Pulp Fiction essay

I've changed the title to the essay:

"Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text."
Discuss

You will need to decide whether you agree or not with the statement.
You must acknowledge any counter arguments in your essay.
Refer to Strinati and Baudrillard.
Use detailed references from the text.
At least 1000 words.

Pulp Fiction final scene

I've included this clip as it's a very important part of the film. Jules delivers his Ezekiel 25:17 speech again. This time he knows what it means. Interesting to note that we end the film with Vincent still alive. Why did Tarantino end the film in this way?

Kung Fu

In Pulp Fiction's final scene in the coffee shop a reference is made to Jules wandering the earth like Kaine from Kung Fu. The clip shows Kaine (David Carradine) meeting with Master Po.

The Mason-Dixon line

The Mason-Dixon Line (or "Mason and Dixon's Line") was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (then part of Virginia). In popular usage, especially since the Missouri Compromise of 1820 (apparently the first official use of the term "Mason's and Dixon's Line"), the Mason-Dixon Line symbolizes a cultural boundary between the Northern United States and the Southern United States (Dixie).

Seven Samurai trailer

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre trailer

The Untouchables baseball bat scene

The Toolbox Murders trailer

Marilyn Monroe-The Seven Year itch

The iconic sequence from The Seven Year Itch. Recreated by Tarantino in the Jack Rabbit Slim scene in Pulp Fiction.

Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks in a promo still from GW Pabst's Pandora's Box.

Pulp Fiction intertextuality

Jules quoting from the Bible is reminiscent of Robert Mitchum's character quoting from the Bible in Night Of The Hunter (1955 Charles Laughton)

Mia's haircut styled after Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1928 G.W. Pabst)

The moment where Butch waiting at a crossroads in his car has his path crossed by Marcellus Wallace is a direct reference to the moment in Psycho (1960 Alfred Hitchcock) when Marion Crane sees her boss walk in front of her car after fleeing from him, having stolen $40,000.


Marilyn Monroe's skirt flying up over a subway grating in The Seven Year Itch (1955 Billy Wilder)

The weapons that Butch considers before saving Marsellus:

Hammer—The Toolbox Murders (1978)
Baseball bat—Walking Tall (1973); The Untouchables (1987)
Chainsaw—The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974);The Evil Dead II (1987)
Katana (samurai sword)—many, including Seven Samurai (1954); The Yakuza (1975); Shogun Assassin (1980)

Pulp Fiction-Ezekiel 25:17

A key scene from Pulp Fiction. Jules delivers his monologue to a very foolish character who has crossed his boss Marcellus Wallace.

“ The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee. ”

Ezekiel 25:17

Quentin Tarantino-Pulp Fiction trailer