Miller's Tale- Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of my Miller's Tale blog series! Some of you may be distressed, and others may be relieved, but this is my final blog post on this particular topic. Today, I plan to broach the topic of gullibility in the Miller's Tale. To make his story come together, the Miller characterizes the carpenter, John, as extremely gullible. Although John is very suspicious of his wife from the beginning, he easily falls for the joke that Alison and Nicholas produce. Nicholas and Alison decide to convince John that there is going to be a flood similar to the story of Noah's Arc in the Bible. Nicholas pretends to be crazy and pretends to foresee the future, and he claims that there will be a massive flood the upcoming Monday. The solution Nicholas proposes is to get into bathtubs and float through the flood. Okay, now doesn't this just seem absurd! However, the Miller explains that "This sely carpenter biginneth quake; / Him thinketh verrailiche that he may see / Noees flood come walwing as the see," (506-508). Okay, why on Earth would John believe a crazy person! That makes no sense! This is extremely unbelievable! On Monday, when all three of them prepare for the "flood" by getting in the bathtubs, their plan unravels. John falls asleep, and Alison and Nicholas go spend the night together in John's bed. Okay, why did they have to make up that crazy story if John was just out of town? Why would he fall for it???? Well, Nicholas and Alison do make people believe that John is crazy because he tries to talk to people about the flood, and Nicholas and Alison pretend they have no idea what John is babbling on about. Poor John was just a simple man (obviously if he fell for that!). This extreme gullibility does create immense humor, but it is also somewhat unbelievable at the same time. Well that is all for my rants on the Miller's Tale. I hope all of you have enjoyed these past 4 days.
Thanks for listening,
Chaucer (the pilgrim)

                                                    (This is John ready for the flood)

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