# Pulp Fiction: a theory **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886 "2013-04-28T03:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/21 "2013-04-28T14:44:26Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > And why, in your opinion, is Mia so special? I’m not being facetious, I’m genuinely curious. We don’t know. Like Jules, we only see the miracle itself. We have to figure out its meaning. Perhaps Mia, while the central figure in the events of the movie, has only a supporting role in some larger as-yet-unseen story. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Jules, who accepts the miracle, gets out of the business and, one assumes, lives to a decent age. Vincent, who doubts, does not. Samuel L. Jackson has such a presence that he fools people into thinking Jules is a central character. But consider that when Jules and Vincent are apart, the story follows Vincent. Jules is just a supporting character to Vincent. And Vincent doesn’t have any story - he lives and then he dies. It’s obviously not Vincent’s story so he must also be a supporting character. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/22 "2013-04-28T14:48:50Z")
Consider the other character the story follows: Butch. In a parallel to what happened with Vincent, we follow Butch through the movie for a while. But once he’s saved a life (Marsellus’s) he hops on a motorcycle and rides out of the movie. Like Vincent, Butch has fulfilled his role. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/23 "2013-04-28T15:11:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Samuel L. Jackson has such a presence that he fools people into thinking Jules is a central character. But consider that when Jules and Vincent are apart, the story follows Vincent. Jules is just a supporting character to Vincent. And Vincent doesn’t have any story - he lives and then he dies. It’s obviously not Vincent’s story so he must also be a supporting character. Hey, consider the opening scene: Tim Roth is planning a heist – and then we get the rest of the film, showing us the story of a bunch of other people, before coming back around to show us how and why that crook got shown the error of his ways! ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/24 "2013-04-28T15:14:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They’re guns were loaded with blanks. They never fired any bullets. That’s what I figured too. Marvin swapped out the bullets and forgot to mention it to Jules and Vincent before his, er, accident. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/25 "2013-04-28T15:19:31Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > That’s what I figured too. Marvin swapped out the bullets and forgot to mention it to Jules and Vincent before his, er, accident. Except, it’s been a while, but I distinctly remember bullet holes all over the place after the miraculous shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/26 "2013-04-28T15:27:25Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Except, it’s been a while, but I distinctly remember bullet holes all over the place after the miraculous shooting. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or not, but you can actually see one of the bullet holes over Jules’ shoulder just before he starts shooting. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSmqxPuF-Xk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSmqxPuF-Xk) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/27 "2013-04-28T15:55:03Z")
Chill the fuck out, guys, this shit happens. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/28 "2013-04-28T16:26:04Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > That’s what I figured too. Marvin swapped out the bullets and forgot to mention it to Jules and Vincent before his, er, accident. There is evidence that this is true. The bullet holes in the wall were there before the shooting started. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/29 "2013-04-29T00:04:03Z")
Only some of the bullets holes are there, although you can see the patches that are over some of them. Could be Tarantino winking at us, could be imperfect continuity. As far as the scene goes, I think the whole flock of seagulls were in over there heads, and he just didn’t know how to handle the weapon. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/30 "2013-04-29T06:15:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Consider the other character the story follows: Butch. In a parallel to what happened with Vincent, we follow Butch through the movie for a while. But once he’s saved a life (Marsellus’s) he hops on a motorcycle and rides out of the movie. Like Vincent, Butch has fulfilled his role. Much more than that: Butch, who really is kind of a low-life, has been tested, tried, and redeemed. First, he fucks Marsellus over royally by taking his money and not throwing the boxing match as he had agreed to do (he actually KILLS his opponent and feels not one shred of remorse). He took all of the money Marsellus gave him and bet it on himself to win, showing that the above was no accident but a thoroughly premeditated scam. He knows he has to get out of town fast, but is forced to go home for his father’s watch. While there, he whacks Marsellus’s own hit man (Vincent, who was given the chance to repent but ignored it and, like a true Elvis fan, dies on/in the toilet). Finally, after a Psycho-like moment when he spies his former boss through the windscreen of his automobile, he all but offs Marsellus himself, but is stopped at the last second by a perverted redneck. He manages to escape from the Deliverance-type situation they’ve landed in (a true circle of Hell), but the words of Capt. Koons come back to him from his dream (“two men in a bad situation have to take responsibility for each other”), and he can’t find it in his heart to abandon Marsellus. He goes back and rescues him, which he emphatically does NOT have to do: he could just have kept on walking out and no one would be any the wiser. That actually would have been the smart thing to do, as he’s still on Marsellus’s shit-list. In the end, he’s pardoned by Marsellus (who is kind of a God-like figure since, as one of my students once pointed out, he’s the one character around whom all the others revolve) and rides off into the sunset on (wait for it!) _Grace._ Epiphany, Repentance (of a sort), Redemption, and Grace; verily, he hath found favor in the eyes of the Lord! ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/31 "2013-04-29T07:29:12Z")
Great. A god leap into one of my favorite movies to ruin it. I suppose this is the same reason Luke fired the photons into the exhaust vent without his targeting computer. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/32 "2013-04-29T13:19:28Z")
No, he was symbolicly fertilizing the Death Star/Ovum. I dare you to unread that. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/33 "2013-04-29T13:39:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It was never really explained why all those bullets missed. Yes it was. Vincent offers a perfectly acceptable ‘explanation’: they got lucky. There’s really no need for your theory. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/34 "2013-04-29T15:18:27Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > Yeah, the whole scene with the needle and Mia’s “breastbone” was bogus crap. Tarantino could have made the injection some weird prohibited drug called nalaxone. Simple shot in a vein. That,s what really would have saved her life. And it might have, actually, been “edgy” and meant something. I have no idea what you mean. That scene was pure movie magic. If you’re implying it was medically inaccurate and therefore lame, I can’t argue, but don’t agree. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/35 "2013-04-29T15:50:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He knows he has to get out of town fast, but is forced to go home for his father’s watch. While there, he whacks Marsellus’s own hit man (Vincent, who was given the chance to repent but ignored it and, like a true Elvis fan, dies on/in the toilet). Vincent goes to the bathroom three times in this movie, and every time he does something really bad happens. I do not know the significance of this. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/36 "2013-04-29T15:57:06Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > No, he was symbolicly fertilizing the Death Star/Ovum. I dare you to unread that. Okay - where did _that_ come from?! And shouldn’t there be a [brain bleach] code you should be required to employ for something like that? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/37 "2013-04-29T15:59:08Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Great. A god leap into one of my favorite movies to ruin it. I suppose this is the same reason Luke fired the photons into the exhaust vent without his targeting computer. That wasn’t magic or God, that was bacteria in his bloodstream. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/38 "2013-04-29T16:02:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > We don’t know. Like Jules, we only see the miracle itself. We have to figure out its meaning. Perhaps Mia, while the central figure in the events of the movie, has only a supporting role in some larger as-yet-unseen story. Hockey. In the end, it was all about inspiring young men to play [hockey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKOBqH8pQaQ). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/39 "2013-04-29T16:22:06Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Hockey. In the end, it was all about inspiring young men to play [hockey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKOBqH8pQaQ). Interesting how they bleeped it out when he said bitch but didn’t when he said son of a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886/40 "2013-04-29T17:54:57Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Vincent goes to the bathroom three times in this movie, and every time he does something really bad happens. > > I do not know the significance of this. Everything bad comes in threes. :mad: Let’s face it: the whole movie is a religious allegory filled with betrayal, a massacre of innocents, divine intervention, death, a God-like figure, a Jesus figure, resurrection, epiphany, circles of Hell, repentance, redemption, and grace. Its structure gives the audience a God’s-eye view of the story by flashing back and forth through time while providing continuity markers. Put the segments into chronological order and the focus of the movie becomes Jules’s conversion and what happens to Vincent when he refuses to believe, like the two thieves at Calvary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-a-theory/656886.md?page=3)