A Letter to God (G.L. Fuentes) — Practice

Question 1

Who was Lencho?

Accepted Answer

✦ Answer: Lencho was a poor Mexican farmer who lived on top of a hill with his family. He had deep, unshakeable faith in God and was hardworking but somewhat naive.

Question 2

Why was Lencho disappointed with the reply from God?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Lencho's request.
  He asked for 100 pesos in his letter.

Step 2 — What he received.
  Only 70 pesos in an envelope marked 'God'.

Step 3 — His reaction.
  Disappointed and angry, NOT grateful. Counted the money and assumed God would never send less than asked.

Step 4 — His conclusion.
  Believed the postal workers stole 30 pesos.

✦ Answer: Lencho was disappointed because he received only 70 pesos instead of the 100 he had asked for. His complete faith convinced him God would have sent the full amount, so he assumed the postal workers had stolen 30 pesos.

Question 3

Discuss the irony in 'A Letter to God' and how it shapes the story's message.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Define irony.
  Irony = a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. Here, situational irony dominates.

Step 2 — Set-up.
  Lencho's crops are destroyed by hail. He has deep, unwavering faith in God and writes a letter asking God for 100 pesos.

Step 3 — The kind act.
  The postmaster is moved by Lencho's faith. He doesn't want to shake it. He collects money from postal employees and adds his own share. They manage 70 pesos — less than 100 — and send it in an envelope marked 'God'.

Step 4 — The expected response.
  We expect Lencho to be GRATEFUL — to the postal workers (if he knew) or to God.

Step 5 — The actual response (irony).
  Lencho is ANGRY. He believes God would never short-change him. He accuses the postal workers — the very people who helped him — of being THIEVES who stole 30 pesos.

Step 6 — Layers of irony.
  • The helpers are accused of stealing.
  • The 'God' he thanked was actually kind humans.
  • His faith, meant to be a virtue, blinds him to human goodness.
  • Trying to help, the postmaster gets called a 'crook'.

Step 7 — Message of the story.
  • Faith can be both inspiring and blinding.
  • Good deeds often go unappreciated.
  • Human nature is complex — even when we help, we may be misunderstood.
  • The story doesn't condemn faith or kindness; it shows their messy intersection.

Step 8 — Author's craft.
  Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes used irony to comment on rural faith, naivety, and the silent goodness of strangers. The story stays with the reader precisely because the ending defies expectations.

✦ Answer: The central irony is that Lencho, whose deep faith leads him to write to God, accuses the very humans (postal workers and postmaster) who anonymously helped him of being thieves. The expected gratitude is replaced by suspicion. This irony delivers the story's message: faith can blind us to human kindness, and good deeds often go unappreciated. The author uses irony not to mock faith but to show the complexity of human nature.

Practice — A Letter to God (G.L. Fuentes)

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