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Write a discussion paper that compares the values in The Pardoners Tale with the values in the film, A Simple Plan. (approx 1000 words)
MARK: 20/20
My theme has always been one, and ever was radix malorum est cupiditas. The love of money is the root of all evil its a maxim that remains as relevant today as it did in Geoffrey Chaucers time. In fact in todays world it seems all the more potent.
The Catholic Church in Rome was the dominant force in religious life, translating into a strong influence in everyday life. In the Catholic tradition, absolution from sin is obtained through confession, in which the penitent confesses to a priest who then absolves the sin and administers pentinance.
However a trade developed in which pardoners would travel the country selling pardons so as to absolve sins for money, this in a more modern context could be similar to door to door salesman.
The pardoner is the protagonist of this tale, and as he rails against avarice, he does so but for the love of money, in stark contrast of his exemplum. This blatant hypocrisy was a central value in The Pardoners Tale. That this avaricious pardoner should, when asked to tell about some moral thing, choose a story about money as the root of all evil, speaks not only out of insincerity, but as it happens, of pure self-interest. The Pardoners insistence on avarice as the root of all evil has been seen as a cover for his real sins of lechery and carnality.
Compiled with immensely strong religious connotations throughout as well as the obvious, the tale sets forth a distinct feeling to the reader as being a sermon read aloud. The focal point of the tale is to determine the moral question of greed and its closely associated forms such as gluttony and in doing so, delivering the Godly message to abstain from such practices that are considered to form a part of the seven deadly sins.
Chaucers Pardoner is someone who is at best corrupt, if not downright evil; cautioning against the very thing which he himself is guilty of love of money. The tale symbolises a wider dissatisfaction with church corruption, one of Chaucers main aims. While values in A Pardoners Tale were of great relevance to the fourteenth century, in the twenty-first century they have very little relevance to everyday life.
The Pardoners Prologue can be directly interpreted as his statement or introduction to the sermon that follows suit. The Pardoner employs a unique role in that his introducing us to the sins takes place through his personal experiences, actions and wrong-doings. For example, he mentions that I preach for nothing but for covetousness and enforces this later by the very vice I practice which is greed. Ultimately, we realise the immense hypocrisy of his sermon in that he is able to make other people part from avaricethough that is not my principal intent. Finally, by the end of the prologue, we are firmly aware of the concept that will form The Pardoners Tale Radix malorum est cupiditas.
Greed, envy and all similar sinful characteristics are chastised by Christianity and it is expected now that the Pardoner will tell a tale of days long done that will denounce greed a formidable deadly sin.
The peroration is striking in the passage as we are distinctly made aware of the several ironies that engulf the entire tale. Other than the Pardoners own ironic faith whereby he practices what he preaches against gluttony and avarice, the tale within itself mirrors such problems. The three men, though they are a deadly force to any who may stand against them they are easily crippled when they are made to face their personal ambitions or moral character. In this case it is gluttony and greed and we see them being ripped apart from the inside as they can no longer rest upon each other in support. This metaphorical connotation is represented by their very final acts where the kill each other.
The final important irony is when we see that is was the old man who was the strongest of all. His physical limitations were inevitably his greatest strength. Being unable to carry the immense pile of gold with his crippled body, the old beggar has come to accept the worlds limitations and taken heed of spiritual strength. Perhaps this is why Death does not claim him even after all these years because he would emerge victorious by living on forever in Gods heaven. He displays the greatest moral strength and personal integrity and that is why even though people are dying in the village and there is a looming hysteria the old beggar not only survives but is seen to be the most wise and most deserving of a good life.
"You work for the American Dream--you don't steal it." So says a Minnesota family man early in A Simple Plan, but he is only repeating an untested theory. Confronted with the actual presence of $4 million in cash, he finds his values bending, and eventually he's trapped in a horror story of greed, guilt and murder. The materials of Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan are not unfamiliar; the central character is Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton), who in a narration at the beginning gives us his father's formula for happiness: "A wife he loves. A decent job. Friends and neighbours that like and respect him."
A Simple Plan sees the incorporation of several ideas and values similar to those in the older text A Pardoners Tale. In A Simple Plan, the director seeks to tell us about some moral things but in a modern context, unfettered by the ecclesiastical politics of Chaucers day.
The modern context is informed by a powerful force in the American psyche the romance of the farm. Just as Chaucer sought to highlight inequities in the pardon system, a key element in A Simple Plan is farming sector reform, and the inequities it created. Simple Plan is tied to the diminishing power, place and devaluation of the farmer in America. In its place the monopoly of conglomerates have replaced what was seen as the backbone of American culture and society. The individual and his demise in American society could well be symbolic of the demise and corruption of the traditional Christian code as the core of American culture.
This movie explores issues of greed, human relationships, betrayal and redemption, personal innocence and responsibility as well as the effects on the human psyche when deprived of a perceived right in this case the American dream of owning ones own farm. Hanks deceleration in the initial moral debate with Jacob and Lou over the money in the plane that, you work for the American dream, not steal it. Defines fundamental traditional morality which quickly transforms into personal obsession that echoes radix malorum est cupitidas, from A Pardoners Tale. The complexity of the context and personality in A Simple Plan allows, invites and demonstrates the subtleties of making moral choices in a world that is largely immoral.
In A Simple Plan complexities of real people are shown, and in reality, there is no such thing as a simple plan and so simple people in reality, because of the complexities of human nature dont exist either. It poses the question, not just that love of money is the root of all evil, but that complex humans act in a way where good people are capable of great evils. This compares significantly with The Pardoners Tale where the 3 rioters are stereotyped without complexities.
In A Simple Plan these vices and devaluement of morals represents more complex characterisation because there are most complex motives, the money being the central instigator of the action.
The age of faith has now become the age of reason as hank the protagonist tries to maintain his innocence through rationalisation, its not a crime unless someone gets hurt. This coupled with his wifes attempts to hide any evidence or hinder any suspicion takes them both on a journey, a slow evolving journey where both have fallen from places of moral goodness to places of tragic evil as husband and wife. This being similar to the journey undertaken by the three rioters, the difference being that hank and Sarahs journey is metaphorical whereas the rioters are literal as they search for death.
Its the American dream in a god damn gym bag!. one can see that it isn't just A Pardoner's Tale, but A Simple Plan also involves the temptations and passion the three rioters felt. The sin of avarice is rife throughout both texts and the above passage gives an insight into the rationale of Hank, Jacob and Lou.
This is a key moral element introduced into A Simple Plan; greed, and the question of who owns the money. In A Pardoners Tale this issue never arises, the fact of the money is enough. The three rioters certainly never discuss whose money it is; merely what theyre going to do with it. The issue of ownership never seems to occur to them; their only concern is not appearing to look as thieves. In A Simple Plan however the question is crucial. The issue of ownership of such a large amount of money cant be swept under the carpet, as Chaucer did, by simply saying that it belongs to someone more culpable. When Hank, Jacob and Lou first find the money they rationalise their discussion to keep it by inferring that it is drug money. This is a very convenient explanation renders the owner a criminal of the worst sort, and in any case, the guy in the plane is dead.
Another key value between A Pardoners Tale and A Simple Plan lies in the films tag line sometimes good people do evil things. In A Pardoners Tale there is no suggestion that the protagonists, these rioters three have any redeeming features at all. In other words, it is established prior to their actions that they are morally reprehensive. When they find the money, their reaction is therefore entirely predictable. In A Simple Plan however, the 3 men who find the money in the movie are not morally reprehensive in the same way.
The dichotomy between good people and evil things doesnt emerge in The Pardoners Tale, the three rioters are clearly not good people. So when they do something evil, it comes as no surprise. Of course on a different level, the tale makes a point about the pardoner himself. He seeks to take the moral high ground by telling his story; but in doing so merely serves to highlight his own hypocritical nature. His merely telling of the tale is in a sense evil. The listeners have urged him to tell of a moral story, and yet he seeks to manipulate them into buying his pardons.
In A Simple Plan moral fibre is not a guide to behaviour. The 3 characters with whom we most sympathise Hank, Jacob and Sarah commit acts which most people would regard as evil. They do so not so much because of circumstance as so much of human nature. Financial institutions and situations, societal issues, and family imperatives all inform the characters actions.
To an extent every story is a product of its time. In A Pardoners Tale the story of the three men finding a cache of money is informed by issues pertinent to Chaucers society. When A Simple Plan was made the issues facing America in the late twentieth century informed his tale. Even though Raimi uses the same basic premise, he transforms the ideas and the characters to address contemporary concerns. The key issue that Chaucer addresses of corruption in the church is replaced by dilemmas facing rural America and he introduced additional characters to alter the moral perspective of the story, making those issues relevant to a contemporary audience by addressing similar values as those in A Pardoners Tale.
Munesh Naicker
English Advanced
Mrs Phillips