The Curse - Character - Based on the novel, do you think Azreen’s father portrayed good/positive character traits ?

In the novel ‘The Curse’, the main character is Azreen. She has a father and his name is Encik Saleh. As for me, throughout the novel, Encik Saleh portrayed negative traits even though the positive ones were hidden within him.

                      

Firstly, Encik Saleh is very hot-tempered. As a poor farmer in a remote village in Pulau Langkawi, Encik Saleh is a strong man as he had  hard physique, huge fists and of course he is very hard-working man. He worked all the time on the farm to earn a living and his daughters always know him as a very hot-tempered man. We can see this when he ordered Azreen to take her mother home when she took her mother to the cemetery to visit Madhuri’s graveyard. Encik Saleh was very angry because  Azreen took her sickly mother there

 I think he should have understood the situation and face the fact that both of the ladies came to pay respect to Madhuri. He should not shout at them because they are also sad about Madhuri’s death even though his wife doesn’t know or realize the fact that Madhuri was dead. Here, I would strongly say that Encik Saleh portrayed the negative quality to the readers.

Secondly, I see Encik Saleh as a very judgmental and biased person. He loves Madhuri as his eldest daughter because she is full of  good qualities whereas he is  always stern and angry towards Azreen. Actually, Encik Saleh often misjudges Azreen because he sees himself in her. This is because Azreen reminds him of himself who also used to be outspoken and hot-tempered when he was young and  he still is the same until now. I always see that Encik Saleh punishes Azreen wrongly or too severely until he used to cane her even when she was small. All these prove that Encik Saleh is a very judgmental and biased person and of course I would not be like him.

Finally, I also find Encik Saleh is too mean in his traditional ways by being strict to his children. The incident where he grabbed Azreen and led her out of Madhuri’s room in anger proves how strict he was towards Azreen. He even raised his fist to punch Azreen when she argued with him. But, to avoid  punching her, he ordered Azreen to go to the dining room and attend to her mother. There was even a situation where Azreen and Encik Saleh ate their dinner in complete silence. All these proves that Encik Saleh is too traditional and strict towards his children and I think this is not at all appropriate.  Parents and children should discuss whatever problems that occur in their everyday lives.

Based on all the evidences above, it is surely proven that Encik Saleh is all covered with negative values. I do believe he has  some love and cares for his children but he was not able to show them .