Through out the history of our own existence men and women alike have pondered and questioned whether there truly exists a force that controls all aspects of our existence. In order to answer these questions men have gone on spiritual quest for not only knowledge of god, but to shed light on our own lives. Men like Geoffrey Chaucer take us on a quest to dig deep within our souls to answer our own question. In Chaucers collection of tales entitled, The Canterbury Tales The tales deal with a group of pilgrims of all social classes in search for forgiveness to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. The pilgrims all seek knowledge they cannot have but still try and find that knowledge within each other by telling their tales of morality. The prologue, introduces us to the characters backgrounds socially and morally. Each pilgrim is described a certain to social classes, from the highest, which would be the knight, to the lowest end of the social ladder, which are the five guilds men: a Weaver, Dyer, Carpenter, Tapestry maker and a Haberdasher. Chaucer acknowledges the respect and ranks all the characters by describing their flaws as well as what they contribute to society. An example of this is when Chaucer writes, There was a knight, a most distinguished man, who from the day he first began to ride abroad had followed chivalry, truth, honor, Generousness and courtesy. Chaucer uses this technique with every single character to thoroughly detail what they morally symbolize. In order to start the tales Chaucer makes his characters draw straws and the knight who happens to be the most honorable gets the short straw, Chaucer then writes, Whether by chance of fate or accident, the truth is this, the cut fell to the knight, which everybody greeted with delight. And tell his tale he must, as reason was because of our agreement and because he too had sworn. Chaucer makes the knight go first because he is obviously the most honorable of all the character...
