CBSE Class 10 English A Letter to God Important Questions Set 03

Short Answer Questions

Question 1. Why did Lencho’s happy mood change into concern? (CBSE 2020)
Answer: Lencho had a strong faith in God. When his crops needed rain, Lencho wished and prayed to God for the rain. Next morning he sat in his house and waited for the rain. As soon as the rain started he became very happy and began calling the raindrops new coins. But unfortunately the rain was accompanied by a hailstorm; it turned into a disaster for the crops, plants and trees, and not even a leaf remained on them. The crops were totally destroyed. Seeing this, Lencho’s heart was filled with sadness and thus his mood changed totally.

Question 2. “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins.” What made Lencho say this?
Answer: Lencho said the raindrops were like new coins because, as expected by him, a good rain would yield a good harvest, and a good harvest would fetch him good money. With immense joy, he likened the big drops of rain to ten cent pieces and the small ones to fives.

Question 3. What happened to Lencho’s field when the rain turned into a hailstorm?
Answer: All of a sudden, a strong wind began to blow and large hailstones began to fall along with the rain. Without prior warning the pleasant rain had turned into a malicious hailstorm, which wreaked havoc on Lencho’s field. Very soon the entire field was covered in hailstones, and of the crops, flowers and leaves on the trees, nothing remained.

Question 4. What did Lencho decide to do after the hailstorm? Why did he do it?
Answer: After the hailstorm Lencho wrote a letter to God asking Him to send a hundred pesos so as to sow his field again and live until the crop came. The hailstorm had left nothing of the harvest which Lencho could sell in the market to get some money. The thought of the whole family going hungry throughout the year scared Lencho and his wife. But they had full faith in God, and firmly believed that if anyone could save them from their misery, it was God.

Question 5. Who read the letter and what was his reaction? What did he do?
Answer: A postman, seeing that the letter was addressed to God, brought it to the postmaster who read it and gave a hearty laugh. Realising that the person who wrote the letter had full faith in God, and that it would not be right to prove him wrong, the postmaster took it upon himself to collect the sum of money Lencho had asked for in the letter to God.

Question 6. What was Lencho’s reaction after receiving God’s reply? What did he do?
Answer: Lencho was not at all surprised that God replied to his letter. In fact, he was sure that He would reply. However, when he opened the letter and counted the money, he found that it was not the full amount that he had asked for. This made Lencho very angry.
Lencho wrote another letter to God and asked Him to send the remaining amount immediately. He also requested God not to send it through the mail because the post office employees were not reliable people.

Question 7. Who does Lencho think had 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.) (NCERT)
Answer: Lencho thinks that the rest of the money has been taken by some official in the post office. The irony of the situation is that the post office officials whom Lencho is calling a “bunch of crooks” are the same people who have provided him financial help on behalf of God.

Question 8. 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 box to answer the question. (greedy, naive, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, comical, unquestioning) (NCERT)
Answer: No, I don’t think there are people like Lencho in the real world. Lencho is a naive person who has an unfaltered belief in God.

Question 9. There are two kinds of conflicts in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated? (NCERT)
Answer: The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated in the destruction of Lencho’s corn fields by a hailstorm. Conflict between humans is illustrated by the anger Lencho feels towards the post office officials for taking some money out from the money sent to him by God.

Question 10. Why had Lencho been looking at the sky towards the north-east?
Answer: Lencho’s fields were ready and all that was needed was rain. In anticipation of rain, Lencho had been looking towards the north-east from where the rain clouds would approach.

Question 11. What were Lencho‘s feelings when the hail stopped?
Answer: After the hail stopped, Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. He could see a bleak future for him and his family. He was worried about the lack of food for the coming year.

Question 12. What did Lencho write in his letter to God?
Answer: Lencho wrote that because of the hailstorm, his crops had been destroyed and he needed a hundred pesos to live until the next crop was harvested. He wrote that if God did not help him, he and his family would die out of hunger.

Question 13. How did the postmaster collect the money? Was he able to collect the full amount?
Answer: The postmaster asked for money from his employees, he himself gave a part of his salary and several friends of his were obliged to give something ‘for an act of charity’. But still, he was not able to collect the full amount of a hundred pesos.

Question 14. “So, in order not to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea: answer the letter.” Why did the postmaster help Lencho and how?
Answer: Lencho was a poor but dedicated farmer who had lost the entire year’s harvest to a hailstorm. He wrote a letter to God seeking the aid of a hundred pesos. When the postmaster got the letter he was moved by the great faith of the farmer in God. So the postmaster decided to respect Lencho's faith and help him. But to his dismay, the postmaster was able to assemble only seventy pesos from his salary and from his colleagues and friends who willingly contributed for an act of charity. Then he wrapped it in an envelope to make it seem like a reply from God.

Question 15. “But don’t send it to me through the mail because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks." Why did Lencho call the post-office employees "a bunch of crooks"?
Answer: On receiving the reply to his letter, Lencho was not at all shocked but rather got angry on finding that the amount was less than what he had expected. So he again wrote a letter to God calling the post office employees " a bunch of crooks" as he doubted the employees had stolen the remaining amount.

Long Answer Questions

Question 1. Describe the character of Lencho in the light of his faith and attitude towards God and man.
Answer: Lencho was a hardworking farmer who had immense faith in God. He had such an immense faith in the existence and helpfulness of God that he started communicating with him. He wrote a letter to God requesting him to send him one hundred pesos. When he received seventy pesos, he was not surprised at all. He even doubted the integrity of the post office employees who, he thought, had stolen his thirty pesos. He was a poor judge of human nature. His attitude towards man was negative. He could not think of a help from man.

Question 2. Lencho called the post office employees ‘a bunch of crooks’. What does it show about his attitude towards men? Was he not A person of humility, appreciation and gratefulness? Elaborate.
Answer: Lencho called the post office employees a bunch of crooks as he thought that they had stolen his money sent by God. He was not correct in his assessment of the employees. It shows that he had a negative attitude towards mankind. He was not a fair judge of man’s nature.
It seems he was too naive to have the sense of humility, appreciation and gratefulness. He hurt the feelings of the post office employees unintentionally. He was a simple man who had immense faith in God but could not think of any help from men. His anger and attitude towards them shows that he did not have any faith in men. He did not credit the post office employees for their help out of ignorance but he should not have called them a bunch of crooks.

Question 3. What kind of people were the post office employees? What do you like about the gesture of the postmaster?
Answer: The post office employees were very generous, kind and helpful people.
When they received the letter for God from Lencho, they were impressed with his faith in God although initially they made fun of it. They did not want to hurt his feelings and shake his faith in God. They decided to help him by sending him money.
It was a noble gesture on their part. All of them contributed by giving a share of their salaries. It shows their kindness and generosity. They could have told Lencho the truth about God but their sensitivity stopped them from doing so. They did not want to hurt his feelings. They had sympathy and compassion for Lencho. The postmaster’s generosity, his sensitivity, initiative and his noble gesture make him a good human being in the eyes of the readers.

Question 4. Imagine that Lencho realises that the money received wasn’t from God but from the post office employees. Write a diary entry in about 120 words exploring his emotions and his belief in God.
Answer: 12 January, 20XX, Monday
6:30 pm
Dear Diary,
It has been an extremely shocking day for me. Yesterday, after opening the envelope, I realised that I had received only seventy pesos. I was confident that God must have sent me the complete amount, so I blamed the post office employees for stealing the rest of the money. Today, I again went to the post office to check if I had received another envelope, and as I was waiting, a person came to me and told me that it wasn’t God but the employees who had collected the money to help me. Now, I cannot stop blaming myself for assuming those generous people to be thieves. Although God didn’t come down directly from heaven to help me, he sent the post office employees to help me. I feel grateful for everything.
Lencho

Question 5. The postmaster was a representative of God. Critically examine this statement in the context of your understanding of ‘A Letter to God’.
Answer: The postmaster was a representative of God. He was an epitome of humanity. At first, when he saw the letter addressed to ‘God’, he laughed at it, but after reading it, he was amazed by Lencho’s deep faith in God. So, he decided to help him on behalf of God. He collected some money by asking his fellow post office employees and his friends to contribute their share to it.
He himself donated a part of his own salary to the cause. He wanted to keep Lencho’s belief in God intact and didn’t want Lencho’s faith to be shaken. Lencho’s unshakeable faith in God made the postmaster a representative of God, as God ultimately helped Lencho through the postmaster.

Question 6. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this? (NCERT)
Answer: Lencho had complete faith in God. The sentences in the story that show this are as follows.
(1) “All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.”
(2) “God,” he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes, because the hailstorm...”
(3) “God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.”
(4) “God: Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the mail because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks.”

Question 7. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated? (NCERT)
Answer: The conflict between humans and nature has been illustrated by the hailstorm destroying the crop completely. Lencho, who had worked hard in the fields, was expecting a good harvest. He only needed a downpour or a little shower, but nature destroyed the crop by way of a hailstorm.
The other conflict is illustrated between humans themselves. The postmaster wanted to keep Lencho’s faith in God, therefore, he collected money from his employees and friends and gave it to Lencho as if it was sent by God. Lencho, instead of being grateful to them, thought that the money that was short had been taken away by the post office employees and he therefore called them crooks.

Question 8. Describe Lencho’s qualities in light of his faith in God. Do you have faith in God like Lencho? Was Lencho’s reaction towards the post office employees right? (CBSE 2015)
Answer: Lencho was a destitute peasant whose crops were totally destroyed by the heavy hailstorm. He had to suffer a huge loss due to it. He was petrified that he and his family would have to spend the entire year hungry as they had nothing to survive on. In the moment of despair, his only ray of hope was God. He believed that God would help him in this plight. He had firm faith in God and believed that God would not let him and his family die of hunger.
Yes, I do have a strong belief in God like Lencho. I believe that God is the only one who never disappoints a person at the time of predicament. Lencho’s reaction towards the post office employees was not right. He suspected them of being ‘crooks’ who had stolen the money, but in fact, it was the post office employees who had helped Lencho by donating their share of money for him.

Question 9. What were the contents of the letter that Lencho wrote to God? What does it show about him? (Delhi Gov. QB 2022)
Answer: Lencho wrote a letter to God in desperation. He felt hopeless after the hailstorm ruined his crop. Lencho had immense faith in God and he was confident that God would help him. He wrote a letter and mentioned his plight. He asked God to send him 100 pesos so that he could live till the next crop and also be able to sow his field again. Lencho was a man of faith. He was a believer. He really believed that God would not refuse to help him. It shows his pure faith and determined spirit.

Question 10. You have been chosen to address a student gathering in your neighbourhood to speak on the importance of faith, resilience and finding inner strength in the face of adversity. Prepare a speech draft in not more than 120 words, with reference to the experiences of Lencho in ‘A Letter to God’.
Answer: Good morning, everyone. Today I would like to speak on the importance of faith, resilience and inner strength in difficult times.
In ‘A Letter to God’, Lencho, a poor farmer, loses his entire crop to a hailstorm. Though his family faces hunger, he does not give up. His unshakeable faith in God gives him the strength to write a letter asking for help. His faith also touches the postmaster, who collects money to keep that faith alive.
Lencho teaches us that adversity can break our fields but not our spirit. Faith gives hope, and hope gives the courage to begin again. At the same time, we must also work hard and trust the kindness of people around us.
Thank you.

Question 11. “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” — Helen Keller
Comment with reference to Lencho in the story, ‘A Letter to God’.
Answer: When the hailstorm destroyed Lencho’s crop, one door of happiness closed for him. Another door opened when the postmaster and his colleagues collected money and sent it to him in God’s name. However, Lencho kept looking at the ‘closed door’ — the thirty pesos that were missing. Instead of recognising the kindness he had received, he suspected the post office employees and called them a bunch of crooks.
Helen Keller’s words fit Lencho perfectly. Had he focused on the help that came to him, he would have felt grateful. The story teaches us to value the opportunities and kindness that come our way rather than dwelling only on what we have lost.

Question 12. Why does Lencho write a letter to God? What does he experience? (CBSE Delhi 2011)
Answer: Lencho was a farmer, whose field always yielded a good harvest. However, unfortunately, due to an unexpected hailstorm, Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed. Lencho and his family were going to be rendered penniless and hungry for an entire year.
Lencho had unflinching faith in God. He believed that only God could get him out of this adverse situation since God never let his children die of hunger. Quite sure that God was his only hope for survival, Lencho wrote a letter to God asking Him to send a hundred pesos. The money, he wrote, would enable him to sow his field again, and feed and sustain him and his family until the crop came.
When Lencho returned to receive the envelope containing the money from God, he was surprised to see that the amount sent was less than what he had asked for. Lencho was certain that God could neither commit a mistake nor would He send less. Lencho doubted the integrity of the post office employees; he thought they had stolen his money.

Question 13. Lencho’s faith in God was blind faith. Do you agree or not? Give reasons.
Answer: Lencho was a hardworking and poor farmer, who laboured all day to support his family. So, when his crops were completely destroyed by the hailstorm, he became worried about his family. But he was a devout man, who had full faith in God’s omnipresence and omnipotence. He knew that God was his only hope and believed that He would definitely help him in this bleak situation. Lencho may also be considered an innocent fellow, never doubting the existence of God. This motivated him to seek help from God; hence, he wrote a letter to God as one writes to a friend, asking for monetary help.
His firm faith in God made him angry when he found only seventy pesos instead of the full hundred in the envelope. He doubted the post office employees and called them a bunch of crooks. He believed that they had stolen his money since God could not have made such a mistake.
This shows that Lencho’s faith in God was firm but blind, and it made him doubt the intention of the very people who helped him in his time of need. I believe that people should have firm faith in God and religion, but harbouring blind faith is wrong. It leads to anger and frustration.

Question 14. “Humanity still exists,” this is what we get to know after reading ‘A Letter to God’ in which firm faith in God of a poor farmer and helpfulness of the post office employees are aptly depicted. Do you or do you not agree? Are there people like the post office employees in the real world? How did they help Lencho?
Answer: The story ‘A Letter to God’ reinforces our faith in humanity. After reading the story, we know that there still are people who help others without any self-interest.
Here, the postmaster and other employees set an example of humanity and kindness towards others. First they all laughed at Lencho’s letter to God, but they were really moved by Lencho’s faith in God. They decided to help him to keep his faith alive and firm. Even though it was not possible for them to collect a hundred pesos, somehow they managed to collect seventy pesos. The postmaster signed it ‘God’ instead of his own name. This act shows us the true picture of humanity and motivates us to be noble and kind persons.

Question 15. Write a character sketch of the postmaster.
Answer: The postmaster was an amiable and jovial fellow by nature. Though at first the postmaster laughs at Lencho’s letter to God, soon after, the latter’s firm faith in the Almighty both impresses and inspires him. At that moment, the readers learn about a different aspect of the postmaster that is kind and generous. He decides to reply to Lencho’s letter as God Himself because he doesn’t want Lencho to lose his faith in God. When he learns that Lencho needs money, the postmaster does not back out from his commitment to help Lencho. Instead, in order to collect the amount Lencho had asked for, he requests his employees and friends to contribute as much as they can ‘for an act of charity’. He himself puts in a part of his salary for the good cause. The postmaster helps Lencho without any self-interest. He shows that humanity still exists.