Assignment #7

This is one of the famous scenes from Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.

Amongst many separate interpretations of the meaning behind Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, I believe the theme to be one of morality. Tarantino portrays his characters as possessing an off-balance conception of right and wrong. They find fault in some aspects of their lives, such as a woman cheating on a man, but on the other hand they kill mercilessly without a second thought. This theme is obviously evident in this scene, where Jules recites a “bible verse” before he murders his victim. This is active, because the audience has to learn this for themselves; it isn’t simply stated to them.

The theme of ambiguous morality can be reinforced through Quentin Tarantino’s use of line and shape in his characters. For example, Jules is composed of vertical and horizontal lines in his facial features. His cheekbones and his chin are very perpendicular in their relationship to each other. The vertical and horizontal lines form a square shape for his head. Typically this is seen as powerful and evil; villains are typically casted with square features. Likewise, the lines surrounding him in the room contain affinity to this; they are vertical and horizontal lines of doorframes and the ceiling. On the other hand there is contrast to this with his curled hair; the curvilinear quality of his hair contrast with the linear lines of the room and his square countenance. This can be seen as representing the contrast between the character’s moral values. There is also a contrast between Jules and his victims; the young men have round or oval shaped heads, which typically represent innocence. This is also a moral theme because under the circumstances they appear to be victims, but in reality they are drug dealers as well. Throughout this scene there is a very high level of tension and release. The build up of Jules reciting the fake bible verse as the young man creeps up with a gun creates a very high amount of tension. It climaxes when the unknown gunman reveals himself and shoots at Vincent and Jules. The tension is then released when the audience sees that he somehow missed them, and he proceeds to get murdered.