Adam and Eve's exile was the byproduct of greed; Eve's greed for more power led her to eat the forbidden apple. Greed is deadly: it corrodes the soul of men: this is the message that is proclaimed to everyone from birth. Over the centuries, this traditional concept of greed seems to have diminished, and a new concept of greed has been proclaimed: greed is good. Two highly revered works of art – Wall Street directed by William Oliver Stone, and “The Pardoner's Tale”, contained in the Canterbury Tales, by William Chaucer – centuries later, have been able to accentuate the difference between the concept of greed in the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 21st. With strong methods of characterization, these works of art were able to convey their message to the audience. In “The Pardoner's Tale,” Chaucer uses direct description, the reactions of others, and actions to characterize the three friends who are Chaucer's representation of how greed affects men. The diction that Chaucer uses for direct description creates an overall negative impression on the three friends. The three friends are described as "rebellious" and young." The word “rioter” generates the denotation of being violent and creating disorder in society; the word young carries the denotation of being immature, idiotic and careless; both of these words create a negative allure on the characters, and since they are the representation of what greed does to men, these words reflect the overall negativity that greed produces in men. Describing one of your friends as the “evilest.” Chaucer manages to surround the character with repugnance; many derogatory terms come to mind when someone is called evil: repugnant, immoral... half the paper... give paper, but that other malfunctioning society called the USA” (Wall Street) – receives surprising applause, right from of those same people who wanted to rebel against him. By including the reaction of others to characterize Gekko, Stone shows his readers that greedy people gain society's respect regardless of how immoral they are perceived to be. Along with appearance, speech, and the reaction of others, Stone attributes several positive traits to Gekko: his greedy character; from the way Gekko is portrayed, readers can conclude that greed is good as it led to Gekko's success, intelligence, and respect.Works CitedChaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Trans. Nevill Coghill. Harrisonburg, Virginia: George Banta Co., Inc., 1977, Wall Street. Director Oliver Pietra. Perf. Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah. 20th century fox, 1987