There was a curse on the Yelnats family because the great-great-grandfather Elya Yelnats did not carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain to drink from the spring to make her stong agian. Because he did not do this, there was a cuse on the entire Yelnats family. The Yelnats did believe they had a curse on them and blamed it on the great-great-grandfather. By the end of the book, the curse had been liften when Stanely Yelnats carried Zero to the top of the same mountain when he was sick. From this the curse was lifted and the family's luck turned around and they made a lot of money from the father's invention to cure smelly shoes.