Interpreter of Maladies: Mrs. Das' Folly

Early in “Interpreter of Maladies,” Mrs. Das showed interest in Mr. Kapasi’s job as a medical interpreter. Later we see that this was purely self-interested: she wanted Mr. Kapasi to remedy her pain. The problem is that Mrs. Das doesn’t have a malady, her pain can’t be fixed by Mr. Kapasi. Mrs. Das’ folly is that she passes her guilt off as a treatable pain. She refuses to accept her guilt when Mr. Kapasi addresses it. By refusing to accept the guilt she carries and passing the blame off on others, Mrs. Das is unable to see that the only one who can stop her “pain” is herself.