Chaucer's Pardoner is hypocritical, selfish, and unreliable despite his unspoken desire to preach and encourage others to live a life free of blasphemy, gluttony, and materialism. The Pardoner seems very familiar with the Bible and Church authorities, and generally delivers compelling arguments against sin, but it is impossible for a reader to absorb his message without taking into consideration its bold and hypocritical nature. Underlying this question is the question of whether a character as immoral as the Pardoner is capable of telling a moral story. It is this conflict of ideas that makes the Pardoner such an intriguing character. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay One element of The Tale of Forgiveness that has moral value is the concept that "the gifts of fortune and nature have caused the death of many creatures." . It describes three young rioters who discover a large amount of gold, which ultimately leads to their deaths. Therefore, the Pardoner is presented as having grounds 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 motto of sorts, which the Pardoner cites repeatedly 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 Tale as being obsessed with money and greed. This obsession led to his spiritual death, which he does not seem to have realized. Likewise, the Pardoner openly admits to deceiving people and earning his living at the expense of others. He casually declares to the pilgrims who accompany him: "I have gained from this gaude, year after year." This portrays the Pardoner as a manipulative character who seizes any opportunity to make money. Chaucer's adverbial phrase "year after year" suggests a sense of pride on the part of the Pardoner, as if he takes as much pleasure in deceiving the people to whom he preaches as in making money himself. His calling these people “obscene” reveals his contempt for his simple and uneducated congregations. He also admits to preying on the most vulnerable, for example "the good man that beasts owe": he selects the naive and unsophisticated citizens of rural and pastoral communities. Both the adjective "obscene" and the noun "gaude" inhabit a negative semantic field, with which the pardoner feels quite comfortable aligning himself, thus implying open, perhaps "savage" immorality . On the other hand, the Pardoner instructs his audience against “dronekenness” in a structured and coherent argument, which gives his lesson an authentic moral quality. He explains that "a lustful thing is wyn", warning that alcohol leads to "castaway". The assonantic rhyme of "lewd" with "misery" echoes the Pardoner's apparent sense of disgust for those who resort to alcohol consumption. To reinforce his diatribe against this phenomenon, he lists the negative effects of alcohol on its consumers: “your breath is sour”, “you are disgusting to kiss”. The adjectives “sour” and “filthy,” together with the informal pronominal choice “ton,” serve to attack drunks for their behavior and, therefore, add a moral quality to the sermon of forgiveness. This is further reinforced by his statement "dronkenesse is voiry sepulture", which frightens his audience with the risk of losing their reputation, their spirit and their sense of reason. His preaching against’.