A Letter to God

Question 1. Who was Lencho? What were his main problems? [CBSE 2015]

Answer: Lencho was a hardworking farmer, who lived on the crest of a low hill.
Due to the hailstorm his crops were destroyed, so he needed money to sow his
field again and support his family. These were the main problems of Lencho.

Question 2. Give a brief description of the view from Lencho's house?

Answer: Lencho’s house was situated on the crest of a low hill and it was the only
one in the valley. One could easily see the river and the field of ripe corn from
here.

Question 3. What did Lencho compare the raindrops to and why? [CBSE
2011]

Answer: Lencho compared the raindrops to new coins because the crop needed
the rain badly and it was the sign of good harvest. Good harvest meant
prosperity for Lencho as he needed the money to fulfil his basic needs.

Question 4. Why did Lencho write a letter to God?

Answer: When. Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed by the hailstorm, he

wrote a letter to God because he was the only hope in his despair. Lencho asked
him to send hundred pesos to sow his field again and support his family.

Question 5. Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?

Answer: The postmaster was determined to help Lencho. He did not want
Lencho’s faith in God to be shaken so he asked his employees and friends to
help Lencho. He also contributed a part of his salary for this act of charity.
Question 6. How much money did Lencho need? How much did he get?

Answer: Lencho got seventy pesos. He was angry at the difference as he needed
hundred pesos to sow the crops again and to support his family till the next
harvest.

Question 7. Why did Lencho not want the money to be sent through
mail? CBSE 2016

Answer: Lencho wrote in his second letter that he received only seventy pesos
but he needed a hundred pesos. He requested God not to send rest of the
money by post since the post office employees were a bunch of crooks and
would steal the money.

Question 8. Do you think that Lencho was right to call the post office
employees a bunch of crooks? Why or why not?

Answer: Lencho called the post office employees a bunch of crooks as he did not
get full money that he had demanded. He could not believe that God had sent
him any less money so he doubted these people. But he was not right to call
them a bunch of crooks.

Question 9. How was Lencho sure that it was going to rain?

Answer: Lencho knew his fields intimately and he could predict the weather by
looking at the sky. His experienced eyes saw clouds and he predicted rain.

Question 10. What promised a good harvest?

Answer: Lencho felt that the field of ripe corn dotted with flowers always
promised a good harvest. That is why he was anticipating a good harvest.

Question 11. How did Lencho regard his field? Why?

Answer: When it started raining Lencho regarded his field with satisfaction. He
was happy to see his crop draped in a curtain of rain. He hoped to reap a good
harvest.

Question 12. Why was Lencho's soul filled with sorrow?

Answer: The hail and hailstones rained on the valley for an hour. It had left the
field totally covered with snow. The crop was completely destroyed. It made
Lencho’s soul filled with sorrow.

Question 13. Why was the family not really upset?

Answer: Though Lencho’s family was facing ruin, yet they were not really upset. It
was because having immense faith in God, they were confident that God would
help them.

Question 14. Why did the postmaster send a reply to Lencho's first letter
addressed to God?

Answer: The postmaster “was a generous and amiable man. He was impressed
by Lencho’s firm faith in God. To sustain that faith, the postmaster sent a reply
to Lencho.

Question 15. Why was Lencho angry when he received the letter?

Answer: The postmaster could raise only 70 pesos which he sent to Lencho,
supposedly from God. Lencho was angry to find 30 pesos less than the amount
he asked for. He was angry because he thought the post office employees had
kept 30 pesos sent to him by God.

Question 16. Do you think the post-office employees were a bunch of

crook's ?

Answer: No, they were kind, generous and helpful persons. The postmaster
contributed a part of his salary and motivated his friends and colleagues for a
charitable cause. So they were not a bunch of crooks.
Question 17. How would you describe Lencho?

Answer: Lencho was a simple, naive and a hard-working farmer. He was not only
energetic, he had full faith in God also. He became a victim of natural calamity,
befit God helped him indirectly.

Question 18. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like 'new coins’?

Answer: Lencho said that the raindrops were like new coins. It was because the
raindrops could cause a good harvest that his field needed most. Thus he would
get a rich crop. Further the raindrops had a brightness like new coins.

Question 19. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho's fields?

Answer: The rain changed into heavy hailstone. In no time the whole valley was
covered with hailstones. His fields became white as if covered with salt. His com
was totally destroyed.

Question 20. What were Lencho's feelings when the hail stopped?

Answer: When the hail stopped, Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. He was
very much troubled. His com was totally destroyed. He said, “the hail has left
nothing. This year we will have no com. We will all go hungry”.

Question 21. What made Lencho angry?

Answer: Lencho was angry on counting the money since it was less than the
amount he had asked for. He had deep faith that God could neither make a
mistake nor could deny what was requested.

Question 22. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he
sign the letter “God”?

Answer: The postmaster was a very generous fellow. In order not to shake
Lencho’s faith in God, he collected money and sent it to Lencho. The postmaster
signed the letter “God”, lest Lencho should think that the money had not been
sent by God.
 Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1. Who was Lencho and what circumstances forced him to write a
letter to God?

Answer: Lencho was a hardworking farmer who lived with his family on a crest of
a low hill. He was very caring and God loving man. Though, he was a farmer he
could read and write. Lencho eagerly waited for the rainfall in order to get good
harvest and he became happy when it came. But the pleasing rain changed into
hailstorm and destroyed his crop.
He became sad and was worried about his family as they might remain hungry
that year. His last hope was the help from God as he had complete faith in him.
Hence, he wrote a letter to God asking him to send hundred pesos to survive
and to reharvest.

Question 2. How did the postmaster and post office employees help
Lencho? How did he react to their help?

Answer: The Postmaster and post office employees were very generous as they
contributed for the act of charity. First they laughed when they saw Lencho’s
letter to God, but soon they were impressed by his faith in God. They decided to
send some money to Lencho so that his faith in God does not get shaken. They
collected seventy pesos and sent it to Lencho.

When Lencho got the envelope and opened it to count money, he became angry.
He again wrote a letter to God demanding the remaining thirty pesos. He
thought that post office employees had taken away the remaining money and
called them a bunch of crooks, which was not justified at all as they were the
people who had helped him. But it shows his innocence and firm faith in God.

Question 3. How did the hailstones affect Lencho's field? What was
Lencho's only hope?

Answer: Lencho, a hardworking farmer, worked like an ox for a good harvest,

depended completely on his fields to take care of his family. He expected a
good harvest that year. He needed a downpour for the crops to ripe, but the
rain followed by hailstorm completely destroyed the crops.
It made him sad. He was worried for his family as he loved them so much. But
Lencho had firm faith in God and believed that nobody died of hunger. So, he
decided to seek help from God. He wrote a letter to God and asked him for a
hundred pesos to survive and to sow new crop.

Question 4. “Humanity still exists”, this is what we get to know after reading
A letter to God’ in which firm faith in God of a poor farmer and helpfulness
of the post office employees are aptly depicted thought. Write a paragraph
on the values in it, in about 80-100 words. Give the paragraph a suitable
title. [CBSE 2012]

Answer: Existence of Humanity

After reading ‘A letter to God’, our faith in humanity stirs for strong. We learn
from the story that there still are people who help others without any self
interest. The postmaster and the post office employees lay an example for
everyone of us to be kind. Though they all laughed at his letter, they were really
moved by the grip of faith Lencho had in God. The way they all decided to help
the stranger in his hard times restores our faith in the existence of humanity and
motivates us to be a noble and kind person.

Question 5. Describe Lencho's qualities in light of his faith in God. Do you

have faith in God like Lencho? Was Lencho's r eaction towards post office
employees right? [CBSE 2015]

Answer: Lencho was a poor farmer who totally depended on the harvest to
survive and fulfil basic needs of his family. Once his crops were destroyed due to
heavy rainfall and hailstones and he was afraid to think how his family would
survive. He believed that God would help him in this plight. He had firm faith in
God, he believed that God would not let him be hungry.
Now-a-days faith in God like Lencho is almost impossible and unseen. People
are very much aware that nobody is willing to help others without any self
interest. Lencho’s reaction towards post office employees was not right or
justified but it was just because of his innocence as he could not believe that
God had done such a mistake. It were only the post office employees who had
stolen money according to him.
Questions asked in the Year: 2024-25
1. What idea does the Postmaster come up with? What did he do to
stick to his resolution?(2024)
2. Why did the night after the rains turn sorrowful for Lencho?
(2024)
ANSWERS:
1. The Postmaster comes up with the idea of replying to Lencho’s
letter anonymously to preserve his faith in God. He decides to collect
money from himself and other employees at the post office to send some
financial help to Lencho.
2. The night after the rains turned sorrowful for Lencho because even though
the rain initially brought him hope, it turned into a hailstorm that destroyed
his crops. He realized the storm had left him with nothing to harvest and feed
his family, leading to a night filled with sorrow and despair.

Previous Years’ Other Questions:

1. How was Lencho’s cornfield destroyed? Had he any hope of help?
(2020)
2. Did the letter reach God? Why did the postmaster send a reply to
Lencho? (2020)
3. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped? (2020)
4. Why did Lencho’s happy mood change into concern? (2020)
5. The postmaster had mixed emotions while opening the letter. Explain.
(2023)
6. Why did the night after the rains turn sorrowful for Lencho? (2023)
7. What is ironic about the post office staff helping Lencho? (2021)
ANSWERS:
1. Suddenly, a severe hailstorm accompanied by rain and gusty winds struck,
devastating Lencho’s cornfield. In no time, his field lay blanketed with
hailstones, leaving no trees or crops standing. For the farmer Lencho, the
prospects of a harvest were dashed.
2. The letter never made it to God. When the postman noticed the letter
addressed to God with a request for 100 pesos, he brought it to the
 postmaster’s attention. The postmaster, not wishing to disillusion Lencho’s
belief in God, chose to intervene. He contributed a portion of his own salary
and solicited contributions from his colleagues. Together, they managed to
send Lencho seventy pesos, and the postmaster signed the letter as ‘God’ to
sustain Lencho’s faith.
3. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. When the storm had passed, he
stood in the middle of the field and said to his sons, “a plague of locusts would
have left more than this. The hail has left nothing. This year we will have no
corn.” That night was a sorrowful one for them, but in the heart of Lencho
there is only one hope – help from God.
4. Lencho had strong faith in God, for when his crops needed rain, Lencho
wished and prayed for the rain to God. Next morning he sat in his house and
waited for the rain. As soon as the rain started he became very happy and
began calling the raindrops silver coins. But unfortunately the rain was
accompanied with hailstorm, it turned into a disaster to the crops, plants and
trees, not even a leaf remained on them. The crops were totally destroyed.
Seeing this, Lencho’s heart was filled with sadness and thus his mood changed
into concern.
5. When the postmaster came across the letter, he broke out laughing, but
turned serious immediately. He admired the writer’s faith in God and wished
he could have such faith. He decided to answer the letter, but after opening
realized that the writer had asked for money, so he decided to collect money
and send it on behalf of God.
6. The rain changed into hailstones as a strong wind began to blow and huge
hailstones began to fall along with the rain. Lencho was filled with grief after
the rain stopped as everything was ruined and there was nothing to feed his
family. In this way the night turned into sorrowful for Lencho.
7. The post office workers, moved by his plight, gathered seventy pesos to aid
the unfortunate man and sent it to him. However, Lencho’s suspicion arose
when he did not receive the full amount he had asked for, leading him to brand
the altruistic post office staff as nothing but a group of crooks, thus presenting
the story’s poignant irony.

Character Sketch Related Questions

1. Give a character sketch of Lencho.
2. Give a character sketch of the Post Master.
ANSWERS:
1. Lencho is the protagonist of “A Letter to God” written by Gregorio Lopez y
Fuentes. Lencho is a poor peasant farmer who lives in a small village. He is a
simple, honest, hardworking man who depends on the rain for his crops to
grow. He is a devout believer in God and has a strong faith in Him. This is
evident when he writes a letter to God asking for money to help him through a
difficult time. Lencho is very confident that God will help him and even
criticizes the postmaster and employes for cheating but never doubts God.
Despite facing a setback when his letter is not answered in the way he expects,
Lencho remains resolute in his faith, believing that God has sent him the
money he asked for.
2. The postmaster in “A Letter to God” is a minor character who plays an
important role in the story. The postmaster is a kind and compassionate person
who wants to help those in need. He is also a practical person who knows how
to solve problems and find solutions. He is skeptical of Lencho’s letter to God
and finds it amusing. However, he does not want to offend Lencho and
decides to help him by collecting money from his colleagues to send Lencho a
letter that appears to be from God. Despite his initial skepticism, the
postmaster is moved by Lencho’s faith and determination to seek help from
God.