Benjamin Fleischer

      Literally Speaking

      _____Quentin Tarantino’s film, Pulp Fiction, uses words to the fullest of their meanings. Words in the film amplify meaning through their duplicity. Characters call one another names wherein the names’ meanings enhance our understanding of wha t the character is saying. Even if the author or speaker does not consciously intend the meaning, the language that this paper analyzes contains meaning of psychological importance. Characters’ actual names in the film are also of particular significanc e. Nearly every character’s name reflects his personality or role in the film. Because people are human and integrating a name and personality is difficult, it is only genius for every name to be significant and meaningful. Yet, it may be surprising ho w well thought out the naming of the characters is. Pulp Fiction also touches on the interpretive value of words. Oftentimes, a person or group of people may understand the same definition of a word but interpret it differently. Language is prim arily a means of communicating ideas. The film makes an interesting point of how the actual words used may be irrelevant to the idea being portrayed. In sum, Pulp Fiction demonstrates how the meaning of speech can depend either on the choice of w ords used or on the prescribed reaction to word’s usage.

      _____Name calling in Pulp Fiction demonstrates how the perception of a word’s meaning alters mood. In the restaurant, Ringo tries to assert his superiority by calling the waitress "Garçon," the French word for boy. He would have felt like a p owerful player in the game of life by exercising a liberal breadth of knowledge if it had been the correct word. However, his command for coffee backfires on him when the waitress diminutively informs him of his erroneous usage. The same power of langua ge with which he intended to dominate the waitress puts him in his place. The change in perceived meaning of the word and the ensuing change in expected reaction made him feel foolish. Rightly, discovering that he had used the wrong word was not an este em-shattering blow to Ringo, but it illustrates how the perceived meaning of a word and the ideas it means transmit forecast the expected reaction. The association carried by a name may either amplify or inhibit a character’s emotional state. Jules call s the young man ‘Ringo’ in the restaurant superficially because of his English accent. Strategically, Jules identifies the young man with a broadly admired celebrity to establish fraternity and to calm him. By calling the young man ‘Ringo,’ Jules superi mposes the admiration that Ringo Starr receives upon the young man. Obviously, Jules did not go through this elaborate thought process when he chose to use that name. If you were to imagine Jules instead using any other British name (e.g. George III, Ch aucer, or John Major) primarily because of the young man’s accent, you would see a significantly different reaction. Soon afterward, Jules learns Yolanda’s, the young woman’s, name in order to pierce through her confused state and reason with her. He at tempts to calm her with a similar strategy.

        Jules: Nobody’s gonna hurt anybody. We’re gonna be like three Fonzies. And what’s Fonzie like? (No answer) C’mon Yolanda, what’s Fonzie like?
        Yolanda: (through tears, unsure) He’s cool?

      Instead of trying to assert friendliness at this inappropriate time, he associates her with an image she is familiar with and trusts. She trusts Fonzie and is willing to be cool just like him. The difference between this case and the previous is that in one, a character’s name is metaphorically replaced and in the other a comparison of associated character is made. Jules does not actually call Yolanda Fonzie and ask her to act ‘like herself;’ he asks her to imitate the coolness of that personage. Sup porting this, Mia and Vincent trade clichéd names such as ‘Peggy-Sue’ and ‘daddy-O’ in Jack Rabbit Slims. They flirt through using these popularized nicknames. Name calling associates the object with the stereotype of the name-called. Later, after Butch agrees to throw the fight, Vincent insults him by calling him a palooka, or a throw-away boxer used to pad someone’s record. The name we choose to call an object alters our perception of the situation. Although the primary purpose of the Paris dialogue i s probably to humanize the hit-men, it also demonstrates the fungibility of names. Jules laughs when he hears how Parisians call a Quarter Pounder a ‘Royale with Cheese.’ The audience can accurately conjecture that he is laughing how the same thing can have such different names. In all these examples, the perceived meanings of the names-called communicates the emotions the caller is feeling toward the object.

      _____Some objects have more than one name that reflects the context in which it appears. The characters often refer to Mia as "Marsellus Wallace’s wife" because that is what she represents. She is under the Big Man’s power structure and not to be dea lt with lightly. Mia recognizes the power in her name and often flaunts it. She invokes the ‘Wallace’ name to gain entry to Jack Rabbit Slims and to compel Vincent to dance with her. Moreover, when Vincent tries to bring the overdosing Mia into Lance’s home, Lance protests and Vincent answers, "This fucked up bitch is Marsellus Wallace’s wife." Whether or not Mia survives concerns Vincent less than what Marsellus might do to him if something happens to her. If Mia did not have that powerful name on h er side, we can speculate that he would not have been nearly so desperate to get her help.

      _____Pulp Fiction intelligently uses vulgarity. Tarantino illustrates how every word is significant by playing on the diverse definitions of vulgar words. These words have evolved multiple meanings that the film cleverly applies. For example, the context in which the word ‘ass’ is used dramatically changes its meaning. Besides the literal meaning of buttocks, it can also refer to the entire person. Here, Jules is telling Vincent what Marsellus Wallace did to Antoine, "Well, Marsellus fucked his ass up good." The audience is quite aware that Marsellus did not literally ‘fuck his ass up good.’ Any speaker of the English vernacular intuitively understands that Marsellus severely mangled Antoine. But, later in the movie, these lines are carr ied out quite literally when Zed and Maynard rape Marsellus. Once Marsellus is liberated by Butch, he threatens Zed in words that literally describe what just happened to him and mean something altogether different, "I’m gonna get medieval on your ass." Marsellus threatens to torture Zed, and probably sexually, but not involving any form of joy-giving intercourse. His torture will be in retribution. By using ‘ass’ in such different contexts, Tarantino demonstrates the importance of context on the mean ing.

      _____Tarantino carefully deliberated the choice of his characters’ names. Nearly every character’s name reflects his personality or role in the film.(see Appendix as you read) Esmeralda Villa Lobos, the disturbed cabby, says he r name means "Esmeralda of the wolves" and asks Butch what his name means. "I’m an American; our names don’t mean shit." Before the viewer makes any conclusions on the above apparently explicit exchange, one should note that Esmeral da’s character has nothing to do with an ‘emerald of the wolves’, while Butch fits the stereotype of ‘very masculine in appearance or manner.’ It is possible that Esmeralda can be described as a beautiful character within a wild society, but it is more l ikely that she was entered into the film partly as a means for Butch to say his line. And Butch does not fit the second definition as the ‘male role in a homosexual relationship’ except when he helps Marsellus in Maynard’s store. Names can also be symbo lic of whom the less developed characters should appear as. The robbers in the restaurant are only ‘Young Man’ and ‘Young Woman’ until we are further introduced to them. Yolanda has a harsh exterior, but when looked at closer (e.g ., her relationship with pumpkin) is a delicate ‘violet flower.’ Jules uses her affection for Ringo to calm her down when she is stressing over his motives by making Ringo reassure her. Her very irrationality at believing Ringo’s obviously prompted spee ch exhibits her lovely, flowery characteristics. Marsellus’s name is derived from both the Roman god of War and a writer of the New Testament who tried to save souls. His name fills his role as both the violent crime boss and, a ccording to one of the briefcase theories , a man trying to retrieve his soul. Outside of the briefcase theory, Marsellus has very little to do with Mark. Mark wrote to the Gentiles more about Jesus’ acts than his words. Otherwise, this is just an exam ple of everything not being a perfect match. Not every name must be an exact parallel of its meaning. Names are chosen at the author’s discretion. Mia is literally ‘mine’; she is a possession of Marsellus as noted above. Lance is the character that saves Mia with a shot from a long-needled syringe. Zed’s name is derived from ‘justice of the Lord’ in Hebrew. His name is ironic because he is both a policeman, supposedly a man of justice, and a molester of men. Vincent is Marsellus’s ‘conqueror’ as he goes about his duties. Perhaps his name is also ironic as he is the part of the duo that is vanquished at the chronological end. Jules is both a ‘gr eat leader’ and a ‘jewel’ as he ‘tries to be the shepherd.’ He buys Ringo’s life and attempts to set him on a path toward righteousness. He is a redeemed man who has rejected his life of crime and asks others to follow him. Jimmy’s name is derived from James, another saving apostle. He saved Vincent and Jules major complications in regard to Marvin’s face being shot off. The ‘good and pretty’ Bonnie, Jimmy’s wife, prompts the stressing "Bonnie Situation." I f it were not for her goodness (i.e., innocence and marriage to be maintained), the situation would not have been quite as stressful. The cunning Wolf who came to help was a pretty slick fellow. Similarly, After Butch’s car is totale d in the car crash and he saves Marsellus, Butch is in dire need of transportation. Thankfully, Zed’s chopper, ‘Grace,’ is there to save him. Hidden in the name of many objects is a further explanation of the object's role in the film. The technique al lows the perceptive viewer to more fully understand the relationships of the characters in the film.

      _____The miracle in which Vincent and Jules were not killed is a source of interpretive meaning in the film. It is obvious that while Jules and Vincent may have similar conceptions of a miracle, only Jules allows the possibility that one could ever ha ppen to him:


        Jules: …The miracle we witnessed.
        Vincent: The miracle you witnessed. I witnessed a freak occurrence.
        Jules: Do you know that a miracle is?
        Vincent: An act of God.
        Jules: What’s an act of God?
        Vincent: I guess it’s when God makes the impossible possible. And I’m sorry Jules, but I don’t think what happened this morning qualifies.

      Jules and Vincent seem to have the same definition but, in actuality, do not. Jules allows that a miracle can happen in his life; Vincent believes that a miracle is something so impossible that it could never really happen. Along the same theme, is the interpretation of the shepherd’s role. After the fourth man comes out of the bathroom in Brett’s apartment and misses his six shots, Jules contemplates that what he had witnessed was more than luck; it was divine intervention; but Vincent dismisses i t. In a later argument, Jules yells at Vincent for not recognizing the miracle, "If you wanna play blind man, then go walk with a shepherd. But me, my eyes are wide fuckin’ open." It appears Jules is saying that walking with the shepherd is equivalent to being blind, and that is bad. But, at the end when his turnabout is complete, he speaks of the shepherd in ‘Ezekiel 25:17’ a different way:

        Now I’m thinkin’, it could mean you’re the evil man. And I’m the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he’s the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you’re the righteous man and I’m the shepherd and it’s the world that’s evil and selfish. I’d like that. But that shit ain’t the truth. The truth is you’re the weak. And I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m tryin’. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd.

      The shepherd may also be a savior who leads the blind away from the cliff. The shepherd is a master who leads the blind by still waters so that he may not unthinkingly drown in rough currents. The shepherd is a leader who must do right. Jules’s vision of the shepherd is much more positive than Jules’s vision of the flock. A shepherd is a man who revokes the rights of men in order to save them. A good shepherd leads men into good, but the men have no choice in their direction; they are totally depende nt on him. Jules strives to be the shepherd leading the unthinking masses toward enlightenment, while simultaneously diminishing the value of the flock he wishes to save. Jules must therefore desire that every man be a shepherd to the blind flock that ye t is not. The value of the word is not truly a contradiction of meaning, but a method of establishing priorities. Following a shepherd blindly is bad, but it is virtuous to be a shepherd leading them in the right direction if that direction is free thou ght. The same word, with the same definition, may have a different interpretation to each individual.

      _____The quotation is not truly from Ezekiel and is therefore not truly divine, even though the characters treat it as such. It is a common technique in writing to alter names of things in order to elucidate the unimportance of their specific source. It is not important that Jules finds meaning in the Ezekiel quote; it is important that he finds meaning in righteousness. The meaning conveyed by the words is superior to their source and denotation. The same idea may apply to names. In the bar, Engl ish Dave jokes to Vincent about his date with Mia, "My name’s Paul, and this is between y’all." Later, Jules maliciously jokes with Brett, "My name’s Pitt, and you ain’t talkin’ your ass outta this shit." The characters change their names to modify the meaning of their statement. English Dave excludes himself from teasing Vincent with his quip. Jules uses the name change to strike fear into the heart of Brett. In order for the words to rhyme or be more memorable, they may be changed. The changed wor ds are relevant as a means of more strongly transmitting the idea being said while their denotative meaning is irrelevant. Their usage lies in how they affect people and not in their literal meaning.

      _____Words can represent and symbolize, modify mood, express feelings, and have personal meanings. Pulp Fiction makes good use of dialogue to infect the audience with the characters’ emotions and situations. The film uses powerful language and produces powerful reactions. The language that offends many people with its extreme vulgarity, is marveled at by viewers who see poetry in ‘fuck’ and ‘ass.’ Words are more than this film but are well represented in it. Words are the medium for express ing ideas. Their very concreteness and ability to be translated across distance and time yields importance. Pulp Fiction presents its ideas well through a strong language and a strong dialogue.

      Works Cited

      Tarantino, Quentin. Pulp Fiction. USA: Miramax Films, 1994.

      Appendix: Meaning of Names

      http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~mcampbel/etym
      http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/netdict
      Opening Movie Credits

      BONNIE (f) Either "good" (Latin) or "pretty" (Celtic)

      BUTCH (m) Etymology: probably from Butch, male nickname, 1941

        1 : very masculine in appearance or manner
        2 : playing the male role in a homosexual relationship

      ESMERALDA (f) "emerald" (Spanish)

      JACOB (m) "to hold the heel" or "supplanter" from Hebrew Yaakov. The biblical Jacob (later called Israel) was born holding on to his brother's heel. He was the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israe l.

      JAMES (m) Latin/English form of JACOB that comes to us through the Latin form Jacomus. The biblical James was an important apostle. He was the brother of the apostle John. A James is also mentioned in the Bible as being the brother of Jesus.

      JIM (m) Form of JAMES

      JULIUS (m) "mossy bearded" or "soft haired" from Greek ioulos or "descended from Jove" from the Latin family name Jovilios. Jove was a name of the Roman god Jupiter. Julius Caesar was a great leader of the Roman empire.

      LANCE (m) Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin lancea

        1 : a steel-tipped spear carried by mounted knights or light cavalry
        2 : any of various sharp objects suggestive of a lance: as a : LANCET b : a spear used for killing whales or fish

      LANCET : a sharp-pointed and commonly 2-edged surgical instrument used to make small incisions

      MARCELLUS (m) Pet form of MARCUS

      MARCUS (m) Possibly a form of MARIUS. This is the original Latin form of the name MARK.

      MARIUS (m) "of Mars" (Latin). From a Roman family name. Mars was the Roman god of War.

      MARK (m) English form of MARCUS or short form of MARCUS. Mark was the author of the second Gospel in the New Testament.

      MARVIN (m) Meaning unknown (Celtic) or possibly "sea friend" (Old English)

      MIA (f) "mine" (Italian) or short form of MARIA

      PULP (pulp) n. 1. A soft, moist, shapeless mass or matter.

        2. A magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and being characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper.

      VINCENT (m) "conquering" (Latin)

      WOLF (m) wolf (english)

      YOLANDA (f) "violet flower" from Greek ion "violet" and anthos "flower".

      ZEDEKIAH (m) "justice of the Lord" (Hebrew). The name of several characters in the Bible.

      ZED (m) Short form of ZEDEKIAH