The Pardoner uses tales as a way of contracting money from his fellow pilgrims. The
Pardoner is a person that is suppose to practice what he preaches. What that person does affects
those that look up to that person. The Pardoner is supposed to be able to tell tales that bring
about hope. The way in which that might happen is through example, monkey see monkey do. If
the pardoner is unable to produce a tale that convinces the audience of his deeds then he is
unsuccessful. Such an act will result in the failure of his job. The Pardoner here takes advantage
of the innocence of the people that he preaches to. Such an action is not the action that a
pardoner is supposed to be performing. Instead there are certain actions and purposes that the
pardoner is preaching. Defying such principals destroys the office of the pardoner. The Pardoner
is a common renaissance figure that wandered the lands with attempts to collect money for
church projects and absolve people of their sins. Churchmen whose jobs are to wander from
place to place-soliciting contributions abounded in the Middle Ages. As identification, solicitors for
funds would carry, as the Pardoner does, “bulls” and “patents”. Then they would preach,
exhorting believers to generosity in support of the organization-in the Pardoner’s case. An honest
pardoner would be much like a fund-raiser for any religious or charitable organization today. But
a dishonest pardoner like this one had many opportunities to profit at the expense of the naive. A
Pardoner is not necessarily a bad person. That is true because not all people are bad, just that
there are always “some rotten apples in every good bunch.” This is and was true about this
pardoner. By trade the Pardoner is a preacher. His task is to use his rhetorical gifts to persuade
his hearers to repent and be saved. The sermon, then and now, is a major part of the Christian
liturgy. The homilist...