A Letter to God
Introduction to the Story
“A Letter to God” is a story that deals with powerful themes such as faith, hope, and the impact of nature, alongside human compassion and irony. The narrative centers on a farmer named Lencho, who, despite experiencing significant loss, holds an unwavering belief in God.
About the Author:
G. L. Fuentes was a Mexican novelist, poet, and journalist. He was born on November 17, 1895, in Veracruz, Mexico, and started writing at the age of fifteen, around the time the Mexican Revolution began. Fuentes is widely recognized as a crucial chronicler of the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath. During his childhood, he spent a lot of time in his father’s general store, which allowed him to observe and interact with local Indigenous people, farmers, and laborers. He later portrayed their lives with great insight in his writings. Fuentes wrote various books, including Una Carta a Dios (1940), which is the original title of “A Letter to God”. His works often addressed important social issues of his time.
Background and Context of the Story
The core idea of the story revolves around the power of faith. The narrative delicately poses the question: What should we put our faith in?.
The main character is Lencho, a farmer whose entire crop is ruined by a severe natural disaster. Because of his trouble, he decides to write a letter directly to God, asking for financial help. This premise sets up the story, allowing the reader to wonder whether Lencho’s letter will reach God and if God will respond to his request.
The story also introduces a conflict. There is a conflict between humans and nature, as well as a conflict between humans themselves. The primary conflict Lencho faces is the disaster caused by nature, but the irony at the end creates a conflict between Lencho and the post office employees.
Key Themes of the Story
The chapter explores several important ideas through the events that affect Lencho.
The Power of Unwavering Faith
- Lencho possesses immense confidence in God. He believes that “no one dies of hunger,” relying solely on the hope of “help from God”. His faith is so strong that he decides to start a “correspondence with God”. When he sees the money he asked for, he shows “not the slightest surprise,” such was his confidence that God would answer him.
Conflict Between Man and Nature
- The story shows the hardship faced by farmers who are completely dependent on nature. Lencho’s initial joy in the rain turns into disaster when the hailstorm arrives,. This illustrates how nature can quickly shift from being a benefactor (provider of rain) to a destroyer (the hail storm).
Human Charity and Goodness
- This theme is shown entirely through the actions of the postmaster and his employees. The postmaster is moved by Lencho’s strong faith and decides he must answer the letter to “not to shake the writer’s faith in God”. This act is described as an “act of charity” involving money from the postmaster, his employees, and his friends. This selfless action highlights human compassion.
Irony in the Outcome
- The situation contains great irony. The employees who selflessly give their own money to help the farmer are called “a bunch of crooks” by Lencho. The unexpected situation is that the person who received the charity wrongly blames his benefactors for stealing the money.
Explanation
Anticipation of the Rain
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Lencho’s house was the only one in the entire valley and sat “on the crest of a low hill”.
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From his house, one could see the field of ripe corn that promised “a good harvest”.
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The only thing the earth needed was “a downpour or at least a shower”.
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Throughout the morning, Lencho, who “knew his fields intimately,” did nothing but watch the sky “towards the north-east”,.
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He predicted that they were “really going to get some water, woman”.
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His wife replied, “Yes, God willing,” while preparing supper.
The Hailstorm Disaster
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It was during the meal that “big drops of rain began to fall,” just as Lencho had predicted.
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The air was “fresh and sweet,” and Lencho went out simply to have the “pleasure of feeling the rain on his body”,.
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He exclaimed that the raindrops were not drops falling from the sky, but “new coins”. The big drops were “ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives”.
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With a satisfied expression, he regarded the field of ripe corn “draped in a curtain of rain”.
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But suddenly, a “strong wind began to blow” and “very large hailstones began to fall”.
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The hailstones truly resembled “new silver coins”.
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Lencho hoped the storm would pass quickly, but it did not.
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For an hour, the hail rained on the house, garden, hillside, and the whole valley.
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The field became white, “as if covered with salt”.
The Total Loss and Single Hope
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“Not a leaf remained on the trees,” and the corn was “totally destroyed”. The flowers were gone from the plants.
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Lencho’s soul was “filled with sadness”.
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He told his sons that “A plague of locusts would have left more than this,” but the hail had “left nothing”.
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The night was sorrowful, as he realized “All our work, for nothing,” and that they would “all go hungry this year”.
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Despite the total loss, the people in the “solitary house in the middle of the valley” had a single hope: “help from God”.
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Lencho comforted them, saying, “no one dies of hunger”.
The Letter to God
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Lencho, who was described as an “ox of a man,” working “like an animal in the fields,” still knew “how to write”,.
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He spent the entire night thinking only of “his one hope: the help of God”.
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The following Sunday, “at daybreak,” he began to write a letter to God, which he intended to carry to the post office himself.
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In the letter, he explained that he and his family “will go hungry this year” if not helped.
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He requested “a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes”.
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He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope and dropped it into the mailbox at the post office.
The Act of Charity
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A postman, who also worked at the post office, saw the letter and showed it to his boss, laughing “heartily”.
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The postmaster, a “fat, amiable fellow,” laughed as well, but immediately “turned serious”,.
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He commented, “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter,” and resolved to “answer the letter”.
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He stuck to his resolution to preserve Lencho’s faith, even though he needed “more than goodwill, ink and paper”.
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The postmaster himself gave “part of his salary,” and asked employees and friends for money “for an act of charity”.
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It was “impossible for him to gather together the hundred pesos,” so he was only able to collect “a little more than half” (seventy pesos),.
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He put the seventy pesos in an envelope addressed to Lencho and signed the accompanying letter with the single word: God.
Lencho’s Anger and Second Letter
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The following Sunday, Lencho came earlier than usual to ask if the letter had arrived.
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The postmaster watched, experiencing the “contentment of a man who has performed a good deed”,.
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Lencho showed “not the slightest surprise on seeing the money,” which reflected his immense confidence,.
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However, he became angry when he counted the money, believing “God could not have made a mistake”.
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He immediately went to the public writing-table, showing “much wrinkling of his brow,” to write a second letter.
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As soon as the second letter fell into the mailbox, the postmaster opened it.
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Lencho wrote: “Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me”.
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He demanded the rest of the money but added, “don’t send it to me through the mail because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks. Lencho”.
Social Perspective of the Story
The Vulnerability of Farmers
- The story highlights the profound vulnerability of farmers like Lencho. Their entire livelihood is directly tied to the unpredictable forces of nature. The shift from promising crops to “totally destroyed” corn due to a natural phenomenon like a hailstorm illustrates the devastating consequences of agrarian life when external forces intervene. A single storm can erase “All our work” and threaten the family with starvation (“go hungry this year”).
Importance of Literacy in Rural Life
- Despite working hard “like an animal in the fields” (a metaphor for his great physical strength), Lencho “knew how to write”. This detail is essential because his literacy allows him to take action beyond begging or giving up. It is his ability to write the letter that triggers the entire chain of events and the act of charity.
Compassion and the Sense of Duty
- The postmaster and his employees demonstrate strong social ethics. They recognized Lencho’s desperation and his powerful, simple faith. Their decision to collect money was driven by “goodwill” and the need to perform an “act of charity,” even requiring the postmaster to give “part of his salary”. They felt a moral duty to maintain the farmer’s belief system, even if it meant sacrificing their own resources.
Interpretation of Right and Wrong (Conscience)
- The story touches on the internal sense of right and wrong, or “conscience,” which is what Lencho believes God’s eyes see everything into. Ironically, Lencho uses his own conscience to write a second letter, believing in God’s perfection (“God could not have made a mistake”) but failing to see the charitable actions of the humans who helped him. His desperate state blinds him to the kindness of others, leading him to accuse them wrongfully.
Lessons We Learn from the Story
The experiences of Lencho and the post office staff offer several valuable life lessons for students.
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Faith is a Powerful Force: The story emphasizes the idea that faith “can move mountains”. Lencho’s unwavering belief provides him with hope even in the face of “total loss”.
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Look for the Good in Others: The postmaster represents the importance of selfless kindness. He went beyond his professional duty to help someone unknown, purely out of compassion and respect for strong faith.
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Human Conflict is Often Based on Misunderstanding: The final conflict is between Lencho and his helpers. Lencho misinterprets the short amount of money, blaming the “crooks” in the post office. This teaches us that lack of information and extreme self-focus can cause us to wrongly accuse the very people trying to help us.
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Charity Should Be Done Selflessly: The postmaster signed the letter “God”. This meant he sought no personal credit or acknowledgment for his deed. The joy he felt was simply the “contentment of a man who has performed a good deed”.
Metaphors Used in the Story
Metaphors are a literary device that compare two unlike things or ideas, transferring a quality or feature from one to another. The story “A Letter to God” uses several key metaphors:
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Raindrops as “new coins” or “silver coins”: Lencho compares the big raindrops to ten-cent pieces and the smaller ones to five-cent pieces. This symbolizes the anticipated wealth and good harvest the rain would bring.
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Field covered with “a layer of white salt-like snow”: After the hailstorm, the devastated field is described with this imagery, highlighting the complete ruin and the salt-like appearance of the fallen hailstones.
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Clouds as “huge mountains”: The approaching storm clouds are metaphorically described as “huge mountains”, emphasizing their immense size.
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Lencho as “an ox of a man”: This metaphor is used to describe Lencho’s hardworking nature, comparing his strength and diligence in the fields to that of an ox.
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The letter itself as a symbol of hope and faith: The act of writing the letter symbolizes Lencho’s unwavering belief in God.
Conclusion
“A Letter to God” is an enduring tale that highlights the immense strength of human faith set against the harsh reality of nature’s power. Lencho’s absolute faith in God prompts a beautiful act of human charity from the post office employees. The final, sharp irony—where the beneficiary accuses his benefactors—serves as the story’s main moral lesson. It leaves the reader contemplating whether pure, unquestioning faith can coexist with the practical realities of human fallibility and the social challenges of poverty and suspicion.