The importance of order in Knight's TaleChaucer claims to place the Knight's Tale just after the General Prologue by chance, by lot. The Knight draws the short straw, and everyone is happy. The desirability of following his long narrative is clear on some levels and barely perceptible on others. I intend to begin my investigation of the Knight's Tale with a careful examination of these three statements, and perhaps we will find there an interesting, if questionable, conclusion. The honorable host, Harry Bailey, begins this famous day of pilgrimage by calling everyone together to draw lots: “He who has the shortest will go first.” (838) He calls on the knight to draw first, probably as a gesture of respect, as he refers to the knight as master and lord. Harry continues speaking for a short while, as we see the visual image of the Knight approaching to claim his straw. The host continues to call two more pilgrims, but quickly decides that everyone might as well draw lots. And surprise! The Knight finds himself holding the shortcut. Is it possible that Harry intentionally managed to give the Knight the short straw? “Now I cut,” he said, “for it is my agreement” (840). A careful eye may suggest a play on words in this line: Now draw the cut (short) straw, for this is my wish. The words “rope” and “chord” were both used in Middle English, so we may be able to find a double meaning there as well. If indeed Harry wishes to give the "rope" to the Knight, there are several interesting cases to think about: a) the rope is simply the short straw, b) the rope is the executioner's rope, or c) the rope is a unit of wood cut for fuel. The executioner's rope would give rise to subtle sarcasm, but ... middle of paper ... immediate effects on the Miller, who cares not at all for courtesy or order but only for reckless desire. Therefore, the Miller follows with a tale that Palamon might have enjoyed if he had not known the ways of chivalry, but only those of lust. Works cited and consulted Benson, Larry D., ed. Chaucer by the river. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Seventh edition. Two volumes. Ed. Mr. H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 2000. Cooper, Helen. The structure of the Canterbury Tales. Athens: U of Georgia P, 1983. Modern Critical Views: Geoffrey Chaucer, Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. Spearing, A. C. Chaucer: The Knight's Tale. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. Williams, David. The Canterbury Tales, a literary pilgrimage. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987.