Ambition’s Darkness
“Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.” (Timothy 6:9) The main problem in our society is greed, because it causes people to turn bad by becoming thieves, murder, and leads people to poverty. Being out in this world today, greed is a problem all over the world and takes form into our human nature. The top two organizations, government and drug trafficking, in the world able to control many people by greed. When these two collide both form a dangerous and a big threat to society to climb to the top. This is where corruption takes place affecting our world turning it upside down. The government has a huge amount of
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One example is drugs, many people especially teens in today’s society consider drug dealing a business. Most of the time there’s a bad income, and may lead some people to commit murder, or the “customer” for these drug dealers will end up stealing from others to find some type of income to buy their “needs”, when it’s really just to fulfill their addictions. In ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’, “I preach nothing except for gain.”, he demonstrates how possessive he is when it comes to money and also that he’s a hypocrite. The Pardoner takes advantage of the people due to their lack of education and selfishly takes their money, and it’s shown through the tale he tells. He quotes, “Avarice is the most of all evil.”, this means that extreme greed for wealth or material gain is profoundly immoral. The Pardoner has is shown in the world everyday by the motives of wanting money and the actions people take to get it. Greediness plays a big role in everyday life and has no limits whatsoever. Specifically in the drug business, people are drawn into it very easy just to get money easier without thinking the dangers their lives are exposed
Greed – the extreme, selfish desire to acquire what is beyond average necessities. Whether greed applies to wealth or power, mankind is prone to exemplify the cupidity. Humans may never become truly content with what they are given, allowing them to desire superfluous objects. The development of greed, as shown in repeated history, eventually leads to the ruination of characters, one particular character being Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie, the leader of the steel industry in the 19th century, epitomized the concept of greed by yearning for supplementary profits within his company; this greed greatly affected the lives of many, including Carnegie himself.
The Pardoner as viewed by most is a greedy man. He is considered by some the epitome of greedy and a mal-intent. When he is telling his story of the three men who vowed one day to kill Death, and ended up killing each other over money, the Pardoner is inadvertently giving the audience a description of himself. The Pardoner is telling the audience that he is a man driven by greed, but a pure greed he is fearful of turning malicious. The pardoner begins by saying “I preach nothing but for greed of gain and use the same old text, as bold as brass, Radix malorum est cupiditas and thus I preach every vice I make a living out of- avarice…
If people control their greed, they will be bountiful in other ways than wealth. They will have happiness in helping others by giving back, instead of keeping to oneself. If the greed is too large you will experience a lot of negative impacts. There are many topics involving greed, this essay involved somewhat it is about, the dangers, and the benefits of controlling the desire to gain. Even though the Pardoner’s Tale may be old, it will still be applicable throughout the present and the future.
As a French Proverb states, “greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth”. People are consumed with wanting more and more rather than knowing what they need in life. The human race constantly carries on this pattern of greed. A theme of greed is shown in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
The ability to be able to have so much power and influence over so many things that affect our lives is inconceivable. From simple activities of a normal daily life to how a country can run and how it may flourish, the effects that drug trafficking has grown to new heights. The war on drugs has long been a struggle in many different countries and goes across the entire world. While some countries have been able to limit the trafficking, others struggle to contain it and simply cannot stop it. Drug trafficking has a great power and influence over how many things function such as the economy, daily living, and politics, but could be combatted with different strategies such as legalisation.
Greed can be a good thing if it is used for the right reasons. For example, greed can be the key that leads to success. If a person wants to achieve recognition, they’ll go extreme measures to make it happen such as inventing something, excelling in their studies, or even being the best. However, in most cases, greed can lead to disaster. Having the desire to obtain something a person already possesses is selfish.
Pardoner admit over as much story that he knows the correct strategy of extorting cash starting with individuals by preaching against the avarice from claiming cash. His skill lies in singing at the offertory to extract greatest cash starting with the individuals. Greed is those root from claiming shrewdness. “I preach nothing except for gain”(Line 105, Pardoner). Through the whole Pardoner’s tale he displays his love towards money and his greediness.
The presence of greed utilized by Chaucer in the Pardoner’s tale presents satire as his character is meant to be honorable, yet, behind the scenes is actually the most unethical one. The first example the audience is shown of this fraud is as the pardoner explains his motives, when he states, “Of avarice and of swich cursednesse/ Is al my prechyng, for to make hem free/ To yeven hir pens; and namely, unto me!/ For myn entente is nat but for to wynne,/ And no thyng for correccioun of synne” (114 – 118).
A pardoner is a man who sells religious relics of forgiveness to sinners. However, Chaucer’s Pardoner is an untrustworthy character who sells fake tokens for a profit. He boasts of his great ability to preach, and ironically, his favorite topic is greed. “
Greed is one of the worst things a person can have in his or her characteristics during the Middle Ages. The representation of being greedy made you get looked upon by the people in many bad ways. A good example of this is “The Pardoner's Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer. “The Pardoner's Tale” shows that the idea of not being greedy in order to enhance the characterization of the Pardoner, as he used the church to his advantage to earn money.
At the very beginning of the Pardoner’s tale, through one of his sermons, we are told his, “theme is alwey oon, and ever was—/“Radix malorum est Cupiditas” (“Pardoner’s” Tale 5-6). This statement provides an aura of satire, as the Pardoner solely speaks against the practice of greed, as on the side he ironically practices exactly what he preaches against. Continuing on, the Pardoner, himself, clearly states the greedy motives his drive depends upon as he informs us that for his, “intent is only pence to win,/ And not at all for punishment of sin” (“Pardoner’s Prologue” 117-118). The Pardoner states his “only” intent is to win “pence” or profit.
This is ironic as the pardoner tries to get the group to give him money after telling them how it was all a scam, “My holy pardon saves you from all this:/ If you will offer nobles, sterlings, rings,/ Soome brooches, spoons or other silver things,”(906-908). While he knows that they know his faulsities he deliberately ignores this in order to try and proceed with his con. Another layer of irony in this is that he promises pureness while he himself is not pure, “If you will give. You’ll be as clean and pure/
In the story, both the characters on the pilgrimage and the characters within the stories themselves display elements of church corruption. Out of all the characters on the journey, the Pardoner is the most obvious case of a corrupt member of the church. The prologue of the Pardoner illustrates his obsession with material wealth and the hypocrisy of his job. During this drunken state, he rants to the company that “Covetousness is both the root and stuff of all I preach” (p. 243) this oxymoronic phrase illustrates his corruption. Covetousness refers to one of the ten commandments; You shall not covet your neighbors
In The Pardoner’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, there is a very poor old man who says “To find out death, turn up this crooked way / Towards that grove, I left him there today / Under a tree, and there you’ll find him waiting.” (Line 155-157). This is significant to the story because death is a main theme throughout the tale. When the three characters reach the tree they only find gold. However this is still considered as death.
Greed is a form of jelousey and a want to pocsess often materialistic things or someone elses life. Its a motivators well, often greed can be used agaisnt ones self, making bad decsions can lead to conflict and having to pay the consequences. Greeed can be the things that can ruin some ones character as well. Many examples of greed is around us all the time. Picture a busy subway in newyork city at rush hour time.