A Letter to God Summary: Class 10 English

The story revolves around Lencho, a hardworking farmer who lives in a solitary house on the crest of a low hill. His cornfield is ready for harvest, but desperately needs a downpour to yield a good crop. Initially, it starts raining, bringing joy to Lencho. However, the rain quickly turns into a violent hailstorm. For an hour, giant hailstones batter his field, completely destroying the entire crop. Lencho is left devastated, fearing his family will starve that year.

Despite total ruin, Lencho has an unbreakable faith in God. He believes that God's eyes see everything and He will not let them starve. The following Sunday, he writes a letter directly to 'God', asking for 100 pesos to sow his field again and survive until the next harvest. He drops it in the mail.

A postman finds the letter addressed to God and brings it to the Postmaster, initially laughing. However, the Postmaster is deeply moved by Lencho's profound faith. Deciding not to shake the farmer's belief, he decides to answer the letter. He collects money from his employees, gives part of his own salary, and manages to gather 70 pesos. He puts the money in an envelope and signs it simply: 'God'.

When Lencho receives the money, he is not surprised at all—such is his faith. But upon counting it, he becomes angry. He finds only 70 pesos instead of the 100 he asked for. Believing God could not make a mistake, Lencho concludes that the post office employees must have stolen the remaining 30 pesos. He immediately writes a second letter to God, asking Him to send the rest of the money, but explicitly asks Him not to send it through the mail, because the post office employees are 'a bunch of crooks'. This creates a powerful situational irony where the very people who helped him are deemed thieves.