Narrative – Looking at the Narrative in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Narrative definition – The telling or re-telling of something true or fictional as a series of related events, recounted by a narrator of sorts.

Plot – the specific events with relate to make a narrative

Story – the overall narrative as a whole

Equilibrium – Disruption – Resolve

Below are examples from Pulp fiction. The whole narrative has many more examples of E-D-R, here are just a few that came to mind.

Equilibrium

1. Vincent and Jules have a working relationship with Marsellus Wallace

2. Marsellus Wallace is established as a leader

3. Butch is naturally getting to the end of his boxing career

4. Mia Wallace is being looked after by Marsellus Wallace

Disruption

1. Vincent and Jules accidently murder an innocent man, and are required to resolve the issue in order to maintain their work relationship with Marcellus

2. Marsellus becomes captured and humiliated by a dishonest policeman and the owner of a shop

3. Butch refuses to lose his “last fight” for his payoff as instructed by Marcellus, and a bounty is put on him, to be carried out by Jules and Vincent.

4. Mia Wallace mistakes Heroine for cocaine, and ODs while in the care of Vincent. (this would potentially effect the established working relationship with Marcellus too)

Resolve

1. Vincent and Jules receive help from a friend, and a colleague in order to clear up the car, after which the incident is forgotten about

2. Marsellus escapes with the help of Butch, and exacts his revenge on his assailants. Butch agrees to never mention the incident again, and Marsellus’ status is reaffirmed.

3. By helping Marsellus escape and retaliate, Marsellus lifts the bounty on the condition that his doesn’t mention what happened.

With the plot crescendos mentioned above, Pulp fiction in terms of Freytag’s Triangle creates an interesting series of slightly staggered peaks before the various resolves. The fractured narrative of the film enabled Quentin Tarantino to keep the events within the confines of the triangle, and create a story that easily holds the viewers attention.

Aporia in Pulp Fiction

At the very start of pulp fiction, the restaurant scene is completely without context, which created a strong sense of entropic aporia. Unlike in a game, where aporia can effectively stop gameplay if it isn’t intentionally placed, the film continues to play and the scene seems to slip into the tmesis category in terms of the viewer. It isn’t until the end of the film, where the scene is played in full (This time with a whole film’s worth of context) that the events make logical sense, and cause epiphany in the mind of the viewer. I personally find this to be a very satisfying and powerful end to the film.

IMDB Rating – 9.0/10

My Rating – 8.5/10