13th November 2020
Please don't mind the style, the important part is the ideas. I didn't want to waste time on polishing it.
The most important characters in Pulp Fiction are Jules, Vincent and Butch. All three of them are evil, violent, murderous men. However, two of them undergo a moral transformation in the movie, by which I mean they update their value system and are allowed to live thanks to that change. The last one sticks to evil, even though he is given signs from fate that he should change. And he dies.
Jules
Jules is a hitman. A moment after we get to know him, he kills a couple of guys with cold blood. However, having barely survived the confrontation with a hidden gunman, Jules decides to retire from crime and begin a new life, for which he is mocked by his partner Vincent, who doesn't believe that this incident was a divine intervention. Both of the guys barely sort out the Marvin situation, which is another remainder for them to stop the violent lifestyle.
The final transformation happens in the diner. During a standoff with Ringo, Jules finally understand his Ezekiel quote – in the past he was the tyranny of evil men. He spares Ringo's life and decides to be the one who shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness from now on.
Jules quits the mob job and gets a new life.
Vincent
Vince is a hitman and Jules' partner. He sees the same sign Jules saw – a gunman misses all of his shots from a point-blank rage. However, he doesn't care. He doesn't believe in a divine intervention. He mocks Jules for his views and blasphemes three times in their car. During the third time he says God, another sign appears – his pistol is randomly fired and blows off the head of Marvin, their insider. However, this is not enough to convince Vincent to change his ways. Still, he is given another chance.
Later, Vince is to keep Mia company during their date. Mia is the wife of his boss and he maintains loyalty towards him – he doesn't sleep with Mia, although they seem to like each other a lot. A problem arises due to Vince's heroin addiction. Mia finds his drugs and overdoses on them, thinking the powder is cocaine. Vincent manages to rescue her with heroic ingenuity, for which he is rewarded – Mia opens up to him and tells him a joke she said in a TV show. That's a sign of trust and intimacy, a way of saying we could have been together in another life.
However, all that still doesn't cause Vince's transformation. He sticks to being a hitman and finally dies in Butch's bathroom – he came to his house to kill him, but had to use the toilet because of heroin constipation. His unsolved drug problem along with the violent life lead to his death.
Butch
Butch's part begins in his childhood, with his deceased father's friend and fellow US army member telling him the story of Butch's ancestors, who all were couragous and strong men and good soldiers. He tells him about a gold watch bought in Tenessee, which belonged to his great-grand father, his grandfather and his father. The soldier, Koonz, tells Butch about his father's death in a vietnamese POW camp, and how both of the men carried the golden watch up their asses, so that it could be passed on to Butch. He gives Butch the watch and tells him, that men who spend time together in such conditions develop special responsibilities.
Later we see Butch as a failed boxer, who accepts a bribe in order to get beaten by his opponent. He betrays Marcellus – the one who bribed him, kills the other boxer and tries to run away. Just before his and his girlfriend's final escape, he discoveres that she forgot to bring his golden watch from his apartment. Butch heads back, recoveres the watch and kills Vincent, who was there to eliminate him.
Driving away, Butch suddenly sees Marcellus Wallace in front of him, and he crashes him with the car. Both of them are wounded, and after a chaotic chase, they end up in a torture dungeon run by Maynard and Zed – two psychopaths. The men prepare to rape Marcellus, but Butch manages to untie his bonds and escape.
Here is the most important part. Butch approaches the door of the pawn-shop, where the torture dungeon was located. The camera centers on a license plate from Tenessee. That's were the golden watch was purchased. Butch stops and thinks about Zed's screams coming from the basement.
The golden watch was the courage, strength, loyalty – the spirit of pure, positive masculinity passed on from generation to generation of Butch's ancestors. This spirit couldn't be passed on by a woman – that's why Fabienne has forgotten it from Butch's apartment. He remembers the words of Koonz – men that are in terrible conditions together develop special responsibilities. At this moment, he could simply forget about Marcellus and let him die (after all, Marcellus wanted him dead too). He could have turned his back and started a new life with his girlfriend. However, he has already understood what the male responsibilities were and decided to rescue his mortal enemy from certain death. He chose a katana to do it – that's also symbolic – two of his ancestors suffered because of Asian aggression. And he was taking a Japanese weapon in order to save Marcellus from the horrors which his father might have also suffered.
Butch goes down to the basement. There's three clocks on the wall – that's the souls of his forefathers looking at him with pride. We see a close-up of his hand with the golden watch – the masculine spirit was guiding him. He rescues Marcellus and is partially forgiven by him. He can start a new life with Fabienne and all the money he collected.
Jules and Butch have understood the moral lessons that life gave them. Jules quit a life of murdering and crime and decided to follow God and lead the people to the light, whatever that means. Butch began to grasp that masculinity is not only violence and machismo, but also loyalty, responsibility and courage.
Vincent didn't change at all. He managed to avoid the consequences of problems he actually caused himself, but stuck to a gangster life and drug addiction, for which he was punished with death. Marcellus' briefcase bore the number 666. It was the devil's briefcase. Jules and Vincent were working for the evil, but Jules said he's out. Vince didn't.
dd
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