Something I never realized about the “final” scene in Pulp Fiction.

Because Pulp Fiction is a story told out of order, successive viewings always reveal something new that I hadn’t noticed before. I first saw this film in the theater in 1994, and probably 30 times since, without exaggerating.

Chronologically, the “final” scene is the one in which Butch drives off with Fabian on the chopper. But not before he fills Vincent with bullet holes, unexpectedly killing off the key character in the film.

After he kills Vincent, Butch encounters Marcellus on the road, drives into him, and the two find themselves on the receiving end of some really f’d up shit, including rape.

The actual final act brings Vincent back to life in the moments immediately following the first scene. A man storms out the bathroom and empties his “hand cannon” at Jules and Vincent, hitting nothing but the wall behind them.

This then causes Jules to conclude that the event was an act of god, who stopped the bullets from hitting them. Jules subsequently informs Jules he’s out of the game, and we are to assume he left it, for when Butch encounters Vincent in the commode, Jules, his partner, is nowhere to be found, and Marcellus is on his way back from getting coffee.

I realized only recently that the whole “act of god” thing wasn’t a throw away, or some opportunity for witty dialogue between Vincent and Jules.

Jules takes God’s hint and is thus not around when Butch enters the apartment. There are two ways to look at what happens there: either God punishes Vincent and rewards Jules as a consequence of their different choices. Or, what happened is what would have happened anyway, only instead it happened to Marcellus, because Jules heeded the warning.

The only thing I’m not sure about is whether Marcellus would have been there regardless of whether Jules was there too or not. It was obviously a very personal job to Marcellus as Butch completely f’d him over. So he was probably going to be there anyway. But if he wasn’t, then it’s possible that by warning Jules, God also saved him from the horrible raping that subsequently took place.

If Marcellus was going to be there anyway, then Jules would’ve been hanging back in the apartment, and probably would’ve killed Butch the moment he walked in the door. Then the act of god itself actually causes what occurs the next day, by removing Jules from the scene, leaving Vincent vulnerable.

Curious if anyone else has contemplated this as much as I have.

Submitted February 18, 2018 at 11:11AM by condemned2bfree http://ift.tt/2ocFTSn