NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
There once lived a group of rioters who did nothing but engage in irresponsible and sinful behavior. They were offensive drunks who, while in a bar one night, witnessed men carrying a corpse to a grave. A boy told the rioters that the dead man was their friend, whose life was taken by a horrible thief named Death. In response, the three pronounce that this Death has slain thousands, and vow that they themselves will take on Death and in turn, slay him. On their journey to find the notorious killer, they encounter a withering old man who states that they can find Death under an old oak tree, but instead of finding the murderer under the tree, the three men find bundles of gold. After finding the large sum of money, the rioters decide to take the money and spilt it evenly between them, and devise a plan that will keep them from being labeled thieves.
No, we must bring the treasure back By night some prudent way, and keep After various acts of greed and deception, the three end in a brutal fight with death, and tragically lose the battle. This tale, ironically, was told in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer's character the Pardoner. A Pardoner is one who is paid money to pardon others of their sins, some of which might be greed or deception. In Chaucer's novel, the pilgrims that are traveling to Canterbury during the plague are challenged to tell a story of good morality and general pleasure (Chaucer, 72). As a result of the irony in his tale, the Pardoner achieves general pleasure, and the moral, greed is the root of all evil, is a superior moral for a tale to contain, thus the Pardoner completes this challenge and passes it by a lot.
The Pardoners Tale is a direct extension of the personality of its narrator. It is a condemnation of greed, however is coming from the greediest narrator. By telling a story in which the characters die as a result of their sins. In his story, two of the rioters planned to kill the third in order to get his share of the money. now look; when he comes back, get up money will be ours to spend (Chaucer, 78). This is a direct act of greed, which completely contradicts the moral of the story, greed is the root of all evil.
This is what leads to the irony, which leads to the humor in the story. The fact that a Pardoner, the god of greed, is lecturing others on how not to be greedy is quite funny. Of course, the fact that it is funny and ironic, is what qualifies it as a story of general pleasure, because what is more pleasing than a good laugh every once in a while? A moral is the meaning of a story that provides a guideline for life.
This moral could definitely be considered a great one, because it does provide guidelines, and great ones at that. It tells its readers that if one is too greedy, it will most likely lead to a bad ending, as it did in this story. Although this moral is great, and the Pardoner is the one who teaches it, the lesson is not gained through the story, but rather the narrator himself. The Pardoners audience probably learned more about the bad consequences of greed from seeing the Pardoner contradict himself, rather than through the story, as he intended. No matter how the moral was achieved, there is no doubt that it was a good one.
This was one of the constituents in the innkeepers challenge along with the aforementioned, general pleasure aspect, which too was achieved greatly. Most readers would agree, that while examining the Pardoners moral fable, there was a slight chuckle here and there, which would most definitely qualify as a pleasurable tale. After achieving these factors, the Pardoner would definitely be considered a winner of this trial. Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: pleasure, root of all evil, rioters, greed, pardoner
Research essay sample on Root Of All Evil Greed Is The Root Story