Jules recognizes that this must be cleaned up and drives to the house of his friend and ALLY, Jimmy Dimmick, played by Quentin Tarantino. He appears to be a middle-class fellow whose connection to the criminal world is never specified. He is worried about the moral wrath of his wife, Bonnie, who will soon be returning home from the night shift. (Here the filmmaker is creating contrast between the criminal underworld and the bourgeois world in which most of us live. The joke is that they are more afraid of Bonnie's irritation than of the danger of the law coming down on them for manslaughter.)
Jules and Vincent try to clean themselves up, but are only partially successful. Jules scolds Vincent for getting blood all over the guest towels, another sign that Vincent is careless and disrespectful, traits which we know will get him killed. He is in danger of turning another ALLY, Jimmy, into an ENEMY.
Jules calls Marsellus for help, and he in turn summons a MENTOR and ALLY in the form of Winston Wolf, played by Harvey Keitel. His name links him with Esmerelda Villalobos, Esmerelda of the Wolves, an Ally in another thread of the story They fulfill some of the same functions performed by Animal Helpers in many folktales.
Wolf appears to be a specialist in problem solving, experienced at getting rid of inconvenient evidence. He arrives at supernatural speed and takes charge of the problem, issuing orders authoritatively However, once again Vincent is disrespectful of his elders, and balks at being ordered around. Wolf handles it with humor but also unquestionable authority, making it clear that Vincent should not make an ENEMY of his ALLY.
Wolf supervises as Vincent and Jules cleanse the bloody car. The whole sequence is a protracted RESURRECTION for the young men, in which they and their vehicle are purified before the RETURN. Meanwhile Jimmy has to make a SACRIFICE, surrendering sheets and towels for the cleanup, but Wolf prompdy compensates him with a REWARD of money for new furniture.
Then, acting precisely like a shaman putting warriors through a cleansing ordeal of RESURRECTION, Wolf orders Vincent and Jules to strip off their bloody clothes. He makes Jimmy hose them down with icy water as they soap themselves clean of the blood. Next Jimmy issues them new clothing, significantly, boyish shorts and T-shirts. They look like schoolboys or college kids instead of tough gangsters. Like returning hunters, they have been put through a death-and-rebirth ritual that makes them innocent children again. Now they can re-enter the ORDINARY WORLD cleansed of the death they have faced and dealt with. Throughout, they have hung onto the mysterious briefcase, an ELIXIR which they brought back from the ORDEAL in the yuppie apartment.
Wolf escorts them to an auto graveyard where the body and the car will be disposed of. He says farewell and goes off with his young girlfriend Raquel, daughter of the junkyard owner, showing how an experienced Mentor enjoys his ELIXIR, won through "correct" behavior by the rules of this movie's universe. He compliments Jules for showing respect to his elders, a sign of character.
"EPILOGUE"
Finally, the narrative returns to the original scene in the diner for the Epilogue, the last word on the subject. While Pumpkin and Honey Bunny plan their stickup, Jules and Vincent review what has happened. Vincent, typically, tries to dismiss it, but Jules insists they have seen a miracle today. He resolves to live his life differently from now on, "walking the Earth" like Cain in the TV series "Kung Fu." This seems to mean wandering about doing good and seeking peace rather than living a criminal life. He has truly been through a moral RESURRECTION and transformation. Vincent doesn't value any of this and gets up to go to the bathroom, the same action that ultimately gets him killed.
As a final TEST of Jules' resolve, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny start screaming and waving their guns around. Pumpkin tries to seize the ELIXIR of the mystery briefcase, opening it and falling under its spell, but Jules gets the drop on him. (Pumpkin's attempt echoes the fairy-tale motif of the False Claimant, who appears just as the hero is ready to claim his reward.)
Jules talks calmly but intensely to Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. He makes a deal with Pumpkin, giving him money from his wallet in return for leaving the briefcase alone. It's a final moment in which we are balanced between life and death. Jules recites his Bible passage for a third time, although on this reading it has a totally different meaning for him. Where before he identified with the wrathful face of God, dealing death to the unrighteous, now he identifies with the hand of mercy and justice, trying to be the blessed one "who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness." He has moved his center from thoughtless killing to a new level of heroic action, from which he can use his warrior skills for good. He is able to defuse the potentially deadly situation and walks away with the ELIXIR in hand. A SHOWDOWN which would normally leave at least one person dead has been handled with finesse and grace worthy of Mr. Wolf. Jules has grown from being a SHADOW, a ruthless killer, to being a true HERO. Pumpkin and Honey Bunny walk away with the ELIXIR of their lives, which they won by making the right decision and keeping cool under Jules' orders. If they are smart, they will move up the ladder of souls and prepare for adventures on the level of Jules and Vincent.
Vincent and Jules walk away with the ELIXIR-filled briefcase. The tale is "over," although we know that in linear time, there is still much of the story ahead. Vincent and Jules will now deliver the briefcase to Marsellus at the bar, Vincent will show disrespect for Butch and will undergo his ORDEAL with Mia, Butch will not throw the fight and will kill Vincent before surviving his ORDEAL with Marsellus. The real ending, if these events are rearranged in linear sequence, is the moment when Butch and his girlfriend ride off on the motorcycle.
The theme of Pulp Fiction seems to be the testing of men by ordeals. Different characters react differently to their respective confrontations with Death. Despite the relativistic tone of the film, the storytellers do seem to have a moral point of view. They sit in God's chair, dealing out the punishment of death for Vincent, who offends against the moral code of the movie, and rewarding Jules and Butch with life
for making the right choices in the scheme of the film. In this the filmmakers, despite the appearance of unconventionality, are quite conventional, following a moral code as strict as that in a John Ford or Alfred Hitchcock movie.
The most interesting case is that of Vincent, who faces ordeals in two completely different arenas, with different results. In the arena of love and loyalty, on his date with Mia, he behaves with chivalry and courage, like a knight of old, and for this he is rewarded by brief survival. But in the arena of respect for Higher Powers and for his more experienced elders, he fails, and is swiftly punished. Once again a relativistic note is sounded, suggesting that mastery over one area of life doesn't necessarily mean mastery of all aspects.
The interwoven Hero's Journeys of Vincent, Jules, and Butch present a full spectrum of heroic possibilities, encompassing the dramatic, the tragic, the comic, and the transcendent. Like Joseph Campbells definition of myth, Pulp Fiction is a "shapeshifting yet marvelously constant story... with a challengingly persistent suggestion of more remaining to be experienced than will ever be known or told."