Essay on the Pardoner's Tale A couple of days ago, there were robbers in England that planned to steal a priceless collection of jewelry. However, Scotland Yard, the British equivalent of the FBI, stopped and arrested the thieves red-handed. It was greed that led the robbers to their arrest and prison. Greed is what leads the three rioters to their death in "The Pardoner's Tale". In the prologue of the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes the Pardoner as a holy man. He believed that one cannot always get what they want. If one tries to get too much, bad things will happen. In "The Pardoner's Tale", the Pardoner tells a story to prove his beliefs. He uses three elements to get his point across, the moral, the plot, and symbolism. The moral of his story is "Greed is the root of all evil." The plot of his story shows that if you try to get too much, bad things will happen.
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales shares ma...
detail from The Canterbury Pilgrims showing the Pa...Lastly, he uses symbolism to portray the evilness of greed.
The Pardoner used the morals of his story to back up his beliefs. One of the morals is "Greed is the root of all evil." For example, the three rioters were greedy and wanted to kill death badly. So when the old man says "Well, sirs"æif it be your design/to find out death, turn up this crooked way/towards that grove, I left him there today," they eagerly run off, only to find money and their death. One can also say "Money is the root of all evil." This is very apparent in the story. The three rioters found the gold and decided to split it amongst themselves. However, since the rioters were so greedy, the plotted to kill off one or both of the other...