With the Host, The Canterbury Tales have a built-in audience. What do we mean by that? Well, the Host is the pilgrim we most often see responding to the tales, which makes him kind of a mirror image of us, the reader, who are responding to them, too. It's doubtful that the Host is an ideal responder, since his interpretations of the tales are often so off-base. But those very wrong interpretations make us, the readers, think more about what the tales really do mean. And if they do that, then the Host has served his most important purpose.