Thursday, July 2, 2009

Pulp Fiction analysis - part 3: Jules undergoes a conversion

CATEGORY: MOVIES



Above left: We see a first flash of orange-golden colored light in Brett's apartment, while Jules is shown shooting Brett. Above right: There is a second orange-golden flash while we see Vincent shooting Brett.


In this post, we will address the symbolic meaning, as it pertains to Jules, of the first of two flashes of orange-golden colored light that occur, when he and Vincent shoot Brett in the scene in Brett's apartment (as shown in the above screencaps). For Jules, the first flash represents the bright light that Paul the Apostle saw on the road to Damascus; seeing this light (and hearing the Lord speak) resulted in Paul's conversion to Christianity. Jules undergoes his own conversion experience after the first flash of light in the apartment. The actual event that initiates the conversion itself occurs when, later in the film, we are shown an armed young man who had been hiding in a bedroom in Brett's apartment during the aforementioned shooting of Brett, suddenly emerging from behind the bedroom door and shooting at Jules and Vincent, point blank; all of the bullets completely miss the two of them.




Above left: All of the bullets fired at Jules and Vincent by this man in Brett's apartment, completely miss the two of them. Above right: Vincent and Jules then look at each other in wonderment, after having been missed by the bullets.




Later, in the diner, near the movie's ending, we are shown Jules (above left) telling Vincent (above right) that being missed by the bullets was a "miracle", saying that he had "felt the touch of God", and that from now on he would "walk the Earth." (The making of this statement by Jules, marks the culmination of his conversion experience.) When Vincent asks Jules what he means by "walk the Earth", Jules responds, "you know - like Caine in Kung Fu."


      





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