The Canterbury Tales - The PardonerThe Canterbury Tales is a poetic story of a group of people who were going on a pilgrimage. They were headed to the tomb of St. Thomas a Bechet in Canterbury, which is about sixty miles from London, England. In that group there were clergy and laity. And in the poem Chaucer describes them all so well that we can easily see the picture of how they lived and how they behaved in the way of work and other ways of life. And as he described it, he also criticized some members of the clerical position, because they abused their position and did things that they shouldn't have done, or didn't do something that they should have done in their position. Among the people whom Chaucer criticized greatly were the Friar and the Pardoner. In medieval society, where people were very religious, illiterate and superstitious, the Friar was respected as God himself. The friar's job in the church was to help people who committed crimes by giving them guidance to pray for a certain time so that they could receive absolution. But the Friar of the Canterbury Tales was not honest and dedicated in doing his job. He abused his position by taking money from people who came to confess. He told them that they would get absolution if they paid him and so he broke the vow of obedience because it is against the Catholic Church. He broke his vow of chastity by having adulterous relations with other women. By wearing expensive clothes, spending his time with wealthy people instead of helping beggars or sick lepers, he broke his vow of poverty. The Forgiver is a person who prays for the dead so that the sins committed in life will be forgiven. The Pardoner of The Canterbury Tales abused his position by selling some documents which he claimed if people purchased their time in purgatory would be shortened after death; he sold them at a very high price. He also claimed to have the veil of the Virgin Mary, which would be 1330 years after Mary's death. He also claimed to have the sail of St. Peter and said that the pig bones, which he always carried with him, were relics of St. Peter. Chucer also criticized him by implying him as homosexual by referring him to a gelding or mare.