Significantly, Jules, who recognizes the act as a "miracle" and pledges to give up criminal life, survives the film, whereas Vincent, who refuses to acknowledge the "miracle," dies under extremely unlucky circumstances that Jules would also likely consider an act of "divine intervention." Morality Their disagreement suggests a larger debate about fate versus free will: whether mankind is subject to higher forces, or whether life's events unfold spontaneously and according to no particular plan. Vincent, on the other hand, believes that they were just lucky. Jules believes that they survived due to an act of "divine intervention," and tries to persuade Vincent that God has spared them for a reason. ![]() FateĪfter they are miraculously unharmed by a hail of bullets, Jules and Vincent have an extended philosophical argument over the nature of the universe. Through the theme of time and timing, especially bad timing, Tarantino forces his archetypal, "stock" characters to confront ludicrous and unpredictable situations. Unfortunate timing dooms many of the film's characters, such as Vincent, who chooses to use the bathroom at three separate points at unlucky moments, and Butch, who stops at an intersection at the exact moment his arch-nemesis Marsellus is crossing the street. ![]() ![]() As a result, the audience must deduce the order in which the events of the film take place. Tarantino intentionally disorients the audience by showing the events of the film out of order-most obviously, beginning with the final scene in the diner-without any subtitles or title cards to explain when the film is flashing forward and backward in time (with the notable, comic exception of the Wolf's arrival at Jimmie's, which takes place exactly "nine minutes and thirty-seven seconds later"). In the world of Pulp Fiction, timing is everything.
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