Themes of The Curse Novel by Lee Su Ann

These are some of the themes found in the novel:

LOVE
 The message of love is reiterated throughout the story.
Parental Love:

•   Both Saleh Abdullah and his wife love Madhuri dearly like their own biological child.

•   Azreen’s inner conflict to garner her father’s love and affection. She always perceives the father as having greater love towards her sister, Madhuri.

Forbidden Love:

•   Mohd. Asraf and Madhuri secretly loves each other that eventually led to Madhuri’s   death.

Unrequited Love:

•    Azreen had a crush on Mohd. Asraf during school days.


FORGIVENESS
 Before the Old Lady draws her last breath, she advises Azreen to forgive others. When Azreen discovers that it was her father who murdered Madhuri, she felt no anger or resentment towards him.


VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
 The story portrays how some men believe women to be the weaker sex and they are violent towards them. For instance, the Old Lady’s husband was abusive towards her and repetitively abused her. He hit and kicked her.


GENDER STEREOTYPING
 Through the novel, gender stereotyping is portrayed through how females should behave. This can be seen especially through Azreen. For example, Azreen’s school friends start to cast suspicious eyes towards her when she behaves unlady-like. She plays hockey with the boys and even “laughs like a bunch of hyenas” with them. To them, as a woman, Azreen is not expected to be tomboyish and hangs too closely with boys.


BELIEF IN THE SUPERNATURAL
 The villagers seem to believe in supernatural. For example, many villagers call upon Awang, the village shaman to avert disasters. In another instance, Puan Normala tries to convince the villagers that the village is cursed since Madhuri’s blood is white.


FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
The villagers are puzzled about how Madhuri died. However, no one actually investigates the incident which is covered up well by Haji Ghani and his followers. In another instance, the villagers assume that the Old Lady is an evil witch that can turn anyone into squirrels or rats. Due to this assumption, the villagers outcast the Old Lady.