Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction Literary Elements

Director

Quentin Tarantino

Leading Actors/Actresses

John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, and Tim Roth

Genre

Black Comedy, Neo-Noir, Thriller

Language

English

Awards

Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival; Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay

Date of Release

October 14, 1994

Producer

Lawrence Bender

Setting and Context

Los Angeles, present day

Narrator and Point of View

Pumpkin and Honey Bunny; Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield; Butch Coolidge

Tone and Mood

Darkly comedic; violent; thrilling; action-packed; cynical; self-aware.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonists: Vincent, Jules, and Butch; Antagonists: Zed and Maynard, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny

Major Conflict

The major conflict of the film is between Butch and Marsellus.

Climax

The climax of the film is at the diner where Honey and Bunny take everyone hostage, and Jules announces in the middle of a Mexican standoff that he finally understands Ezekiel 25:17.

Foreshadowing

When Butch and Vincent first meet, they share a brief but loaded exchange of glances, which foreshadows the fact that the men will later meet again under life-and-death circumstances.

Understatement

Jules shoots a man dead before casually telling another man, "Oh I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?"

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

The film uses a non-linear chronological structure: beginning at the end, flashing back in time, and showing events in no systematic order.

Allusions

Butch and Marsellus being captured and raped by Zed and Maynard is an allusion to John Boorman's 1972 film Deliverance. Butch seeing Marsellus in the crosswalk is an allusion to Alfred Hitchock's 1960 film Psycho.

Paradox

Jules reciting a passage from the Bible before committing cold-blooded murder is a moral paradox, one that he attempts to resolve at the end of the film by renouncing his career as a criminal.

Parallelism

Quentin Tarantino employs parallel shots of Vincent and Mia in the car going to Jackrabbit Slim's, and then back from Lance's house. The identical shots emphasize the differences in their facial expressions.

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