1.

Write on a character that show responsibility in her or his actions

Based on the Novel The Curse by Lee Sue Ann, the character that shows responsibility in her
actions is Azreen Saleh. Azreen is not only a responsible sister and daughter but also a responsible
student and friend .
Firstly, Azreen as a responsible sister comes back immediately when she hears of her sisters death
although at that time she is about to sit for an examination that is important for her. She postpones
her examination in order of giving her sister her last respect.
Secondly, as a daughter she shows her responsibility firstly, when she spends the whole night
repairing her mothers favourite rattan basket that was broken by the heavy durians that she and
Madhuri has brought in. Subsequently, with Madhuris help she makes a new rattan basket that looks
like the one that she and Madhuri have broken. In addition to that, Azreen accepts the offer to further
her studies in London for the sake of upbringing her family social status and thus could then save a lot
of money to get a better treatment for her mother that is paralyzed by the bull escape incidents that
she .
Thirdly, as a friend and a student, Azreen shows her responsibility when she accepts to join the
school hockey team as a substitution to Hock Seng that is injured. She does that even though she
knows that she will be the only girl in the team and this will tarnish her image as a girl. In fact she
plays very well and almost scores a goal. In addition to that, Azreen shows that she is a responsible
friend, when she brings a full basket of fresh vegetables and tomatoes to The Old Lady of the forest to
replace the one that she tramples earlier when she comes to The Old Ladys house for the first time.
In conclusion, throughout the story, Azreen shows that she is a very responsible towards her actions.
In fact, I would like to have her as a friend as a friend as such is hard to come by.
2. Which character do you like the most?
The novel I have studied is 'The Curse' by Lee Su Ann. The novel is about the main character,
Azreen, who returns from England after she finds out about her sister's death. Upon her return, she is
surrounded by many secrets. She discovers the circumstances of Madhuri's death later in the
story. At the end of the story she finds out the truth and leaves for London an orphan but more
resilient and wise.
The character I like most is Azreen Salleh. She is a 20-year-old student who is studying in a university
college in London on an exchange programme. She is short, bespectacled, rather bookish and
outspoken.
I like Azreen because she is outspoken and she is not afraid to spoke her mind. She is vocal and
says her opinions although sometimes she says the wrong things at the wrong time. She
also hates her father's treatment of her foster parents and Madhuri's burial ceremony that is
conducted without her presence. In handling the village gossip, Pn Normala, Azreen tells her off that
the rain has started even before the Old Lady comes into town.
The second quality she has is she is courageous. As a child, she plays hockey and football with the
boys. In the bull's incident, she is brave enough to accept the blame for the bull's escape instead of
blaming someone else. Azreen also shows her courage by taking up the dare to knock on the Old
Lady's door when none wants to do it. In another instance, Azreen confronts her father about
Madhuri's murder despite her young age.
Azreen also has strength of character. When she returns to her village, she hears a lot of gossip
surrounding her sister's death such as as Madhuri having white blood and her death signals a curse
to the villagers. Azreen feels upset but she never retaliates. Sheshows patience and strengh because
she knows that whatever she does, she cannot stop the villagers from gossiping about her family. In
another instance, Azreen is told that her sister is murdered. She should have been very upset about
this news but she takes it calmly and does not become hysterical. Later, when she finds out that her
father is the culprit who kills Madhuri, she feels no anger but regrets that it has to happen.
She understands her father's anger and shame because Madhuri has been having an illicit affair with
Ashraf although she is already married to Hj Ghani. Azreen also shows a lot of strength because
after all that has happened to her family, she stays composed and strong and returns to England for
her examinations.
In conclusion, there are many qualities in Azreen that I admire and she is the character that
I like most in the story.
3. Write on a character whom I think is exemplary
a) In the Curse by Lee Sue Ann, the character whom I think is exemplary is The Old Lady of the
forest. Throughout the novel, she shows strength of character and wisdom.
When she first moves to the village as a newlywed, she is popular among the villagers and she enjoys
a blissful marital life with her husband. Everything changes as her husband who becomes an
alcoholic starts to abuse her and finally she retaliates and kills him. From then on, the villagers treat
her like an outcast. She is forced to move out of the village and makes an abandoned house her
home. She lives alone for years until she befriends Azreen and becomes her mentor and will console
her whenever she has a fight with her parents.
When Asraf approaches The Old Lady for help, she is hesitant about going back to the village. Yet
she agrees and doing so, she puts her life at risk. When she is trapped in the burning house, she tells
Azreen to save herself and she perishes in the fire. Even at deaths door, she reminds Azreen about
the importance of forgiveness and tells her to heed all the advice she has given her.
The Old Lady is therefore an exemplary character as she is strong, wise and honourable.
b) Based on the novel The Curse by Lee Sue Ann, the character that I consider exemplary is
Azreen because she is courageous and brave. She shows resilience and she always fight for what
she believes in.
Firstly, Azreen who does not believe the villagers tales about The Old Lady is being brave by
accepting her friends challenge to firstly knocking on the door of The Old lady and then meet her in
person. . Subsequently, she befriends The Old Lady and makes her, her precious confidante and
counselor.
In addition, Azreen is courageous by confronting Puan Normalas mob outside Mohd Asrafs house
when Nek once again has fallen ill and died in order to stop her from entering Neks house. Although
she is outnumbered, she dares to face Puan Normalas horde to protect Neks house from
them. Moreover, she confronts a group of men led by Asraf who goes to the Old ladys house to seek
revenge after Nek dies as they believe the Old lady has poisoned Nek.
It is a dog-eat-dog world out there and we must be brave and courageous to overcome our daily
obstacles and stand for our own rights. We should not be intimidated by our fear and we must be like
Azreen in order to survive the world.
The second exemplary qualities of Azreen is that she portrays resilience throughout the story and she
constantly fights for what she believes in. This can be seen when Azreen does not give up and is
determine and resilience to seek the truth of Madhuris death even though others do not want to tell
her the truth. She asks Asraf and The Old Lady about Madhuris death and slowly gather evidences
and finally she knows the truth about Madhuris killing.
In her village, a woman should be conservative and well mannered but Azreen is a contrast to that
and thus she is hated but she ignores the villagers perception of her, as she believes that women
have their own rights. This can be seen as she befriends Asraf and joins the boys hockey team and
similarly makes The Old Lady her best friend.
In this cruel world, we must stand for our own right and fight for what we believe in. We must follow
Azreens resilience to make this world a better place.
4. Write on a character that I admire / like
In The Curse by Lee Su Ann, the main character, Azreen, returns to Malaysia to mourn the loss of her
sister, Madhuri. Azreen is studying in the United Kingdom. Azreen senses a cover up about her
sister's death and she decides to investigate further.
In her quest to find the truth, Azreen faces challenges. She really wants to discover the truth behind
Madhuri's death because she knows that the rumour is not true. She believes that it is more than
meets the eyes. Azreen also needs to settle the secret feuds within her family and with the villagers.
Azreen's relationship especially with her father is strained. There is no actual communication between
them. Azreen also needs to forgive , bury the past and move on with her life and her future. If she is
unable to do that, Azreen will not find peace with herself.
The intelligent Azreen listens, observes, questions and sifts things in her mind. She needs to find the
conclusive truth. She hears vicious rumours about Madhuri's death. Her death is a curse to the
village. This is confirmed by the Old Lady. In the maze of events which unfold, the past mergers into
the present. Azreen finally confronts her father, Encik Saleh, who defiantly admits his crime. Madhuri
was having an affair with Mohd Asraf. When the affair became known, Encik Saleh could not contain
his anger. In a fit of rage, he accidentally killed faithless Madhuri.
All along, Azreen secretly resents her parents who favoured Madhuri. She hates her father for his
unjust punishments. She detests Madhuri for stealing Asraf's affections. Thus she seeks out the Old
Lady, who counsels her and helps her come to terms with herself. The Old Lady helps Azreen to see
herself and how people treat her from a different perspective. Resentment would only make Azreen
more miserable and she would not be able to live a fulfilling life.
When the Old Lady dies, Azreen is devastated. She finds refuge in nature. When she stands up at the
cliff top that her annger finally subsides. She forgive everyone who had hurt her in the past. Azreen
leaves the island and forges ahead with her new life. Yes, she has become an orphan but all her life
challenges make her a wiser and more loving person.
C) Lesson
1) The Curse by Lee Su Ann has many lessons for its readers. One of the lessons, truth will
be known and secrets will not last forever. There are a few characters who keep secrets and
eventually the secrets are exposed.
First, Mohd. Asraf and Madhuri. They were secret lovers. They planned secretly to run away to Kuala
Lumpur. After Madhuri died followed by his grandmothers death, he almost lost his mind. Keeping his
secret love was very difficult. He was easily influenced by Puan Normala that his grandmother was
poisoned by Old Lady. That was the reason he burned the Old Ladys house causing her death.
Finally, he realises his mistakes and comes to his senses.
Second, En Saleh Abdullah, Azreens father. He was always proud of Madhuri. Madhuri made him
proud when she agreed to marry the village headman, Haji Ghani. When her affair was discovered,
Encik Saleh gets very angry and accidentally killed Madhuri. He never tells anyone and until Azreen
confronts him. Actually, he is ashamed because the daughter he was really proud of, had an affair
and tried to run away. He keeps seeing a ghost. He suffers a heart attack and dies.
In conclusion, dark secrets only make life difficult. The evidence in the story has shown us that. Any
dark secrets we have, may destroy our lives. We may lose the people we love. Always be true to
ourselves and do not take advantage of others. Always think before we act.
2) The Curse is the novel written by Lee Su Ann which has many lessons that can be used in
our lives. Today, I am going to write on one lesson which really captured my attention in the novel that
is courage.
The value of courage can be seen clearly in Azreens character. Azreen was a good friend with the
Old Lady who became a precious confidante and counsellor despite ignoring the warnings and
prejudices of the villagers. Azreen was determined to friends with the Old Lady till the last minute of
the Old Ladys life.As a child, she was not allowed to visit the Old Lady by her parents. Even the
villagers warned Azreen that the Old Lady is a witch. This shows that Azreen is very courageous for
accepting the Old Lady for what she is. From this, I learnt to be courageous in order to speak and act
according to what I think is right. I also learnt not to judge others by listening to rumors and to think
practically.
Azreen also showed courage when she took the blame for the bulls escape in order to save Mohd
Asraf. At first, she wanted to help Asraf out from the wicked farm owner, Mr. Mohan and his sons who
were accusing Asraf for letting the bull out. But to her dismay, she had to accept the faith of her
mother loosing a leg when her father hit into the bull and met with an accident. Even though Azreen
was only helping Asraf at first, but she took the blame and had to carry it for the rest of her life. I saw
Azreen as a very courageous person in this situation and agree to what she had done. She taught me
to stand up for my believes in my life and this will really help me a lot in the future.
Last but not least, I also find Azreen as a courageous person when she challenged her father to
reveal the truth behind Madhuris death. Azreen was very sure that Madhuri was killed by her father
because she found the stain of the rubber tree sap on the parang. When she put all the
details together, she came to a conclusion and told her father straight that he was the one who killed
Madhuri. Here, we can see that Azreen was too bold and had the courage to speak the truth even to
her father when she was sure that her sister was killed. This scene opened my mind that I should be
honest and bold to say what I think is right in my life.

3. One important lesson that I have learnt from the novel The Curse is that we should not listen to
gossip or spread rumours. It is a great injustice for those who have to defend themselves for
something that might not be true.
When Azreen returns home to grieve the death of Madhuri, she has to listen to vicious rumours
spread by Puan Normala. Puan Normala is the village most prolific gossip monger. She believes the
village is cursed because innocent MAdhuri was murdered. Her body was covered with 'white blood'
when found at the rubber estate. Moreover, Puan Normala claims that there were strange noises
coming from the woods. At the same time, she also says that the wild animal were restless. According
to her, these are all signs of more evil to come. It is very hurtful to listen to especially to Azreen who
has just lost her only sister.
Azreen fights to seek the truth. She confronts Mohd Asraf and learns that he and Madhuri had an
affair. They were secret lovers. Both of them planned to elope. It is not something Azreen wants to
hear because her sister, Madhuri, was a married woman. Azreen confronts her sullen father. Awang
the bomoh had told Azreen earlier that Madhuri was not her blood sister. Awang also had told Azreen
about Madhuri's biological mother. Confronted by Azreen and his own guilt, Encik Saleh admits that
he had killed Madhuri. He was in rage he saw her with another man. When he attacked Madhuri, she
fell and her head hit a cup of latex. The latex stained her dress, giving rise to the 'white blood' rumour.
This also indicates to the villagers that Madhuri was a scarlet woman.
The prejudiced villagers also outcast the wise Old Lady. She is Azreen's true friend and someone
that Azreen confides in. They spread rumours that she was a witch who had murdered her husband.
However, Azreen still befriends Old Lady because she knows the truth. The Old Lady had killed her
husband in self-defence. When her husband was alive, he was very abusive to the Old Lady. Her
husband was cruel to her. If she did not defend herself, she would have died. Something got to give.
The vicious rumours make the Old Lady live in isolation. Her wisdom and knowledge are seen as
threat. Even when she showed an act of kindness by treating Mohd Asraf's grandmother, she was not
accepted by the villagers. She was accused of having ulterior motives. That is why when the
grandmother died, Mohd Asraf burned her house with her in it. Mohd Asraf was consumed with grief
and the need to seek revenge. He really believed the rumour that the Old Lady was a witch. The fire
resulted in the death of the Old Lady.
Both these incidents demonstrate that rumours can be damaging. We must seek the truth
rationally and intelligently. We must investigate like what Azreen has done. At the end, truth will
ultimately prevail.

D)Moral value
There are many moral values found in The Curse by Lee Su Ann. The story is set in an island off
Langkawi Island. The Curse revolves around the events surrounding the death of a village girl,
Madhuri, who is also the adopted sister of themain character, Azreen.
The first moral value is bravery. This value is shown by Azreen. First, even as a young girl she takes
challenges and tries to prove to her friends that the Old Lady is not an evil witch. When she is yelled
at for entering the Old Ladys house and destroying her vegetable garden, Azreen bravely defends
herself. In fact, she returns the next day and repairs the trampled garden. Her action wins the Old
Ladys heart.
The second evidence is when Azreen bravely takes the blame for Mohd Asraf in the bull incident. She
demonstrates courage.The same bull later injures her mothers leg causing he to lose the use of her
leg. She was blamed and scolded by her father as well as the villagers. She bravely endures that and
never tells anyone of what really happened.
Her bravery is once again tested. The third event that displays her bravery is when she tries to tackle
the angry mob who are about to attack the the Old Lady. When the Old Ladys house is in fire, Azreen
tries to rescue the Old Lady but at the end she has to be rescued by her father. When the Old Lady
dies in the tragic fire, she confronts Mohd Asraf like a wildcat.
Finally, towards the end of the story, she finds out the secret that her father has been keeping. She
confronts her father about Madhuris murder until he is forced to confess about the truth. She is very
brave to confront people whom she knows have done wrong to others. At the same time she is very
brave when defending herself and the people she loves.
e.) Events
1) Write on an important event.
In the novel The Curse by Lee Su Ann, an important event is the outbreak of the fire which results in
the Old Ladys death.
Firstly, it is an important event because after this event, it creates a domino effect on a number of
other events which in turn helps Azreen to finally solve the mystery behind her sisters murder. The
fire enrages Azreen and like a wildcat, she confronts Mohd Asraf. He apologises and admits that he
had been too grief-stricken to be rational when he has lost two important people in his life his secret
lover, Madhuri and his grandmother, Nek. After the fire which kills the Old Lady who is trapped in the
fire, Awang, the bomoh informs Azreen that Madhuri is not her biological sister. The secret about
Madhuris identity is finally disclosed by Azreens father who reveals that Madhuri is
adopted. Moreover, the village Pontianak is actually Madhuris biological mother who returns to the
village to seek revenge over her daughters death. According to Awang, the ghostly figure is also the
vengeful spirit that has killed Azreens chicken.
Secondly, it is an important event because we are finally shown the reason for Madhuris murder and
the culprit. When Azreen confronts her father, Encik Saleh defiantly confesses that he had
accidentally murdered Madhuri after learning that Madhuri, a married woman, commits an adultery
when she secretly sees another man.He confronts Madhuri and during the struggle, Madhuri falls to
the ground and her head knocks over the latex cup which stains her clothes. A distraught Azreen
flees after hearing the shocking news while Encik Saleh comes face-to-face with the shadowy woman
Madhuris mother who nears him with a parang in her hand. Saleh collapses and dies of a heart
attack.
Thirdly, the fire at the Old Ladys house is the climax of the novel. From that point onwards, events
dramatically unfold and Azreen gets to the bottom of the mystery. Azreen puts the pieces of facts here
and there together and begins to understand the reasons behind the cover-up of Madhuris murder by
her husband, Haji Ghani. Most importantly, we are also exposed to the crime of the villagers who are
willing to do anything including planning an attack on the innocent and harmless Old Lady just
because of superstition. Under the instigation of Puan Normala, the villagers are convinced to believe
that the Old Lady possesses a special power to turn people into rats and squirrels, so the latter is
accused to be an evil witch who brings all the misfortunes and bad omen to the village. In fact, when
the rain continues to pour for more than four days, causing the town to be flooded, the Old Lady is
blamed to have put the curse on the village. From this event, we can see how gullible the villagers are
to believe the vicious rumours spread by the village gossiper, Puan Normala. She does not seem to
care about the destruction she causes. Her irrational behaviour thus destroys the reputations of
victims such as the Old Lady even in the eyes of children. At the same time, through this event too
that we see the purity of the Old Ladys heart. Despite being ostracised by the villagers, the Old Lady
bears no grudges and is still willing to help people like Asrafs Nek. More importantly, the Old Lady at
the point of her death before the burning house collapses on her, she reminds Azreen to forgive all
the villagers who have wronged her.
In conclusion, the fire is the most important event as it is the catalyst for many more events in which
makes the stories more interesting.
f) Theme
Write on the theme of love
The Curse written by Lee Su Ann touches on many aspects of life. Basically, all the aspects revolve
around our own community and can be used as guidance in our life.
The theme of love which is actually the main conflict in this whole novel. Firstly, we can see this
aspect between mother and child when we read how loving was Azreen towards her mother when
she came back from London. She realized her mother still does not know about the death of her
sister, Madhuri. Azreen took over the duty to take care of her mother who was suffering from
Alzheimers disease which was getting worse. Azreen cooked porridge for her mother like Madhuri
used to do and fed her. This shows that Azreen loves her mother very much and feels responsible to
take care of her after her sisters death.
The concept of love can also be seen through Encik Saleh who loves his daughters very much but
does not know how to show it. He kept his love within him and was always looking fierce and angry
towards his daughters and wife. He loved his family very much and that is why he worked hard on the
farm.He also repairs chicken coop, repairs fencse and roofs and chops wood in order to earn a
living for his family. As a hard-working man, he wanted to give his family the best out of him due to his
love towards them which he does not show openly. Here, I admit that I admire Encik Saleh as a loving
father towards his family but he should have shown his love in a more appropriate way.
Lastly, the concept of love can be seen in the characters of the Old Lady and Azreen. Azreen was
very lucky to find a meaningful and comfortable relationship with the Old Lady of the forest. She was
very close to the Old Lady until she told her all her secrets. She always goes and visits the Old Lady
whenever she felt bored, angry or happy. This shows that Azreen really loves the Old Lady and does
not give a single thought to what the villagers say about the Old Lady. Azreens love towards the Old
Lady was very strong until she was willing to go into the burning house in order to save the Old Lady.
But, faith wins. The Old Lady died in the fire while Azreen was saved by her father due to his love
towards his daughter.
As we can see, the concept of love is very strong throughout the novel. Each and every character in
this novel has the desire to love and to be loved.
2) Write on the theme of forgiveness
Lee Su Ann, the writer of the novel The Curse had brought up many themes in her writing. One of
the themes that I liked very much in this novel is forgiveness which was clearly portrayed in Azreens
character.
As we know from the beginning, Azreen is a very outspoken, aggressive and stubborn character but
towards the ending of the story she had learnt to forgive others. Azreen was very much influenced by
the Old Lady who begged Azreen to learn to forgive others at the time of her death. We can see very
much that Azreen kept her promise when she forgave Mohd Asraf who had deliberately played with
her emotions. All the while Azreen thought Asraf liked her but, Asraf was actually falling for Madhuri
and when he admitted that to Azreen, she was speechless at first. Azreen hid herself from Asraf by
running away until she reached the cliff of the hills when Asraf confessed his love towards Madhuri.
But as time passed, her anger melted away slowly and she forgave Asraf as the Old Lady had told to
her just before she died.
Azreen too learnt to forgive her father who murdered Madhuri. Even though she felt sad at first but
she did not feel angry or resentment at him but she realized that she had lost her only father that she
used to know as a very hot-tempered man. Slowly Azreen forgave her father but she could not see
him eye to eye so she left him alone and that was the time when Encik Saleh had a heart attack and
collapsed. But if at all Azreen had not promised the Old Lady to forgive others, I do not think that she
would forgive her father for murdering Madhuri.
Azreen too forgave Madhuri for all the hurt and resentment she caused in Azreens life.
Azreen was jealous of Madhuris beauty and genteel behavior. She was the favorite daughter. She
also resented Madhuri as Madhuri was able to captivate Asraf who eventually fell in love with her. But,
when Azreen discovers that Madhuri was adopted and the truth about Madhuris murder at the hands
of her own father, she feels nothing but pity for poor Madhuri . Finally she forgives her sister,
Madhuri.
Last but not least, Azreen also forgave Asraf and wished him luck from the bottom of her heart when
he left Langkawi to take a teaching course in KL. When she read a note from him, she did not feel
angry but she smiled after reading the note and also questioned herself whether she had learnt to
forgive others. From Azreens character, I too learnt to forgive others in my life if they hurt my feelings.
Being revengeful will not give us anything in life except the negative value.
From the evidence above, the theme of forgiveness had been portrayed very well in this novel
through the protagonist, Azreen. I hope each and every human will learn to forgive others in their life.
3) Write on the theme of Mothers Love
The novel The Curse by Lee Su Ann touches on many values that are useful in our daily lives. As
for me, I am touched with the value of mothers love in this novel.
Azreens mother is forever seen talking nonsense since her Alzheimers disease was becoming
worse. She was not given a name in this novel but always referred to as Mak. Azreen felt guilty
because she was the one who was responsible for her mother to loose one of her leg. Even though,
we know that Azreen admitted leaving the gate of the farm open but actually she was only helping
Mohd Asraf from being blamed. Due to her act, her parents met with an accident when her fathers
motorcycle hit the bull. Azreens mother never hated Azreen for what had happened and she always
loved Azreen. She even told Azreen that it was not her fault that she lost her leg in the accident. This
proves that Mak was never angry towards Azreen and she accepts what happened to her as faith.
This shows the true love that a mother has for her child even though she is in pain.
Another incident that showed how true a mothers love is when Madhuris mother, the mad lady who
strolled in the village and always watched over her daughter. Even though Madhuri was raised by
Encik Saleh and his wife from a baby, the mad lady always kept herself close to Madhuri. She used
to watch Madhuri and Azreen when they come back from school. This shows that she still loved her
daughter even though she gave in when her baby was lost. She knew she could not raise Madhuri in
a proper way so she just kept quite when Encik Saleh took the baby and decided to raise the child.
But as a mother, she still loved Madhuri and always sees how her daughter is living with her foster
parents from far. This is what we call mothers love. Even if the child is not with the real mother but
she always pray for her child to lead a happy life and that is why she took revenge against Encik
Saleh who killed Madhuri.
From these two mothers, the readers are shown the value of love that a mother has for a child. Both
mothers in this novel are not normal in certain ways but their love for their children did not fade but
they loved their daughters very much in their own different ways.

Write on the theme of love
The Curse written by Lee Su Ann touches on many aspects of life. Basically, all the
aspects revolve around our own community and can be used as guidance in our life.
The theme of love which is actually the main conflict in this whole novel. Firstly, we
can see this aspect between mother and child when we read how loving was Azreen
towards her mother when she came back from London. She realized her mother still
does not know about the death of her sister, Madhuri. Azreen took over the duty to
take care of her mother who was suffering from Alzheimers disease which was
getting worse. Azreen cooked porridge for her mother like Madhuri used to do and
fed her. This shows that Azreen loves her mother very much and feels responsible
to take care of her after her sisters death.
The concept of love can also be seen through Encik Saleh who loves his daughters
very much but does not know how to show it. He kept his love within him and was
always looking fierce and angry towards his daughters and wife. He loved his family
very much and that is why he worked hard on the farm.He also repairs chicken
coop, repairs fencse and roofs and chops wood in order to earn a living for his
family. As a hard-working man, he wanted to give his family the best out of him due
to his love towards them which he does not show openly. Here, I admit that I admire
Encik Saleh as a loving father towards his family but he should have shown his love
in a more appropriate way.
Lastly, the concept of love can be seen in the characters of the Old Lady and
Azreen. Azreen was very lucky to find a meaningful and comfortable relationship with
the Old Lady of the forest. She was very close to the Old Lady until she told her all
her secrets. She always goes and visits the Old Lady whenever she felt bored, angry
or happy. This shows that Azreen really loves the Old Lady and does not give a
single thought to what the villagers say about the Old Lady. Azreens love towards
the Old Lady was very strong until she was willing to go into the burning house in
order to save the Old Lady. But, faith wins. The Old Lady died in the fire while
Azreen was saved by her father due to his love towards his daughter.
As we can see, the concept of love is very strong throughout the novel. Each and
every character in this novel has the desire to love and to be loved.
2) Write on the theme of forgiveness
Lee Su Ann, the writer of the novel The Curse had brought up many themes in her
writing. One of the themes that I liked very much in this novel is forgiveness which
was clearly portrayed in Azreens character.

As we know from the beginning, Azreen is a very outspoken, aggressive and
stubborn character but towards the ending of the story she had learnt to forgive
others. Azreen was very much influenced by the Old Lady who begged Azreen to
learn to forgive others at the time of her death. We can see very much that Azreen
kept her promise when she forgave Mohd Asraf who had deliberately played with her
emotions. All the while Azreen thought Asraf liked her but, Asraf was actually falling
for Madhuri and when he admitted that to Azreen, she was speechless at first.
Azreen hid herself from Asraf by running away until she reached the cliff of the hills
when Asraf confessed his love towards Madhuri. But as time passed, her
anger melted away slowly and she forgave Asraf as the Old Lady had told to her
just before she died.

Azreen too learnt to forgive her father who murdered Madhuri. Even though she felt
sad at first but she did not feel angry or resentment at him but she realized that she
had lost her only father that she used to know as a very hot-tempered man. Slowly
Azreen forgave her father but she could not see him eye to eye so she left him alone
and that was the time when Encik Saleh had a heart attack and collapsed. But if at
all Azreen had not promised the Old Lady to forgive others, I do not think that she
would forgive her father for murdering Madhuri.

Azreen too forgave Madhuri for all the hurt and resentment she caused in
Azreens life. Azreen was jealous of Madhuris beauty and genteel behavior. She
was the favorite daughter. She also resented Madhuri as Madhuri was able to
captivate Asraf who eventually fell in love with her. But, when Azreen discovers that
Madhuri was adopted and the truth about Madhuris murder at the hands of her own
father, she feels nothing but pity for poor Madhuri . Finally she forgives her sister,
Madhuri.

Last but not least, Azreen also forgave Asraf and wished him luck from the bottom of
her heart when he left Langkawi to take a teaching course in KL. When she read a
note from him, she did not feel angry but she smiled after reading the note and also
questioned herself whether she had learnt to forgive others. From Azreens
character, I too learnt to forgive others in my life if they hurt my feelings. Being
revengeful will not give us anything in life except the negative value.

From the evidence above, the theme of forgiveness had been portrayed very well in
this novel through the protagonist, Azreen. I hope each and every human will learn to
forgive others in their life.
3) Write on the theme of Mothers Love

The novel The Curse by Lee Su Ann touches on many values that are useful in our
daily lives. As for me, I am touched with the value of mothers love in this novel.
Azreens mother is forever seen talking nonsense since her Alzheimers disease was
becoming worse. She was not given a name in this novel but always referred to as
Mak. Azreen felt guilty because she was the one who was responsible for her
mother to loose one of her leg. Even though, we know that Azreen admitted
leaving the gate of the farm open but actually she was only helping Mohd Asraf from
being blamed. Due to her act, her parents met with an accident when her fathers
motorcycle hit the bull. Azreens mother never hated Azreen for what had happened
and she always loved Azreen. She even told Azreen that it was not her fault that she
lost her leg in the accident. This proves that Mak was never angry towards Azreen
and she accepts what happened to her as faith. This shows the true love that a
mother has for her child even though she is in pain.
Another incident that showed how true a mothers love is when Madhuris mother,
the mad lady who strolled in the village and always watched over her daughter.
Even though Madhuri was raised by Encik Saleh and his wife from a baby, the mad
lady always kept herself close to Madhuri. She used to watch Madhuri and Azreen
when they come back from school. This shows that she still loved her daughter even
though she gave in when her baby was lost. She knew she could not raise Madhuri
in a proper way so she just kept quite when Encik Saleh took the baby and decided
to raise the child. But as a mother, she still loved Madhuri and always sees how her
daughter is living with her foster parents from far. This is what we call mothers love.
Even if the child is not with the real mother but she always pray for her child to lead a
happy life and that is why she took revenge against Encik Saleh who killed Madhuri.
From these two mothers, the readers are shown the value of love that a mother has
for a child. Both mothers in this novel are not normal in certain ways but their love for
their children did not fade but they loved their daughters very much in their
own different ways.