One character that I find a tad more interesting than the rest of the characters is Puan Normala. Being the village gossip, she plays the role of the antagonist of the story. If not for her, the loss Old Lady could have been prevented. Puan Normala is well known for spreading rumors, "Madhuri," Normala whispered urgently to Puan Kamsiah. "I saw Madhuri's body as they took her out. Her blood, I saw it. It was white. Did you hear me? She had white blood. We have all been cursed!" She is quite tactless and indiscreet as she speaks of Azreen to her confidantes, "I tell you, she's a hateful and ungrateful child. And not a drop of remorse about what happened to her mother. I knew she would grow up to be like that. She was such an ugly little baby." Puan Normala, wielding the most heeded voice in the whole village, influenced the villagers to think that the natural disasters and tragedies occurring in the village was caused by the Old Lady, of whom she refers to as 'the witch'. The villagers take Normala's word to Cikgu Asraf who had just lost his grandmother. The villagers convinced him that her death was of the Old Lady's doing. This enrages Asraf and sends him in a episode of blind fury. He surrounds the Old Lady's house with the other angry villagers, and accidentally sets it on fire. The Old Lady, accepting her fate, went down with her ship.
From the above, we can see that Puan Normala does play a significant role in the dramatic progression of the story. She is the one who actually triggers the next course of event in the story which eventually leads to the revelation of the truth about her sister's death.
