A Letter to God | Analysis

Gregorio López Fuentes was a Mexican novelist. He often wrote based on experience, and was inspired
by interactions with various people, including farmers and laborers. He is well known for his humor
while writing, as well as the way he captures elements of Mexico and the Mexican lifestyle. His writing is
also realistic– this can especially be seen in A Letter to God. Despite the witty plot twist at the end and
the overall amusing finish, one cannot deny the truth he presents, especially about the reality of a
farmer’s life, misunderstandings and misconceptions. A Letter to God portrays how one situation can
look to two different people. This story is written in third-person, and Fuentes employs dialogue, vivid
description- especially in the scene describing the rain, hail and wrath of nature- and symbolism. The
main themes are faith, mother nature, intent and perspective. In addition, it presents the situations and
difficulties which many farmers face.

The story opens with a description. This is a clever way to set the scene- from just three lines, the reader
is now able to picture the location, bringing them closer to the story. As the main character, Lencho,
watches the sky, he can presumably see dark clouds approaching, which is how he tells his wife that
they will have rain. Her response- “Yes, God willing”– already shows the family’s faith in God. The line
“The older boys were working in the field, while the smaller ones were playing near the house” also
conveys a warm aura of a hard-working family.

As the rain and hail begins, Fuentes uses some beautiful imagery which aligns with the overall theme of
mother nature. Some examples of imagery are: “the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a
curtain of rain.” and the hailstones resembling “new silver coins” or “frozen pearls.”- the latter of which
is also a metaphor. Further, when the rain begins, he tells his wife ‘‘These aren’t raindrops falling from
the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.’’ Here, the
rain symbolizes money. With the rainwater, the plants will be nourished and the cornfield will grow well,
which in turn will give the family a huge profit. The bigger the water drops are, the more it will aid the
crops, hence the bigger drops represent more money. When the hail starts, Lencho describes it as “new
silver coins”– once again, this aspect of nature symbolizes money, but in a contradictory way from the
rain drops. While the rain represented good fortune and promise of monetary return, the hailstones
represent misfortune and loss, as they will destroy the cornfields. This great dependency on a powerful
and unpredictable force like nature for their livelihood is a difficult reality of farmers which Fuentes has
subtly portrayed.

Despite this terrible loss and sorrow the family faced- along with the possibility of starving for a year-
they did not give up complete hope because of their faith in God, which is one of the overarching
themes of the story. “But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley,
there was a single hope: help from God.” His faith was so strong that he believed God would receive his
letter and send him money. Interestingly, in a way, he may have been right. While God may not directly
appear and respond with the 100 pesos, it is a mysterious way of the universe which leads to the
postmasters gathering money for Lencho. Therefore, it was an indirect facilitation. Another element of
this theme is the postmasters’ reactions- “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this
letter.” Though they laugh at the situation as a whole, they cannot help but admire Lencho’s faith- the
reason they open the envelope in the first place is because they want to attempt writing a response, so
as not to shake Lencho’s trust in God.

If we will analyse the story in depth, we could say that it is a satyr of the reality happening in our
country. If we take Lencho’s character, someone who is very faithful to the creator but still very
malcontent of what he receives. If we take the characters of the postmen they are those people who are
willing to help and gave help but still they appear to be the antagonist. And if we take the situation that
someone gives what a person who is need but he used another person to give it to the needy one there
could be possibility that the aid he sends will not be fully received by the supposed receiver. The
situation which I mentioned is very rampant especially here in Philippine setting.

Nevertheless, even if you experienced harshness in life always remember you should not lose hope and
do something to overcome that problem by doing the best because remember God will do the rest and
He will send instruments that will help you. He will do it in his own best ways!

The story opens with a description. This is a clever way to set the scene- from just three lines, the reader
is now able to picture the location, bringing them closer to the story. As the main character, Lencho,
watches the sky, he can presumably see dark clouds approaching, which is how he tells his wife that
they will have rain. Her response- “Yes, God willing”– already shows the family’s faith in God. The line
“The older boys were working in the field, while the smaller ones were playing near the house” also
conveys a warm aura of a hard-working family.

As the rain and hail begins, Fuentes uses some beautiful imagery which aligns with the overall theme of
mother nature. Some examples of imagery are: “the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a
curtain of rain.” and the hailstones resembling “new silver coins” or “frozen pearls.”- the latter of which
is also a metaphor. Further, when the rain begins, he tells his wife ‘‘These aren’t raindrops falling from
the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.’’ Here, the
rain symbolizes money. With the rainwater, the plants will be nourished and the cornfield will grow well,
which in turn will give the family a huge profit. The bigger the water drops are, the more it will aid the
crops, hence the bigger drops represent more money. When the hail starts, Lencho describes it as “new
silver coins”– once again, this aspect of nature symbolizes money, but in a contradictory way from the
rain drops. While the rain represented good fortune and promise of monetary return, the hailstones
represent misfortune and loss, as they will destroy the cornfields. This great dependency on a powerful
and unpredictable force like nature for their livelihood is a difficult reality of farmers which Fuentes has
subtly portrayed.