The pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales display human characteristics ranging from righteousness to corruption. Two of the pilgrims, the clerk and Frere (friar), demonstrate traits at opposite ends of the spectrum of human nature. The clerk, wishing to educate himself and others, strove to achieve a higher understanding of philosophy. The friar used his position in the church to take advantage of innocent people for his own benefit. The Chancellor was noble and just while the Friar was greedy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The clerk was a clergy student at Oxford. He had completed all the courses necessary to qualify for the BA. Despite this, he had no secular job or ecclesiastical position because all he wanted to do was read and educate himself. He preferred to have:Twenty books, covered in black or cane,Of Aristotle and his philosophy,What robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrie.(Prologue, Lines 294-296)The Chancellor preferred to have twenty books in his head read rather than own expensive clothes, a violin or a beautiful-sounding harp. Having no more work, the employee broke down; his only source of income was the money his friends lent him. To no one's surprise, he spent the money on books and education. He loved teaching others and being taught. He listened carefully to what everyone had to say and never said anything more than what was appropriate for the specific moment. This demonstrated his modesty and willingness to learn new points of view and not simply teach everyone his opinions. The friar was a happy and lustful man, who, having taken a vow of poverty and preaching, added alms to people as part of his work. He knew all the gossip about what was happening in the four orders of the Friars. The friar would find husbands for his former lover at his expense (Prologue, line 213) and find new women to entertain. He also had the license to confess and absolve in cases beyond the jurisdiction of the parish priest. This gave him immense power over other people's lives. He would grant penance to people if they were willing to give him money and luxuries, even though it was illegal to do so within the church. For many such a hard man is of his herte, he may not cry even if he is so sad. Therefore , instead of wepynge and Prayers, Men moote yeve silver ai povre freres. (Prologue, lines 229-234) He thought that even if a man was hurt inside for having done evil, prayers and tears would not be enough to grant him forgiveness. They would have to bribe the Friars with silver to be granted penance. The friar knew the men and women who were the hoteliers, bartenders and customers of the taverns. He preferred to meet women. He showed no moral rectitude and being considered the best beggar around didn't help him seem like a better person. That was fine with him because by begging he got what he wanted, that is, money. The Chancellor and the Friar seem so opposite at first glance; however, they have similar traits that fall in the middle of the spectrum of human nature. They both had imperfections that affected their lives equally. The employee focused his life on one thing, education. He spent all his time educating himself. For this reason he had no job. He had to work hard to convince his friends to lend him money, but then he only spent the money on more books and learning materials. The friar centered his life on the desire for money and his passion for women. He used flattery and his position in the church to.