Greed In The Pardoner's Tale Essay

1 Timothy 6:9-10 states, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from faith and pierced themselves from many griefs.” Through this scripture, Paul is telling Timothy the love for money can motivate any evil, and no sin is an exception. In The Pardoner’s Tale, the three rioters allowed their love for money to lead them to a far worse fate: death. Their intention was to kill death, but they were overtaken by the desire for gain which motivated them to commit evil acts. Why does a greedy nature drive them to commit cruel things? The three rioters were arrogant and selfish; the coins were worth more to them than their own lives, and their

Selfishness creates a self-centered mindset and nothing else matters. Furthermore, arrogance takes that mindset and justifies itself. This is seen when the rioters came across the coins. They initially planned on dividing them evenly, but the greed in their hearts led them down a different path. Each devised a plan to get rid of each other because they each wanted more. Laws of good and evil no longer mattered to them. Another deeper heart problem was their love for money was worth more to them than their own lives. During the medieval time period, the punishment for murder was often imprisonment which sometimes led to death whether by hanging or stoning. These men allowed their greed to blind them from the bigger picture. It can also be implied that the riches were more important than their brothers’ lives. This short-lived glory was all their eyes could see rather than the long-term friendship they had with each other. Likewise, they did not truly value their