A Reflective Essay

written by:
Reynaldo B. Tiquian Jr.

The Pardoner's Tale is a confessional story that depicts the hypocrisy of the
Pardoner, who preaches to his gullible parishioners about how greed is the root of all
evil, while living a greedy life himself. Furthermore, The Pardoner tells the story of three
rioters who planned to kill the thief named Death in order to avenge their friend but
ended up killing each other as a result of their greed, as well. As a result, the story
made me sad, it taught me not to fully trust people, and I learned that people are
naturally selfish.
Being a leader in a church community entails taking on the enormous
responsibility of transforming the lives of your members and advocating moral standards
based on God's word. However, in the story, the pardoner shows no concern for his
member, and even today, some church leaders preach about sin and of what and how
our lives should be, but they do not practice what they preach to themselves. This
heinous reality breaks my heart because I looked up to them and admired their
dedication as well as their devotion to God. Nonetheless, I believe that not all of them
are only concerned with money and fortune, and that the majority of God's servants are
faithful and true to their calling.
Furthermore, one of the most important takeaways from the story is not to
completely trust people. I frequently hear numerous stories about how plethora of
people are harmed, devastated, and taken advantage of because they believe in what
others say, especially their friends. Thus, I am fastidious about who I trust with. In the
story, the friendship of the three rioters ended when they discovered a fortune of gold
and planned to kill each other just to get a bigger portion. It taught me that when money
is involved, your friendship will be put to test, and if you value and honour your
friendships, there will be no harm or betrayal. Nevertheless, I am grateful to my friends
that even though there are only a few of them, I know I can trust them, and I guarantee
that our friendship will last until the end.
Finally, I believe that the most prevalent problem in our world stems from
people's selfishness. While I believe that humans are inherently selfish, some people's
selfishness is severe that they become greedy, as seen in both the pardoner and the
three rioters in the story. Taking advantage of people's faith and murdering friends for
money is unequivocally immoral, and unfortunately this is the sad reality of our lives. My
family has encountered numerous people who became envious of our minuscule
success and tried everything to bring us down, for they are greedy as well, and
deplorably, they succeeded. Nonetheless, we are slowly but steadily overcoming it and
embedding what it taught us about the dire truth of life.

In conclusion, the Pardoner's Tale mirrored the harsh reality of life. Nonetheless,
I believe that it is still up to us to decide which side we will take and what decisions and
actions we will make. Furthermore, I believe that at the end of the day, karma will follow
you, because whatever you do to others will inevitably happen to you. Lastly, let us sow
good deeds in order to reap abundant blessings.