A LETTER TO GOD
G.L. FUENTES
ORAL COMPREHENSION CHECK
1) What did Lencho hope for?
Ans: Lencho hoped for a rain shower for his crop field.
2) Why did Lencho say
the raindrops were like 'new coins'?
Ans: After the rain
shower, everything was going according to Lencho's plan and he had massive
certainty that his harvest would return significant benefits. As a result, he
alluded to the drops as new coins, the bigger ones being identical to ten pesos
and more modest ones, five pesos.
3) How did the rain
change? What happened to Lencho's fields?
Ans: The rain changed to a hailstorm, soon after the rainfall had begun.
Lencho’s fields got withered; the trees had shed their leaves and the flowers.
4) What were Lencho's
feelings when the hail stopped?
Ans: When the hailstorm had
stopped, Lencho was extremely depressed and his soul was filled with immense grief.
ORAL COMPREHENSION CHECK
1) Who or what did
Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Ans: Lencho had firm faith in God. He chose to compose a letter to God
passing on his complaints and requesting 100 pesos for survival and restoration
of crops.
2) Who read the
letter?
Ans: A postman of the post office read the letter.
3) What did the postmaster do
then?
Ans: The postmaster was stunned at Lencho's resolute faith in the god
and hence, to hold it, he chose to gather money for him from his colleagues and
companions.
ORAL COMPREHENSION CHECK
1) Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money
in it?
Ans: Lencho was not at all surprised on seeing the
letter since this is the thing that he was anticipating. All things considered,
he was angry when he tracked down that the sum was not as much as what he had
requested.
2) What made him angry?
Ans: Lencho was disappointed when he tracked down that the money was not
as much as what he had requested.
THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT
1) Who does Lencho
have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
Ans: Lencho has firm
faith in God. These lines are apparent to this fact: "Lencho showed
not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence - but
he became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake,
nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested."
2) Why does the
postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter 'God'?
Ans: The postmaster
would not like to shake the author's firm faith in the God, and consequently,
out of worthy purpose, chosen to gather money for an act of charity. He composed the letter for the God to cover his way of life as he
needed Lencho to think it's anything but an answer from God.
3) Did Lencho try to
find out who had sent the money to him? Why/ Why not?
Ans: No, Lencho did not try to find out who had
sent the money to him. He was optimistic about the presence of God and that,
his letter is really received and answered to, by God. It was his firm faith
that made him not question the personality of the sender.
4) Who does Lencho
think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation? (Remember that the irony of a situation is an unexpected aspect of it. An
ironic situation is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what is
expected.)
Ans: Lencho believed that it is the postmaster or
the workers of the post office who had taken his leftover money, as is apparent
from his second letter to God where he demands the God not to send money by
mail later. It was really the postmaster and the workers who had gathered the
money out of their spotless expectation to keep Lencho's firm faith
unblemished, but is the ones who wound up getting reprimanded for taking the
missing money.
5) Are there people like
Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? You may
select appropriate words from the bracket to answer the question.
(Greedy, naïve, stupid, ungrateful, selfish,
comical, unquestioning)
Ans: No, it is hard to find people like Lencho in real
world. Lencho is naive and unquestioning due to his absence of judgment about
the actual presence of God. He didn't address getting a real answer from the
omnipotent. He is dissatisfied in some way on the grounds that on seeing 70
pesos, he is unsettled yet all things considered, griped about the missing 30
pesos.
6) There are two kinds of
conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans
themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Ans: The story "A Letter to God" portrays two
sorts of struggles; one among man and nature and the other among men
themselves. In the beginning of the story, the farmer expects a rainfall to
help his corn field. On really getting precipitation, he gets excited and
begins contemplating all the benefit that would come in. Very little later, his
happiness is transformed into distress when the wind becomes strong prompting a
hailstorm. This portrays the conflict among man and nature wherein people need
the nature to act as per their goals. The subsequent disparity emerges when
Lencho begins questioning the honesty of the post master and remaining workers
of post office who really assisted him with the money secretly. This is simply
the contention among men, wherein, we are prepared to trust in the possibility
of God's presence yet we are not prepared to trust in one another.
THINKING ABOUT THE LANGUAGE
I. Look at the following sentence from the
story.
Suddenly a strong wind began to blow and
along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall.
‘Hailstones’ are
small balls of ice that fall like rain. A storm in which hailstones fall is a
‘hailstorm’. You know that a storm is bad weather with strong winds, rain,
thunder and lightning.
There
are different names in different parts of the world for storms, depending on
their nature. Can you match the names in the bracket with their descriptions
below, and fill in the blanks? You may use a dictionary to help you.
{Gale,
whirlwind, cyclone, hurricane, tornado, typhoon}
1) A
violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: __ __ c __ __ __
__
Ans: Cyclone
2) An
extremely strong wind : __ a __ __
Ans: Gale
3) A
violent tropical storm with very strong winds: __ __ p __ __ __ __
Ans: Typhoon
4) A
violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: __ __ __ n __
__ __
Ans: Tornado
5) A
violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean:
__ __ r __ __ __ __ __ __
Ans: Hurricane
6) A
very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot
of damage: __ __ __ __ l __ __ __ __
Ans: Whirlwind
II. Notice how the word ‘hope’ is used in
these sentences from the story:
(a) I hope it (the hailstorm) passes quickly.
(b) There was a single hope: help from God.
In the first example, ‘hope’ is a verb which means you wish for
something to happen. In the second example it is a noun meaning a chance for
something to happen.
Match
the sentences in Column A with the meanings of 'hope' in Column B.
|
A |
B |
|
1. Will you get the
subjects you want to study in college? I hope so. |
- a feeling that
something good will probably happen |
|
2. I hope you don't mind
my saying this, but I don't like the way you are arguing. |
- thinking that this
would happen (It may or may not have happened.) |
|
3. This discovery will
give new hope to HIV/AIDS sufferers. |
- stopped believing that
this good thing would happen |
|
4. We were hoping against
hope that the judges would not notice our mistakes. |
wanting something to
happen (and thinking it quite possible) |
|
5. I called early in the
hope of speaking to her before she went to school. |
- showing concern that
what you say should not offend or disturb the other person: a way of being
polite |
|
6. Just when everybody
had given up hope, the fishermen came back, seven days after the cyclone. |
- wishing for something
to happen, although this is very unlikely |
Answer:
|
A |
B |
|
1. Will you get the
subjects you want to study in college? I hope so. |
- wanting something to
happen (and thinking it quite possible) |
|
2. I hope you don't mind
my saying this, but I don't like the way you are arguing. |
- showing concern that
what you say should not offend or disturb the other person: a way of being
polite |
|
3. This discovery will
give new hope to HIV/AIDS sufferers. |
- a feeling that
something good will probably happen |
|
4. We were hoping against
hope that the judges would not notice our mistakes. |
- wishing for something
to happen, although this is very unlikely |
|
5. I called early in the
hope of speaking to her before she went to school. |
- thinking that this
would happen (It may or may not have happened.) |
|
6. Just when everybody
had given up hope, the fishermen came back, seven days after the cyclone. |
- stopped believing that
this good thing would happen |
III. Relative Clause
Look at these sentences
(a) All morning Lencho — who knew his fields intimately —
looked at the sky.
(b) The woman, who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing.”
The
italicised parts of the sentences give us more information about Lencho and the
woman. We call them relative clauses.
Notice that they begin with a relative
pronoun who. Other common relative pronouns are whom, whose, and
which.
The relative
clauses in (a) and (b) above are called non-defining,
because we already know the identity of the person they describe. Lencho is a
particular person, and there is a particular woman he speaks to. We don’t need
the information in the relative clause to pick these people out from a larger
set.
A non-defining
relative clause usually has a comma in front of it and a comma after it (some
writers use a dash (—) instead, as in the story). If the relative clause comes
at the end, we just put a full stop.
Join the sentences
given below using who, whom, whose, which, as suggested.
1) I often go to
Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (which)
Ans: I often go to Mumbai, which is the capital city of India.
2) My mother is going
to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)
Ans: My mother, who cooks very well, is going to host a TV show on
cooking.
3) These sports
persons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent.
(whose)
Ans: These sportspersons, whose performance has been excellent, are
going to meet the President.
4) Lencho prayed to
God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)
Ans: Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.
5) This man cheated
me. I trusted him. (whom)
Ans: This man, whom I trusted, cheated me.
Sometimes the relative pronoun in a relative clause remains ‘hidden’.
For example, look at the first sentence of the story:
(a) The house — the only one in the entire valley — sat on the crest of
a low hill.
We can rewrite this sentence as:
(b) The house — which was the
only one in the entire valley — sat on the crest of a low hill.
In (a), the relative pronoun which
and the verb was, are
not present.
IV. Using Negatives for Emphasis
We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show
the absence of something, or contradict something. For example:
(a) This year we will have no corn. (Corn will be absent)
(b) The hail has left nothing. (Absence of a crop)
(c) These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins.
(Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from the
sky are)
But sometims negative words are used just to emphasise an idea. Look at
these sentences from the story:
(d) Lencho…had done nothing
else but see the sky towards the northeast.
(He had done only this)
(e) The man went out for no
other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.
(He had only this reason)
(f) Lencho showed not the
slightest surprise on seeing the money.
(He showed no surprise at all)
Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact
serves to emphasise the value or usefulness of the rain to the farmer.
Find sentences in the
story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically.
1) The trees lost all
their leaves.
Ans: "Not a leaf remained on the trees."
2) The letter was
addressed to God himself.
Ans: "It was nothing less than a letter to God.”
3) The postman saw
this address for the first time in his career.
Ans: "Never in his career as a postman had he known that
address."
V. Metaphors
The word metaphor comes
from a Greek word meaning ‘transfer’. Metaphors compare two things or ideas: a
quality or feature of one thing is transferred to another thing. Some common
metaphors are
• the leg of the table: The
leg supports our body. So the object that supports a table is described as a
leg.
• the heart of the city: The
heart is an important organ in the centre of our body. So this word is used to
describe the central area of a city.
In pairs, find metaphors from the story to
complete the table below. Try to say what qualities are being compared. One has
been done for you.
Answer:
|
OBJECT |
METAPHOR |
QUALITY OR FEATURE
COMPARED |
|
CLOUD |
Huge mountains of clouds |
The mass or 'hugeness' of
mountains |
|
RAINDROPS |
New coins |
The draping or covering
of an area by a curtain |
|
HAILSTONES |
New silver coins /frozen
pearls |
The resemblance in colour
and hardness to a pearl |
|
LOCUSTS |
A plague of locusts |
An epidemic (a disease)
that spreads very rapidly and leaves many people dead |
|
MAN (LENCHO) |
An ox of a man |
The working of an ox in
the fields (hard work) |
A LETTER TO GOD SUMMARY
A Letter to God is a story composed by G.L. Fuentes which
portrays the firm faith of a poor and simple-minded named Lencho in God. Lencho
was poor but a dedicated farmer. He was expecting a decent crop. Regrettably, a
hailstorm came abruptly and obliterated every one of his yields and crop
completely. Seeing the damage, poor farmer was shocked and felt miserable.
Notwithstanding, he had a firm faith in God. He was an educated man who
realized how to peruse and compose. Because of his direct nature, he was sure
that God would help him. Subsequently, he chose to draft a letter to God while
addressing his financial worries to him. In the letter, he mentioned God to
send him hundred pesos to sow his fields again and save his family from
starvation. Before long he composed a letter and went to the post office. He
put a stamp on the letter and dropped it into the post box.
When the postman took out the letter from the letter-box,
he laughed generously subsequent to understanding it. He quickly hurried to the
postmaster and showed him the peculiar letter. The postmaster read the letter
however roared with laughter when he saw that the letter was addressed to God.
Nonetheless, he was additionally moved by the faith of the farmer with which
the letter was kept in touch with God. He praised the helpless farmer's
undeniable faith in God and chose to help him. Before long, he requested the
representatives from the post office to contribute some money as a cause and
furthermore gave a piece of his compensation so that Lencho's faith in God
isn't shaken. Be that as it may, the money gathered was somewhat less than what
Lencho had mentioned from God. The postmaster then, at that point put all the
money gathered in an envelope and addressed it to the helpless farmer.
The next Sunday, Lencho went to the post office to check
if there was a letter for him. The postmaster delicately gave over the letter
to him. Lencho was not astounded at all to see the letter with money inside the
envelope. He unhesitatingly opened the envelope to check the money, yet lost
control when he saw that there was just seventy pesos in it. He was certain
that God might have never committed a particularly grave error. He immediately
went to the window to request paper and ink and composed another letter to God
and dropped it into the letter-box.
At the point when Lencho had left the spot, the
postmaster opened and read his letter right away. In it, Lencho had raised a
complaint to God that he had at first mentioned for 100 pesos, yet he was vexed
to discover seventy pesos in particular. Moreover, he scrutinized the post
office representatives and felt that they probably taken the leftover thirty
pesos from his envelope. He asked God to send him the remainder of the money
since he was in earnest need of it. Notwithstanding, he mentioned God not to
send the money through the mail on the grounds that Lencho felt that the post
office employees were a lot of hooligans who may have taken the leftover money
from the envelope.
