Let us look at the characters and the objects:
Jules Winnfield played by Samuel L Jackson:
Jules Winnfield played by Samuel L Jackson always asks his victims whether they go to church and read bible, then he quotes Ezekiel 25:17 and pops bullets in their heads. Just like that. Jules represents the hypocrisy that surrounds us. We tend to overlook, underplay or even forget the evils done by us by making ourselves believe that we are doing a job assigned to us by God.
Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness
The mode of blessing, the type of charity and good, the way of shepherding, the choice of weak and the nature of darkness are all decided by us based on our prejudices, whims and fancies.
Vincent Vega played by John Travolta:
Vincent Vega has been depicted as an anti-hero in the movie. He justifies his boss killing another man just because the latter gave his wife a foot massage. As per Vincent whenever there is a foot massage, there is something romantic going on. And with romance outside marriage comes infidelity, reason enough to kill the offender. Later in the movie, Vincent laughs Winnfield’s ‘divine revelations’ and continues with his killing spree only to get killed later on.
Marsellus Wallace played by Ving Rhames:
Marsellus Wallace is the boss for which both Jules and Vincent work. His face is never shown. The nape of his neck is shown bandaged and he has a thick baritone voice. A faceless evil that makes susceptible humans work for them, has a prized briefcase which opens with the key combination of ‘666’ reasons enough to believe that he is the Satan himself. Many movie analysts have debated over the years that the bandage covers the hole from which soul of Marsellus has escaped and is now confined in the briefcase that Vincent and Jules protect with their lives. We’ll come to the briefcase later on.
Butch played by Bruce Willis:
Butch is the ultimate escapist. He has killed a man accidently in the boxing ring. He kills people at the pawn shop unintentionally and finally kills Vincent too. But he loves his wife and protects the watch the last remnant of his war-hero father. So at the end of the movie, he manages to escape the mayhem and the dark world of crime not on some fancy Harley or Ducati but on a “Grace” bike. Grace of god, you see.
The Briefcase:
The Briefcase has been the most important and mysterious object in the movie. It opens with the key combination ‘666’ and whatever is contained inside it emits a mysterious glow. Some examples:
When Vincent opens it for Pumpkin, Pumpkin gets mesmerized by the glow of the contents and he asks “Is that what I think it is?”, the thief probably sees money in it.
When Vincent opens it in Brett’s flat, Vincent asks “We happy?” to which he replies “Yes we happy”. The drug addict probably sees drugs in it.
And Jules sees salvation in it and hence as soon as he has a revelation that he has been saved by a divine presence, he quits killing people. He tries his best to convince Vincent but Vincent laughs him off. And for a common man it is the Pandora’s box representing hope when it is closed and miseries when it is opened
Of course all of these can be mere figments of imagination of a hyperactive mind but hey you got to have a plot deep enough for the analysts to be able to make such guesses and come up with such profound exploration. ‘Pulp Fiction’ will go down in history as one of the most watched and the least understood movies of all times.
Thank you QT for making it and yes, wish you a very happy birthday.
PS: I have consulted lot of Quora answers, Youtube videos and blogs. So credits to all those fanatic film followers as well :)
Let us look at the characters and the objects:
Jules Winnfield played by Samuel L Jackson:
Jules Winnfield played by Samuel L Jackson always asks his victims whether they go to church and read bible, then he quotes Ezekiel 25:17 and pops bullets in their heads. Just like that. Jules represents the hypocrisy that surrounds us. We tend to overlook, underplay or even forget the evils done by us by making ourselves believe that we are doing a job assigned to us by God.
Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness
The mode of blessing, the type of charity and good, the way of shepherding, the choice of weak and the nature of darkness are all decided by us based on our prejudices, whims and fancies.
Vincent Vega played by John Travolta:
Vincent Vega has been depicted as an anti-hero in the movie. He justifies his boss killing another man just because the latter gave his wife a foot massage. As per Vincent whenever there is a foot massage, there is something romantic going on. And with romance outside marriage comes infidelity, reason enough to kill the offender. Later in the movie, Vincent laughs Winnfield’s ‘divine revelations’ and continues with his killing spree only to get killed later on.
Marsellus Wallace played by Ving Rhames:
Marsellus Wallace is the boss for which both Jules and Vincent work. His face is never shown. The nape of his neck is shown bandaged and he has a thick baritone voice. A faceless evil that makes susceptible humans work for them, has a prized briefcase which opens with the key combination of ‘666’ reasons enough to believe that he is the Satan himself. Many movie analysts have debated over the years that the bandage covers the hole from which soul of Marsellus has escaped and is now confined in the briefcase that Vincent and Jules protect with their lives. We’ll come to the briefcase later on.
Butch played by Bruce Willis:
Butch is the ultimate escapist. He has killed a man accidently in the boxing ring. He kills people at the pawn shop unintentionally and finally kills Vincent too. But he loves his wife and protects the watch the last remnant of his war-hero father. So at the end of the movie, he manages to escape the mayhem and the dark world of crime not on some fancy Harley or Ducati but on a “Grace” bike. Grace of god, you see.
The Briefcase:
The Briefcase has been the most important and mysterious object in the movie. It opens with the key combination ‘666’ and whatever is contained inside it emits a mysterious glow. Some examples:
When Vincent opens it for Pumpkin, Pumpkin gets mesmerized by the glow of the contents and he asks “Is that what I think it is?”, the thief probably sees money in it.
When Vincent opens it in Brett’s flat, Vincent asks “We happy?” to which he replies “Yes we happy”. The drug addict probably sees drugs in it.
And Jules sees salvation in it and hence as soon as he has a revelation that he has been saved by a divine presence, he quits killing people. He tries his best to convince Vincent but Vincent laughs him off. And for a common man it is the Pandora’s box representing hope when it is closed and miseries when it is opened
Of course all of these can be mere figments of imagination of a hyperactive mind but hey you got to have a plot deep enough for the analysts to be able to make such guesses and come up with such profound exploration. ‘Pulp Fiction’ will go down in history as one of the most watched and the least understood movies of all times.
Thank you QT for making it and yes, wish you a very happy birthday.
PS: I have consulted lot of Quora answers, Youtube videos and blogs. So credits to all those fanatic film followers as well :)