Daily Dialogue — April 24, 2018
Jules: You read the Bible, Brett?
Brett: Yes.
Jules: Well, there’s this passage I got memorized, sorta fits the occasion. Ezekiel 25:17. “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 cherish and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness for he is truly his 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.”
— Pulp Fiction (1994), written by Quentin Tarantino, stories by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Quentin Tarantino.
Trivia: The Ezekiel Bible quote was taken from any early draft of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Harvey Keitel’s character was supposed to say it while walking backwards down the hallway facing the vampires.
Dialogue On Dialogue: The Ezekiel quote… well, at least part of it is actually in the Bible… is a great example of a setup and payoff. This first scene is a setup.
The payoff is at the end of the movie:
Jules: I’m not giving you that money. I’m buying something from you. Wanna know what I’m buyin’ Ringo?
Pumpkin: What?
Jules: Your life. I’m givin’ you that money so I don’t have to kill your ass. You read the Bible?
Pumpkin: Not regularly.
Jules: There’s a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the 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 I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.” Now… I been sayin’ that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your ass. You’d be dead right now. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin’ made me think twice. See, now I’m thinking: maybe it means you’re the evil man. And I’m the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here… he’s the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you’re the righteous man and I’m the shepherd and it’s the world that’s evil and selfish. And I’d like that. But that shit ain’t the truth. The truth is you’re the weak. And I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m tryin’, Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd.
The callback to the Ezekiel dialogue marks Jule’s change, what he calls his “transitional period”. The fact he does NOT kill the pair of robbers is a clear sign of his change.
