Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, not only creates many varying themes throughout each tales he writes, but also through each contrasting pilgrim on the trip. Through the Parson and the Pardoner especially, Chaucer reveals the changes that the church has gone through. He shows this through each character's personality and the tale each tells. Chaucer also brings forth the general theme of the clerics of the time.
             Chaucer includes each character as if to condemn the path that the church has taken. The Parson represents the old church. He truly cares for the parishioners, never cheats them, and steers clear of hypocrisy. He first tries his best to live the perfect life, and then teaches how it should be lived. In contrast, the Pardoner represents what the church has become. He is a mirror image of the church's corruption in the way that he scares people into giving him money. The Pardoner is hypocritical, and even admits so in his prologue. He frightens people with his preaching so they will pay him for his pardons, yet he does not carry out that which he teaches.
             Each tale told reflects the types of men they are. The Parson gives a sermon about the seven deadly sins. Each part of his sermon comments, in some way, about the other travelers. Yet he does not speak harshly, rather knowledgeably. This represents the old church because it was there for the good of the people and in servanthood to God. The old church was for teaching and rebuking, not turning a profit from the parishioners. The Pardoner tells a tale out of vengeance toward the friar, repaying him for a tale told about a Pardoner. His tale is not told for the benefit of the other pilgrims, but for his selfish goal, revenge. This symbolizes the church in the way that it seemed to no longer be there for the benefit of the people but for the benefit of the clerics.
             By contrasting the two characters Chaucer deve
             ...