How Did the Rain Change What Happened to Lencho Field — A Letter to God

Before the rain, Lencho's corn crop was mature and ready for harvest — he expected a good yield and a comfortable year for his family. When the rain arrived, he initially celebrated, comparing the large raindrops to new coins. But the rain quickly turned into a violent hailstorm. After the storm, the field was completely devastated — not a leaf was left on the trees, the corn was totally destroyed, and the flowers were gone. What should have been a harvest became a catastrophe, leaving Lencho's family facing hunger and ruin.

Lencho writes to God because he has absolute, unshakeable faith in divine help. After the hailstorm destroys his crop, he has no other source of help — no savings, no insurance, no wealthy relatives. He believes that God sees everything and will help those who work hard and trust in him. Writing a letter to God is, for Lencho, a completely natural and logical action. He asks for 100 pesos — enough to re-sow his field and survive until the next harvest.

The postmaster reads the letter addressed 'To God' and is deeply moved by Lencho's faith. Laughing at first, he quickly realises the seriousness of the situation and decides to help. He collects money from his employees and friends — contributing part of his own salary — and manages to gather 70 pesos, which he sends to Lencho in an envelope signed 'God.'

The story contains a profound and bitter irony: the postmaster and his colleagues perform a genuine act of kindness to preserve Lencho's faith, but Lencho's faith is so great that it works against them. When Lencho receives only 70 pesos instead of 100, he does not doubt God — instead, he is convinced that God's messengers (the post office employees) stole the remaining 30 pesos. The very people who helped him are accused of theft. The act of charity goes completely unrecognised.

In his second letter, Lencho writes to God saying he received only 70 pesos and asks God to send the remaining 30. He then asks God not to send the money through the mail because — as he puts it — 'the post office employees are a bunch of crooks.' This is both comical and sad: Lencho's faith in God is perfect, but his faith in his fellow human beings is zero, even when those humans have just saved him.

The main themes are: faith — Lencho's absolute trust in God is the engine of the entire story; irony — the generous act of the post office workers is rewarded with suspicion; human kindness — the postmaster's compassion shows the best of human nature; the contrast between faith and scepticism — Lencho trusts God completely but not people; and naivety versus worldliness — Lencho's simple faith is both his strength and his limitation.

Fuentes creates irony through the gap between Lencho's expectations and reality. Lencho trusts God implicitly but distrusts the very humans acting as God's instruments of mercy. The postmaster's noble gesture — collecting money out of his own pocket to protect a stranger's faith — ends up making him an unwitting target of Lencho's accusation. The reader sees the full picture and appreciates the gap between what Lencho believes and what actually happened.

The story presents faith as both beautiful and blinding. Lencho's faith gives him strength to continue after a devastating loss — rather than despair, he acts. This is admirable. But his faith also prevents him from seeing the human goodness right in front of him. He is so certain of God's involvement that he cannot recognise the postmaster's role. The story suggests that absolute faith, while powerful, can close a person off from appreciating the kindness of fellow human beings.