PULP FICTION: AN ANALYSIS

 PULP FICTION: AN ANALYSIS

Movie: Pulp Fiction

Year of Release: 1994

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Genre: Action/ Drama

Actors: John Travolta, Samuel Jackson, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman and Ving Rhames

When people watch "Pulp Fiction" for the first time, there are many different reactions and opinions about it. Some people feel like the story makes no sense. Some people feel like thrashing their computer or TV. Other's think that VIncent Vega (John Travolta) magically comes back to life after being killed by Butch (Bruce Willis). If you ask me, I will tell you that it is a brilliant movie.

There are many contibuting factors that make "Pulp Fiction" a great movie. But the most important one is it's screenplay. It has been argued that "Pulp Fiction" shook up the whole industry and mocked the formulaic movies.

The screenplay is a non-linear one, a style that can be considered as one of the trademarks of director Quentin Tarantino. Some other factors that make "Pulp Fiction" what it is will be discussed later on.

Now I shall begin to discuss some of the aspects of the film that find to be interesting.

1. THE CONVERSATIONS

Through out the film, we see many characters having long and almost trivial conversations. These conversations mostly do not have anything to do with the plot of the film. They do not explain or reveal anything. They are simply the conversations that most ("real") people might have in their daily lives.

While these conversations might be trivial, they are interesting and amusing nevertheless. Here is a list of the one's that I can think of right now.

i) Jules (Samuel Jackson) and Vincent debating whether a foot massage is sensual or not.

ii) Jules and Vincent discussing the hygiene of pigs and dogs.

iii) The drug dealer's wife, Judy, explaining to her friend her body piercings and why she has them.

iv) Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) recalling her failed sitcom to VIncent.

v) Jules and Vicent talking about the metric system and how things vary from each country to the other.

vi) Butch and Fabienne talking about how pot bellies can be sexy when women have it, but not when men do.

These are some of the ones that I can remember or have noticed. There might be more in the film.

You know, I'm getting kinda tired. I could use a foot massage myself.

The conversations are almost nihilistic. But I think that their purpose it to show to the viewers how nihilistic or trivial most of the conversations they have every day are.

2. JULES' PASSAGE

Jules likes to recite a passage which he says is from the Bible (Ezekiel 25:17) before he executes someone. Apparently, it is not a word to word passage from the Bible, but a mash up of many different ones.

It is as follows:

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

In all, Jules recites the passage three times in the film. But the same recital is shown two times in the film. The other one is said near the end of the movie, after he has been "enlightened" and chooses to end his life as an enforcer/ gangster.

Ezekiel 25:17

After the first time Jules recites the passage, he and Vincent kill Brett, who was a business partner of their Boss Marsellus Wallace. After the second time he recites it, Jules pardons Pumpkin/ Ringo (Tim Roth) who tries to Rob him and Vincent.

3. THE SUITCASE

Jules and Vincent retrieve a a suitcase from Brett for their boss Marsellus Wallace. The contents of this suitcase are never made known to the viewers. A mysterious goldish glow emanates from the suitcase when it opens, but that is all we know.

The suitcase, according to Tarantino himself, is a "MacGuffin". A "MacGuffin" is defined as "a plot device in the form of some desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist (and sometimes the antagonist) is willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to pursue, often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so desirable."

Therefore a MacGuffin functions merely as "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention and is meant to arouse their curiosity".

Yeah, we cool!

The suitcase is said to be an homage to the 1955 film "Kiss Me Deadly". Many other parts of the film are also homages to earlier films. The lead character of "Kiss Me Deadly" is the inspiration for Butch, according to Tarantino.

Another interesting side note to the Suitcase is it's passcode or combination to open the lock, "666". The number is considered to be "the number of the beast". But Tarantino has said that this number has no significance to the plot.

4. THE TOILET

The toilet plays a very important role in Vincent's (and to a lesser extent Jules') life. Each time he goes to the toilet, his life is threatened in one way or another and finally is killed after he comes out of a toilet.

i) When Vincent and Jules go to Brett's house and execute him, a guy enters the room from the toilet and starts shooting at both the characters. But he misses the mark with all his bullets and Jules and Vincent escape death and then execute their would have been killer.

ii) Later on, when Vincent and Jules are at a diner, having their breakfast, Vincent excuses himself to the toilet. As he is in the toilet, two robbers hold up the diner. Ultimately, the robbers and Jules are entagled in a "Mexican standoff" (each person points a gun at another person).

Vincent comes back into the diner and is also involved in the standoff. But again both Jules and Vincent escape.

iii) The third time the toilet plays a role is when Vincent comes back to Marsellus' house after taking his wife Mia out on a date at the request of Marsellus himself.

Vincent again visits the toilet, wondering how he must act next with Mia.

Mia, in the meantime, finds a packet of heroin in Vincent's jacket and mistakes it for cocaine. She inhales it through her nose and over doses, almost killing her. But Vincent manages to keep her alive.

Had she been killed, it is safe to assume that Marsellus would not have gone easy on Vincent himself.

iv) Vincent is sent by Marsellus to check upon Butch's house after Butch pulls a trick on him. Butch is not at his home but comes back to retrieve a watch that belonged to his father. He finds a gun fitted with a silencer in his kitchen and realises that someone is in his toilet.

Vincent comes out of the toilet and is shot by Butch with his own gun.

5. JULES' MIRACLE

A person hiding in the bathroom of Brett tries to kill Jules and Vincent by shooting at them. But he misses them with all of his bullets and is subsequently killed by the two gangsters.

While Vincent believes that they were simply lucky not to be hit by any of the bullets, Jules says that it was an act of God and that what happened was a miracle. Jules becomes "enlightened" and is convinced that God helped him.

This was Divine Intervention!

He says that he is gonna "retire" and spend the rest of his life "walking the Earth".

But Vincent continues his life as a gangster for Marsellus. So he is sent to investigate Butch's house and is killed by Butch.

This is where Jules' decision to "retire" comes into significance.

If Jules did not "retire", he probably would have been sent to Butch's house along with Vincent.

One way of thinking would be that had Jules been along with Vincent at Butch's house, he probably would have been killed too. i.e by acknowledging that what had happened earlier was a "miracle", Jules had saved his own life.

But conversely, it is possible to say that Jules might have seen Butch coming into the house (Vincent is in the bathroom) and would have killed him, saving Vincent's life. i.e had Jules thought that they were simply lucky too, Vincent might not have been killed.

The above stated are some of the scenes that need to be analysed and add to the allure and appeal of the movie. I might have or I must have missed some other scenes such as these that need to be analysed.

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The following are some observations about the film. These might not need to be analysed are just some basic observations that I have made. Again, I must say that I surely must have missed some.

1. In the opening sequence, Jules asks to have a bite from Brett's hamburger. He goes on to remark that "I can't really get a hamburger because my girlfriend's a vegetarian, which pretty much makes me a vegetarian".

Does this mean guys give up eating meat to impress their vegetarian female friends? I know one guy who did this. And no, it's not me.

Hamburgers! The cornerstone of every nutritious breakfast.

2. Butch is a boxer. He accidentally kills his opponent in a match. On his way home, a cab driver asks him how it feels to kill a man. Butch doesn't know that he killed him and gives a vague answer.

Later on in the film, Butch is forced to kill two more people and he must surely know how it feels to kill a man then.

3. When Mia overdoses and almost dies but is rescued by Vincent, both Vincent and Mia make a deal that Marsellus doesn't have to find out about the incident.

Later, when Butch and Marsellus are captured by a pair of homosexuals, Marsellus is raped. Marsellus and Butch make a deal that nobody else find out about what happened.

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And now we come to the conclusion. I hope that I have covered at least most of the aspects of the film that need to be analysed. If I remember anything new, I will add them later.