what is the central theme of the pardoner's tale
The Pardoner's Tale The tale itself is an extended exemplum. Setting out to kill Death, three young men encounter an Old Man who says they will find him under a nearby tree. When they arrive they discover a hoard of treasure and decide to stay with it until nightfall and carry it away under cover of darkness. Out of greed, they murder each other. The tale and prologue are primarily concerned with what the Pardoner says is his "theme": Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of [all] evils").