American Nihilism In Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction

As previously stated, nihilism suggests that life is meaningless, and rejects any kind of religious and moral principles. Our society’s moral codes and ethics are fundamentally based on Judeo-Christianity, and since our society is slowly drifting away from religion, with nothing to replace it, we can only reach the conclusion that there is absolutely no objective truth, right or wrong, value and meaning in life. In Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, nihilism is a prominent feature, mostly depicting American nihilism. It is definitely a strange, yet interesting film. This cult classic could be considered a crime classical, however there are no signs of law and order to be seen. Filled with bizarre characters, all of them lack any kind of inherent meaning in their lives. Jules and Vincent, the main characters, fall into a hierarchy of power, with Marsellus Wallace controlling them at the top and themselves as henchmen below. Due to the fact they lack the ability to make any value judgements, their own meaningless lives set them unable to determine what is valuable and what is not, letting Marsellus be the guide of their actions at any moment.
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Nihilism implies an utter destruction of beliefs and values associated with moral and traditional social structures. Capitalism and consumerism are significant parts of our culture and society but the characters in the film exhibit a disgust towards these ideologies, by rejecting them completely. Mirroring the violence of the 90s, the protagonists of the film reject the notion of violence being a bad thing. Pain, or other sensory experiences becomes the means to awaken to real life. The characters live dangerously without considering societal norms. There is a rejection of God. It is a fact that atheism is closely related to nihilism. Without God, morality doesn’t exist. God is dead, irrelevant to the characters (Rstander,