PulpFiction: Violence and Religion, Was this film what I expected?

Violence and religion, the word religion did not enter my thoughts when first seeing this film I remembered the quote but never actually realised how important it was to the meaning of the film.  Like many people I couldn’t get passed the complex of the different story lines.  The violence wasn’t like your ordinary action film where you know in the back of your mind that it is mainly special effects and that they are only there for your entertainment.  With Pulp Fiction you believe that what is happening was real.  I moved on to another film but couldn’t get Tarantino’s story out of my head.  So I researched it then watched it again and this is when I grasped how Tarantino was illustrating religion and violence through Jules.  The first real sign of violence was when Jules and Vincent went to an apartment to retrieve their boss’s (Marsellus) briefcase.  This scene was intense due to the use of the quote from the bible; however I later found out that only part of what Jules said was an actual quote from Ezekiel.  But this didn’t change the effect it had on the viewer as Jules captured the audience with his performance and tone.  We leave this scene but return to it to witness the reason why Jules wants to leave his profession and just “walk the earth” (quote from film).  Instead of leaving the apartment we see another man come out of the bathroom and shoot at Jules and Vincent.  Instead of killing them the bullets miss.  While Vincent considers it a coincidence Jules refers to it as a miracle and sign to undergo a transformation.  

I see Jules as the prodigal son, the most powerful criminal figure due to his sophisticated and respectful manner, decides to change his life.  In a typical gangster film this would prove to be a very big problem, leaving the mob? No chance!  However Tarantino allows this and by the time Vincent dies from being in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is expected throughout the film due to the constant mistakes he makes; killing by accident, Jules has nearly disappeared from the screen and is replaced by Butch.  However Jules doesn’t disappoints us and we get to revisit the first scene where he now recites the sensational quote only this time explains what it now means to him.  With a gun to Ringo’s head he asks him if he reads the bible, then goes on the deliver his speech as usual but to Vincent’s surprise he explains to Ringo that it no longer was it just a cool thing to say to someone before killing them but that now he actually questioned what meant due to the events of that morning, the miracle.  At first he thought that Ringo was the evil man because he was threatening him and trying to take something that wasn’t there for the taking, the briefcase.  I believe the briefcase is some what overlooked.  It plays such an important part as it is Jules’ and Vincent’s task for the day.  Everything that happens to Jules is a result of the briefcase.  We never actually get to see what’s in it which I believe was a dangerous gamble Tarantino made, making something this trivial in the film actually be very important.  The events that made Jules want to change his path in life are directly linked to a briefcase that we never new what it contained.  A gamble however it wasn’t necessary for us to see.

He was the righteous man and the gun he was holding was the shepherded protecting him from the valley of darkness, death.  But after that morning he thought it could be that Ringo was the righteous man, he was the shepherded and the world was evil and selfish.  He knew this wasn’t true though, the truth was that Ringo was weak and he was the tyranny (leader) of evil men but the point is that he was trying to be the shepherded and with doing so emptied his wallet and paid for another mans life.  I expected this film to end in a bloody gun fight instead it ended with the loved up robbers leaving with Jules’ money and the question of did this film crush all our expectations of it and have a moral message?