‘Greed Is The Root Of All Evil’

As seen in the Pardoner’s Tale, humankind has an innate desire for wealth at the cost of others’ suffering and work. It is interesting how Chaucer is able to portray this simple message both through his character’s story and the interaction between the storytellers and the Host. The narrator of the story, the Pardoner, makes sure we understand his motives for being a preacher, as seen on the right. I like how Chaucer uses this character to both reflect upon a commonly accepted concept of the impact greed has on an individual’s life and to make fun of the church in this excerpt. It is very sad to think that religion and the various institutions that promote faith have become businesses, businesses of the soul.

The pardoner is portrayed as a complex individual by Chaucer, for by accepting being greedy and money-oriented he preaches that which he fails to do as seen when he states:Although the pardoner is greedy and makes a living of the other’s fear and regret, he has some interesting approaches to what life is and what makes us corrupt individuals. With this Chaucer is probably indicating that greedy people are not necessarily illogical, or unaware of what is happening. I think it is very interesting how our society has built a system for which greed makes us have more without having to work or use our resources as we would have had to in order to acquire the same wealth. Does our economical system and culture incite greed?

Sometimes people have to sin and suffer the consequences or have obstacles in life in order to understand why things happen. In the pardoner’s case we find an individual who understands why greed is a cause of evil, and even though he doesn’t apply it to his own life, tries his best to make others’ understand this as seen when he states:It is ironic how the appropriate individual to teach a moral story is he who is not moral. This is probably why the church has lost followers and influence in people’s lives. I find it interesting how we are not capable to apply what we have learned, what we understand and appreciate to our own lives but see evil in it when others’ follow our example. We must first become what we want to see in others’, for why do we desire to see change in that which we can’t control, and refuse to do so in that in which we can?