Childhood Innocence
The symbol of a doll itself represents the innocence of a child, but Edward learns much more than that in his visit to his aunt's house. A perfectly kind and sensitive child, Edward would like to stay at his own home, but is forced to go somewhere else. At Aunt Kimbrel's home, he meets his cousin Leonora, who is the complete opposite of him in that she is seemingly evil. Before this visit, Edward hardly knew of the evil things that could happen in the world, but this is spoiled by Leonora's selfishness. The fact that the author decided to make this a novel of flashbacks also contributes to that fact, as we see what Edward is thinking now as he realized how disturbed his experiences really were.
Materialism
Leonora's mother has everything she wants, and has married a rich husband to get even more money. She has had several love affairs, leading an unhappy emotional life but - who cares? She has money. Susan Hill, in writing this book, is trying to explain that money is not everything, and it can ruin the lives of those around you. Leonora, who could have led a perfectly normal and happy life, was instead pampered with toys and gifts instead of love and care, and ended up growing to hate the world. In her own selfish affairs, Leonora's mother has not only ruined the life of herself but the life of her daughter.
Confusion
Although not an especially apparent theme of the novel, confusion grows as things start to happen around the home of Aunt Kimbrel. Edward, who has never seen the horrible things of the like that Leonora does in real life, doesn't know what is real anymore, and Aunt Kimbrel simply doesn't know what to do. Leonora knows that both Edward and Aunt Kimbrel will be a bit shocked at what she is doing, and takes pride in that. Confusing the people she wants to, she gains power, and with that power, she tries to show that she is better than them, when, in fact, she is much, much weaker.
