# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/21 "2016-07-15T10:38:22Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Diamonds don’t [glow golden](http://i.imgur.com/zgoUdIX.png), either. Crummy ones do. Anyway, some people like yellow diamonds. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/22 "2016-07-15T11:30:26Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > 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/) For years I carried a [Pulp Fiction wallet.](https://www.google.com/search?q=pulp+fiction+wallet&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihyKTjrfXNAhXHHD4KHQpOCDsQ_AUICCgC&biw=1024&bih=671#imgrc=ubPTFxPHJtleuM%3A) I liked the wallet, but there are times, few though they may be, when announcing yourself to be a bad motherfucker is inappropriate. I was almost relieved to replace the wallet with a plain one. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/23 "2016-07-15T18:41:56Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > If it was Marcellus’ soul, why would he have given it to Brett?? It’s not clear within the movie how Brett &Co got the case. Under the assumption that it’s drugs/money/etc., they could have knocked off one of Marsellus’s couriers and taken it. But the atmosphere of the meeting, including that Marvin ratted the group out, suggests they had participated in a deal with someone under Marsellus and taken the case without proper payment and/or permission. I.e., they were on or near the fringe of Marsellus’s organization. Marvin is the key. He appears to be at least friendly with the rest of the group, if not a member. He knew they had wronged Marsellus, and reported it. Vincent and Jules were sent take care of the matter. Marvin was not killed with the rest. Until they hit a bump in the road. ---
**Author:** ![thevolleyballer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@thevolleyballer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thevolleyballer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/24 "2023-11-06T00:54:18Z")
someone (possible a MAD Magazine writer) said the golden glow was from the Oscar that Tarantino was shooting for & didn’t get; the movie self-referentially has Marcellus acting on Tarantino’s behalf, while Brett & the other guys somehow connected to the movie industry academy are holding the Best Writer Oscar now to be stolen & given to Tarantino. The bandage on Marcellus is symbolic of Tarantino mocking criticism that working with him, he’s a pain in the neck. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/25 "2023-11-08T00:55:01Z")
Or it was an Emmy that Marcelus wanted to give to Mia for her work in “Fox Force 5”. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/26 "2023-11-09T19:28:16Z")
From the Straight Dope column: _The briefcase was returned to Marcellus and … well, more on that later._ What later? After that remark, the column goes directly into “the briefcase contains Marcellus’ soul” speculation. I don’t think you can count that as “later”. After that, Marcellus is only mentioned one more time, but it’s all about his doings with Bruce Willis’ character, nothing to do with, well, anything really; then the MacGuffin stuff. I’m guessing something got cut from the column, or the Science Advisory person who wrote it (probably Ed) was out to lunch. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/27 "2023-11-13T06:39:14Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > I’m guessing something got cut from the column, or the Science Advisory person who wrote it (probably Ed) was out to lunch. Those posts were written by other people, usually (always?) Dopers. That one was written by Dogster. The way I read the post, the “more on that later” refers to the description of the plot, which Dogster doesn’t get back to until later. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/28 "2023-12-17T01:40:52Z")
Forget about what was in it. The question that came to mind on my most recent viewing was why did Marcellus send Vincent and Jules rather than The Wolf on a mission of such great importance? Had Marcellus overestimated how capable those two were, especially Vincent? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/29 "2023-12-17T04:10:28Z")
There may be some reason why he keeps Vincent on the payroll (a favor to somebody? And now he has to find something to do with him?), but Marcellus certainly made an error in judgement every time he let Vincent out on his own. I mean, he had Vincent babysit his wife, and that nearly resulted in her demise. Certainly nobody should have ever let that guy near a loaded gun. Jules may have previously demonstrated some capacity for keeping him in line despite his intransigence, and Marcellus thought that would suffice. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/30 "2023-12-17T19:47:52Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > why did Marcellus send Vincent and Jules rather than The Wolf on a mission of such great importance? It was a simple recovery and wetwork, not a severe challenge in cleaning up a mess. Until Vincent accidentally discharged his gun in the car. I figure Marcellus hired the best available to him. Jules certainly seemed capable. Maybe Vincent wasn’t such a fuckup at one time, but his 6 months in Amsterdam cost him his edge. He was doing heroin now instead of pot or coke. The fuckup with the wife wasn’t really Vincent’s fault. He didn’t give her the heroin, it was just in his coat pocket. She found it and decided to snort it even though it wasn’t hers. She could have waited and asked. The car, though, was Vincent’s fault, and the incident at Butch’s was definite incompetence, but wouldn’t have happened if someone else had been with him. Didn’t even have to be Jules - anyone to keep watch while he used the facilities. Plus, Marcellus wasn’t infallible. The whole Butch storyline shows that. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463/31 "2024-02-03T17:02:44Z")
This is one of those questions that I think a background in computer programming helps. Programmers are familiar with the concept of a null or undefined value. What’s in the Pulp Fiction briefcase is undefined. The state Springfield is in? Undefined. What was in the briefcase in Ronin (1998)? Undefined. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-briefcase-macguffin/750463.md?page=1)