Chaucer's Pardoner is hypocritical, selfish, and untrustworthy despite his tacit desire to preach and encourage others to pursue a life free of blasphemy, gluttony, and materialism. The Pardoner appears to be very familiar with the Bible and Church authorities and generally provides convincing arguments against sin, but it is impossible for a reader to absorb his message without taking into consideration his bold and hypocritical nature. Underlying this is the question of whether a character as immoral as the Pardoner is capable of telling a moral story. This conflict of ideas is what makes the Pardoner such an intriguing character. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayOne element of the Pardoner's Tale with moral value is the concept that "the vagaries of Fortune and Nature have been the cause of death to many creatures". It depicts three young rioters who discover a large amount of gold, which ultimately results in their deaths. Therefore, the Pardoner is introduced who has basis for his argument and the story he tells has a moral: selfishness and greed are vices ultimately punishable by death. "Radix malorum est Cupiditas" serves as a sort of motto, which the Pardoner mentions several times throughout the Tale, reinforcing his lesson with the decidedly negative and frightening words: "death" and "Cupiditas". The main problem here, however, is that the Pardoner himself is selfish and is characterized throughout the prologue and short story as obsessed with money and greed. This obsession led to his spiritual death, which he appears not to have realized. In a similar light, the Pardoner openly admits to deceiving people and making a living at the expense of others. He nonchalantly declares to the pilgrims who accompany him: "From this gaude I have won, year after year." This depicts the Pardoner as a manipulative character who takes every opportunity to make money. Chaucer's adverbial phrase "year by year" suggests a proud relish on the part of the Pardoner, as if he derives as much pleasure from deceiving the people to whom he preaches as from earning the money itself. The fact that he calls these people "despised" reveals his contempt for his simple and ignorant congregations. He also admits to preying on the vulnerable, for example "the good man that the beasts must": he selects the naive and unsophisticated citizens of rural and pastoral communities. Both the adjective 'lewed' and the noun 'gaude' inhabit a negative semantic field, with which the Pardoner feels quite comfortable aligning himself, thus implying an overt, perhaps "wild" immorality. On the other hand, the Pardoner instructs his audience against 'dronkenesse' in a structured and coherent argument, which gives his lecture a genuine and moral quality. He explains that “a lascivious thing is wyn,” warning that alcohol leads to “disgrace.” The assonantal rhyme of 'lascivious' with 'wretchedness' echoes the Pardoner's apparent feeling of disgust for those who resort to the consumption of alcohol. To bolster his diatribe against it, he lists alcohol's negative effects on its users: "sour is your breath," "repugnant to embrace." The adjectives "harsh" and "foul", along with the informal pronominal choice "thine", serve to attack drunkards for their behavior and, therefore, add a moral quality to the Pardoner's sermon. This is further reinforced by his statement "dronkenesse is verray sepulture", which scares his audience at the risk of losing their reputation, mind and sense of reason. His preaching against alcohol is summed up in his belief that’.