# Pulp Fiction Briefcase MacGuffin **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 28, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463 "2016-03-28T15:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/1 "2016-03-28T15:19:10Z")
> **[What’s in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342923/what-s-in-the-briefcase-in-em-pulp-fiction-em)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD The hypothesis that the briefcase contains Marcellus’ soul seems reminiscent to me of the Harlan Ellison short story “Grail”: A man spends much of his life, including bargaining with a demon, to gain the mysterious artifact called True Love- the most desirable thing in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Doubticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@Doubticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubticus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/2 "2016-03-28T21:08:12Z")
I think the theory that the briefcase in question is the briefcase (containing an alien artifact of some sort) from the movie “Repo Man” is compelling. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/3 "2016-03-29T02:09:20Z")
> [@Doubticus](#): > > I think the theory that the briefcase in question is the briefcase (containing an alien artifact of some sort) from the movie “Repo Man” is compelling. Except that the Pulp Fiction briefcase doesn’t disintegrate people. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/4 "2016-03-30T19:31:57Z")
From the article: “the Bible says that is the place where the devil extracts one’s soul.” What? I’d like to see a cite for that! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/5 "2016-03-30T20:37:44Z")
The actual quote from the article is: > [@](#): > > Those who support this idea offer the following points as some of the proof: > 1.Marcellus has a band-aid on the back of his neck, and the Bible says that is the place where the devil extracts one’s soul. So I can’t tell if Dogster is quoting “those who support this idea” or if he is presenting the Bible reference as fact, but I’ll eat my bible if someone points out to me where it says this. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/6 "2016-03-30T20:39:43Z")
According to one of the guys who wrote the script [spoiler][What's in the 'Pulp Fiction' Briefcase? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/pulpfiction.asp) > [@](#): > > But Tarantino’s co-writer, Roger Avary, says that when they wrote the script for Pulp Fiction, it was diamonds. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/7 "2016-03-31T01:30:06Z")
If it doesn’t contain the soul of Marcellus Wallace, explain the [band-aid on the back of his head](http://i.imgur.com/aVIIx3B.png). Tarantino wouldn’t put a front-and-center shot of this in a movie for no reason, he’s too heavily invested in homage and symbolism for such a banal explanation as “he had a cut on the back of his head.” Diamonds don’t [glow golden](http://i.imgur.com/zgoUdIX.png), either. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/8 "2016-03-31T07:02:03Z")
Hah - the old ‘luminous McGuffin’ trick. Straight out of Hitchcock. Here’s _Suspicion_, from 1941, where the Master himself has placed a lightbulb inside a glass of milk to emphasise the fact that it might be poison. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Kk8FW9atXuw/hqdefault.jpg "Suspicion (1941) - glass of milk scene (with bit of rus voiceover)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8FW9atXuw) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/9 "2016-03-31T13:05:42Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > If it doesn’t contain the soul of Marcellus Wallace, explain the [band-aid on the back of his head](http://i.imgur.com/aVIIx3B.png). Tarantino wouldn’t put a front-and-center shot of this in a movie for no reason, he’s too heavily invested in homage and symbolism for such a banal explanation as “he had a cut on the back of his head.” Ving Rhames had gotten cut there in real life and Tarantino liked the bandage so it was left on and he centered the shot on it. Oh, you want an “in movie” explanation. Um, it contains all the other POWs’ watches that Capt. Koons “stored” but didn’t have a chance to return? You see, Marsellus was at Koons’ deathbed and vowed to continue to search for the POWs’ kids and give them their dads’ watches. Marsellus took his promises seriously. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/10 "2016-03-31T14:09:36Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Ving Rhames had gotten cut there in real life and Tarantino liked the bandage so it was left on and he centered the shot on it. > > Oh, you want an “in movie” explanation. > > Um, it contains all the other POWs’ watches that Capt. Koons “stored” but didn’t have a chance to return? You see, Marsellus was at Koons’ deathbed and vowed to continue to search for the POWs’ kids and give them their dads’ watches. Marsellus took his promises seriously. Or the in-universe explanation…since Vince Vega is brothers with Vic Vega it is the Diamonds from Reservoir Dogs. Or the Samuel L Jackson explanation…a battery, some wires and a lightbulb ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/11 "2016-04-05T00:04:25Z")
Jules is telling the truth when he tells ‘Ringo’ that the briefcase contains his boss’s laundry: The contents are a gold lamé jumpsuit, like the one Elvis wore on the cover of ‘50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong: Elvis’ Gold Records, Vol. 2’ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/12 "2016-04-05T05:27:45Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > If it doesn’t contain the soul of Marcellus Wallace, explain the [band-aid on the back of his head](http://i.imgur.com/aVIIx3B.png). Tarantino wouldn’t put a front-and-center shot of this in a movie for no reason, he’s too heavily invested in homage and symbolism for such a banal explanation as “he had a cut on the back of his head.” > > Diamonds don’t [glow golden](http://i.imgur.com/zgoUdIX.png), either. I’m sympathetic to the idea that everything Tarantino does has deeper meaning, but I’d like to see some evidence that this idea that the devil takes your soul from a wound in the back of your neck exists outside of this specific movie theory. I’ve never once heard it in any context other than discussing Marcellus’s band-aid. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/13 "2016-04-05T08:39:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m sympathetic to the idea that everything Tarantino does has deeper meaning, but I’d like to see some evidence that this idea that the devil takes your soul from a wound in the back of your neck exists outside of this specific movie theory. I’ve never once heard it in any context other than discussing Marcellus’s band-aid. Well, Satan was just going to carry Ving in his jaws, like a mother cat with her kittens. But he forgot that his breath is that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/14 "2016-04-14T23:30:47Z")
I don’t buy that it’s Marcellus’ soul…that’s just silly. But two things throw me: the fact that it glows, and Pumpkin’s comment about it when he sees it. I imagine some kind of golden holy artifact, but that still doesn’t really explain the glow. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/15 "2016-07-12T13:09:26Z")
Bumped. If you want a _Pulp Fiction_ reminder for your garden: [http://www.militaryissue.com/Say-What-Again-Garden-Gnome/productinfo/101459/](http://www.militaryissue.com/Say-What-Again-Garden-Gnome/productinfo/101459/) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/16 "2016-07-14T23:56:34Z")
If it was Marcellus’ soul, why would he have given it to Brett?? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/17 "2016-07-15T01:15:59Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Bumped. > > If you want a _Pulp Fiction_ reminder for your garden: [http://www.militaryissue.com/Say-What-Again-Garden-Gnome/productinfo/101459/](http://www.militaryissue.com/Say-What-Again-Garden-Gnome/productinfo/101459/) Or _Scarface_: [Patriot Depot - Shop America's #1 Conservative Store — PatriotDepot.com](https://patriotdepot.com/say-hello-to-my-little-friend-garden-gnome/) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/18 "2016-07-15T03:27:51Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Except that the Pulp Fiction briefcase doesn’t disintegrate people. It would have had ten years to mellow out between Repo Man and Pulp Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/19 "2016-07-15T03:32:37Z")
It doesn’t mellow from a green glow to gold. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/20 "2016-07-15T05:21:49Z")
Everyone knows that it contains Letters of Transit, that cannot be rescinded, not even questioned. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463.md?page=2)