
Irony means the opposite of what is expected.
In the story, we expect Lencho to be grateful and happy upon receiving
the money. But, he is not. Instead, he is furious for not having received
the full amount. It’s an irony that instead of showing pleasure, he
expresses his anger.
Also, the postmaster had expected a certain amount of gratefulness on
Lencho’s part. But instead of being grateful, Lencho blames them for
the theft of his money and calls them ‘a bunch of crooks’. The irony
here is that the goodwill and good deed of the postmaster, instead of
getting recognition, is rudely blamed.

10. The End