Long Answers a latter to god

We can understand Lencho’s character with the help of following points:

1. A poor farmer: 

Lencho is a poor farmer. His livelihood relied solely on farming. Only a good harvest of corn could 

suffice his needs and if the crop turned bad, he and his family would be in miserable condition. His addressing the small 

raindrops five cents and big drops ten cents clearly suggests his penury and his dire need of money. The hailstorm proved 

to be his worst nightmare.

2. A hardworking fellow: 

Because his livelihood was solely dependent on his agriculture, Lencho worked hard in order 

that his field yielded a good harvest. It has been told in the story that he was an ox of a man, working like animals in his 

fields.

3. A literate person: 

Despite his humble lifestyle and rustic occupation, Lencho knew how to read and write. Also, he was 

little familiar with post-office procedure. When his crops were destroyed, he tried to start a correspondence with God, 

asking for money.

4. Simple and innocent person: 

Lencho was very simple and innocent person. He wrote a letter to God and requested to 

send him 100 pesos. He did not know it was impossible to get any such help. When he received the letter, he didn’t show 

the slightest sign of surprise and very innocently believed that it was from God.

5. Firm faith in God: 

Lencho had firm faith in God –there is no doubt. When his corns were destroyed by hailstone, he fell 

into utter despair and for a moment he dreaded that he and his family would starve to death. But then he realised that

God would never let this happen and was certain that God would help him. His writing a letter to God may seem foolish 

and nonsense to some people, nevertheless his belief is worth noticing. 

6. A hopeful Person: 

All through the story we have never seen Lencho crumbling on his knees. When his cornfield needed 

water, he was hopeful that it was going to rain –and it did, too. When his crops were destroyed, he hoped that God 

would never let him and his family suffer. When he received only seventy pesos, he right away wrote another letter 

asking God for the rest of the money. All these acts show that Lencho was always a hopeful person.

Q2. There are two kinds of conflict in the story, between humans and nature and between humans themselves. How are

these conflicts illustrated?

Ans.

Conflict between Humans and Nature: 

The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated by the destruction of 

Lencho’s crop by the hailstorm as Lencho was expecting a good rain to have good harvest because that was the only hope 

he had for his earning. He worked so hard to feed his family, but nature turned violent and destroyed everything and 

shattered all his hope.

Conflict between Humans themselves: 

The story also illustrated another conflict, between humans themselves as the 

postmaster along with his friends and staff sent Lencho money that Lencho demanded from God although they didn’t 

know Lencho. But what did they get for such charitable act? Lencho blamed them for taking away some amount of 

money. He called them ‘a bunch of crooks’. This shows that man does not have trust in man, thereby giving rise to this 

conflict.

Q3. What kind of people were the post office employees? Was Lencho justified in calling them a bunch of crooks?

Ans. Post-office employees were nice and generous. They laughed when they saw Lencho’s letter addressed to God. But

soon they became serious to see his firm faith. They decided to send him some money, considering his miserable

condition. They collected seventy pesos and sent it to Lencho. When Lencho opened the envelope he found that there

were only seventy pesos whereas he had asked God for 100 pesos. He thought that the post office employees had stolen the rest of the money. So he called them a bunch of crooks. Thus, Lencho is not at all justified in calling them crooks. 

Though it only shows his firm faith in God and innocence and was unaware of truth. Nevertheless his assumption was 

wrong.