In the Pardoner’s Tale all the characters seek out to find death. Chaucer personifies death to be a murderous human being, an evil being. “There came a privy thief, they call him Death/who kills us all round here, and in a breath” (Chaucer 72). However, in the 1300’s death was not an unordinary occurrence. During this time between the years 1348 and 1350 the Black Plague, also known as the bubonic plague struck England with a vigorous blow. In between these two periods, the plague killed close to 1.5 million people and struck at least 6 more times after the year 1350. In the Pardoner’s Tale anyone who set out to kill him or even got in close propinquity would either die or kill each other. Disregarding the warning they had received, the three rioters set out to find and kill Death. Their drunkenness prompted them to make a stupid decision.
The three rioters set out on a quest to find the murderer of their friend from the old days and, “They came upon a very poor old man” (Chaucer 110). The man greeted them and began to make conversation when he was cut off and insulted by the three rioters. The three rioters made a joke of the old man saying things like, “What, old fool? Give place! /why are you all wrapped up except your face? /why live so long? Isn’t it time to die?” (Chaucer 114-116). In these lines of The Pardoner’s Tale the three rioters were being rude and disrespectful to the old man. It is told to us in the Bible that if you respect your elders your days shall be longer. The old man led the men to “Death” to save himself from being killed by the rioters. The three men did not know that the old man was leading them to their fate. If the three men would’ve showed more reverence to their elder, they might’ve lived to see another day, and to tell of their journey.
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