Narrative Structure in

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When you have watched Pulp Fiction you will realize that the narrative is fragmented and is not presented to us in a linear sequence. The order of actions and events as they are presented to us in the film is known as the plot or syuzhet while the linear order is known as the story or fabula (see The Media Student’s Book by G Branston and R Stafford if you want to read more about how Pulp Fiction is structured). The film is divided into five separate sections. There is a prologue (at the beginning) an epilogue (at the end) and three sections in the middle which are given the following captions:

• Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife • The Gold Watch • The Bonnie Situation

In what order would the five parts of the film appear if it used linear time?

Narrative Structure in

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Below is a summary of the fragmented narrative of Pulp Fiction as it is presented to us in the film. Try to put the points in a linear sequence plotting them, where possible, against the day and time when they occur (the actions and events take place over roughly four days beginning on Monday at about 7am). You may find it helpful to take a copy of the summary below and cut and paste each point, manually or using a computer, into the linear order.

a) Pumpkin and Honey Bunny discuss holding up the diner. They begin the hold up.

b) Vincent and Jules drive to Brett’s apartment to collect a briefcase for Marsellus Wallace.

c) At Sally LeRoy’s, Butch is bribed by Marsellus for throwing a fight then has a tense encounter with Vince at the bar.

d) Vincent buys heroin from Lance, shoots up and drives to pick Mia up.

e) Vincent and Mia go to Jack Rabbit Slim’s where they take part in a dance contest.

f) Back at Mia’s house, Mia finds Vince’s heroin and takes an overdose.

g) Vince drives Mia to Lance’s where she is given an adrenalin shot and recovers.

h) Before the fight, Butch has a dream in which he remembers being told about the history of his gold watch.

i) Butch, having cheated Marsellus by winning the fight, goes to the hotel where he later discovers that Fabienne has forgotten to pack his gold watch.

j) Butch returns to his apartment to get the gold watch. There he discovers Vincent, who has been sent by Marsellus Wallace, coming out of the toilet and kills him.

k) While driving back to the hotel with his gold watch, Butch runs into Marsellus outside the apartment. After a fight, they are taken prisoner by Maynard and Zed in the Mason-Dixon pawnshop.

l) Marsellus is raped by Zed. Butch rescues him by killing Zed and Marsellus agrees to let Butch go in return.

m) In Brett’s apartment Vincent and Jules are shot at but, amazingly, not hit. Jules is convinced that they escaped through divine intervention.

n) Vincent and Jules murder the young men in the apartment.

o) In the car Marvin is accidentally shot in the head and killed by Vincent.

p) Winston Wolf is called in by Marsellus to get rid of the mess.

q) Vincent and Jules, having taken the car and Marvin’s body to be destroyed, go for breakfast at the Hawthorne Grill.

r) Honey Bunny and Pumpkin hold up the diner, but Vincent and Jules refuse to give them the briefcase.

s) Jules lets Pumpkin and Honey Bunny leave the diner with what they have taken from the other customers together with over $1000 of his own money, and then Vincent and Jules leave the diner with the briefcase.