A Letter
to God

G.L. Fuentes, a Mexican author. Translated into English by Donald Yates.

A violent hailstorm. Lencho compared the hailstones to locusts, saying "the hail has left nothing."

Lencho asked for 100 pesos — to re-sow his fields and to live on until the next harvest.

70 pesos. The postmaster and employees collected what they could — 30 pesos short of Lencho's request.

Lencho compared raindrops to new coins — big drops to ten-cent pieces and small drops to five-cent pieces. A farmer's way of seeing the world.

He called them "a bunch of crooks" in his second letter, believing they had stolen 30 pesos from the money God had sent.

Lencho's house was located on the crest (top) of a low hill, in the valley below.

Lencho grew corn (maize). The field was ripe for harvest, and the crop was his family's entire livelihood.

The narrator describes Lencho as "an ox of a man" — meaning he was strong, hardworking, and sturdy like an ox.

His one hope was the help of God. He spent the night thinking only of this, and by morning decided to write a letter to God.

The envelope was addressed simply: "To God." No street, no city, no country — just God.

He burst out laughing ("a fat laugh") at the impossible address. But very quickly, his laughter turned into deep admiration for Lencho's faith.

The postmaster signed the letter as "God." He did not want Lencho to doubt his faith, so he played the role of God anonymously.

Lencho was filled with immense grief and sorrow. He said "the hail has left nothing — not a leaf, not a flower." His soul was "filled with sadness." However, unlike a man without faith, he did not despair into hopelessness. Instead, he turned to God — writing to Him as his only refuge. His grief was real, but his faith was stronger.

Lencho felt no surprise at the arrival of money — his faith fully expected it. But he was immediately angry on counting only 70 pesos. He was convinced that God had sent 100 pesos and that post office employees had stolen 30. This anger shows his total trust in God alongside his total distrust of humans — the story's core irony.

The central irony is that the very people who helped Lencho were accused by him of being crooks. The postmaster and colleagues gave their own money to protect Lencho's faith. Yet Lencho, blinded by that same faith, suspected them of theft. The helpers became the accused — a bittersweet, painful irony that is the heart of the story.

The postmaster is amiable, compassionate, and idealistic. Though he laughs first at the impossible letter, he is soon moved by Lencho's faith. He becomes a silent protector of that faith — collecting money, contributing his own salary, and signing the letter as "God." He represents the best of human nature: generosity without expectation of reward.

Lencho's faith was absolute and unquestioning. He believed "God could not have made a mistake, nor could He have denied what Lencho had requested." He saw the arrival of money as natural confirmation of God's promise. This level of faith left no room for doubt — it was both his greatest strength and his greatest blind spot.

The phrase is a metaphor that tells us Lencho was physically strong, hardworking, and resilient — like an ox used for heavy farm work. It also hints at a certain simplicity: an ox is powerful but not sophisticated. This prepares us to understand Lencho's later actions — his faith is immense but his perception of the world is limited.

The postmaster wrote to his employees asking for a charitable contribution, and also gave a part of his own salary. Despite his efforts, he could only gather 70 pesos — not the full 100 Lencho requested. He sent it in an envelope signed simply as "God," protecting Lencho's faith.

The second letter reveals two contrasting traits: his unwavering faith in God (he writes a second time without any doubt), and his distrust and suspicion of fellow humans. He accuses the very people who helped him of being crooks. This shows that while his faith is admirable, it has made him incapable of recognizing human goodness — a flaw the author highlights with gentle irony.

Lencho compared hailstones to locusts. Locusts are insects that devour entire crops — a biblical plague. By using this comparison, the author conveys that the hailstorm was equally devastating: it wiped out every crop just as locusts would. The comparison also has a poetic, folk-wisdom quality that reflects Lencho's simple but vivid way of describing his world.

The story suggests that human kindness can express itself as divine action. The postmaster — a human — performs what Lencho believes is an act of God. Yet ironically, Lencho's faith in God makes him distrust humans. The story subtly argues that God's help often comes through people, and that pure faith, if blind, can prevent us from seeing and appreciating real human goodness around us.

The story opens on a solitary house on a low hilltop overlooking a valley and river. The field below is ripe with corn. The atmosphere is hopeful and calm. Lencho watches from his door, sensing rain coming. The setting emphasizes isolation, dependence on nature, and the vulnerability of a poor farming family — all themes central to the story.

The title is ironic and symbolic. It sounds impossible — one cannot write to God. Yet that is exactly what Lencho does. The title captures the story's central theme: the power of absolute faith. It also makes the reader curious: Did God reply? The answer is both yes (a human replied on God's behalf) and no (God never truly did). This duality makes the title perfectly ambiguous and thought-provoking.

The rain initially brought joy and relief. Lencho went out into the rain to feel it on his body, calling it "new coins." His family watched with happiness from inside. The rain meant a good harvest, a full belly, and security. This joy makes the sudden turn of the hailstorm even more devastating — the story moves from bliss to ruin in moments.

No, Lencho was not right. From a rational perspective, the post office employees were the ones who actually helped him. They collected money out of compassion, not obligation. However, from Lencho's point of view, his logic was: "God sent 100 pesos → only 70 arrived → someone stole 30." Given his absolute faith in God's infallibility, his suspicion of humans is understandable — but it remains deeply ironic and ungrateful. The author uses this to gently critique blind faith that excludes human compassion.

The postmaster's act suggests that God-like qualities are found in humans — compassion, selflessness, anonymity, and the desire to protect another's spirit. He did not help Lencho for fame or money. He did it because he could not bear to shatter a man's faith. This is what divine action looks like in practice: an ordinary person doing an extraordinary thing quietly. The story implies that God works through people, and the postmaster is the clearest example of this truth.

Lencho is both sympathetic and foolish, and that is what makes him a complex, memorable character. He is sympathetic because he is a poor farmer facing genuine crisis, and his faith gives him strength. He is foolish because his blind faith prevents him from recognizing human kindness and leads him to slander the very people who helped him. The author does not mock him harshly — the tone is one of gentle irony and sadness, inviting the reader to both admire and shake their head at Lencho.

The story powerfully shows man's helplessness against nature. Lencho works hard, tends his crops carefully, and predicts the weather — but a single hailstorm erases all his labor in minutes. Nature is indifferent; it does not care for human effort or hope. This vulnerability is what drives Lencho to God. The story suggests that when humans face nature's cruelty, they turn to faith — and when faith is strong enough, other humans step up to help. Ironically, it is human compassion (not nature or God) that actually saves Lencho.

The story teaches multiple lessons: 1) Faith can be a source of great strength in adversity. 2) Human kindness can be as powerful as divine intervention. 3) Blind faith without awareness of the world can lead to ingratitude and injustice. 4) Good deeds done without expectation of reward are the truest form of goodness. The story asks us: Are we seeing the "God" that exists in the people around us? Or are we too blinded by our own beliefs to notice?

Lencho is simple, hardworking, deeply faithful, but naive and suspicious of people. His faith is vertical — directed entirely at God. The postmaster is educated, amiable, emotionally intelligent, and his faith in humanity is horizontal — he believes in the goodness of people. Lencho reacts to crisis with prayer; the postmaster reacts with action. One trusts God; the other embodies God-like qualities. Together they form a complete picture of two kinds of faith — and the story gently suggests the postmaster's kind is more complete.

G.L. Fuentes builds irony carefully, layer by layer. First, there is situational irony: a letter addressed "To God" is actually received and answered by a human postmaster. Then dramatic irony: the reader knows the truth about who sent the money, but Lencho does not. Finally, the climactic irony: Lencho's second letter accuses of theft the very men who acted as God's agents for him. Each layer deepens the central paradox — that Lencho's faith in the invisible God blinds him to the visible goodness of real people.

This extract marks the turning point of the story. The "white mantle" of hailstones symbolizes destruction beneath an appearance of beauty. The listing — "trees, corn, beans" — shows the total scope of the disaster: nothing was spared. The calm, factual tone of the narration contrasts with the horror of the loss, making it more powerful. It is the moment Lencho's hope transforms into despair, and then into desperate faith.

This line reveals that Lencho's faith is absolute and infallible in his mind. He has constructed a world where God is perfect and never wrong. This certainty is admirable but also dangerous — it means any gap between his expectation and reality must be someone else's fault (the "crooks"). The line sets up the story's final irony perfectly: because God cannot be wrong, the humans around Lencho must be.

This is the climax of irony in the story. The "crooks" Lencho refers to are the postmaster and his employees — the very people who donated their own money to help him. They acted selflessly, without any obligation. Lencho's gratitude to God is enormous, but his gratitude to the humans who acted as God is zero — he sees them only as thieves. The line is funny, sad, and profound all at once. It is the author's sharpest social commentary.

The literary device used here is repetition combined with short, fragmented sentences. The effect is devastating — the short, clipped words mimic the abruptness of total loss. Each phrase is like another blow. The word "Nothing" standing alone at the end is the most powerful word in the passage. It strips away all hope in one syllable. The rhythm of the language mirrors the emptiness Lencho feels.