One of the stories in Pulp Fiction follows Butch Coolidge, a boxer who makes the dangerous decision of betraying Marsellus Wallace – but why does he do that? Quentin Tarantino’s career as the world knows it began in 1992 with the crime film Reservoir Dogs, but his big break came two years later with Pulp Fiction, a combination of neo-noir, black comedy, crime, and drama widely regarded as his masterpiece, with critics mostly praising its narrative style, while others criticized its violence.
Pulp Fiction tells various interconnected stories in a non-linear style, set in the criminal underworld of Los Angeles. The main characters (of which some appear in more than one segment) are Vincent Vega (John Travolta), Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), Marsellus Wallace (Wing Rhames), and Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis). The latter has his own segment (“The Gold Watch”), in which he betrays Marseullus, with whom he had a deal to lose a boxing match. Butch and his girlfriend Fabienne then prepare to flee, as Marsellus was surely going to go after him, but he ends up being captured along with him by a pair of sadists.
What kickstarts Butch’s storyline is the boxing match. Butch accepted a bribe from Marsellus to lose the fight, but he double-crosses him and arranges for the money to be bet on him, and goes on to win the fight. On his way back to the motel, he learns that he beat his opponent so badly that he died, and plans to escape to another place the next morning. However, when he learns that his girlfriend forgot to pack his father’s gold watch, he goes out to retrieve it but comes across with Marsellus on his way back to the motel. After a fight, they end up being captured by a pawn shop owner and his brother, who turned out to be sadist serial killers. Butch ultimately saves Marsellus and they escape, and they agree to forget the contract they had as long as Butch leaves L.A. Butch paid a big price for betraying Marsellus and he knew well that there were going to be consequences, which has made viewers wonder why he decides to betray him – if he does what they agreed on, he would leave with a lot of money and would be safe, but he ends up having to run away.
Those with an understanding of how boxing bets work have explained that it was financially better for Butch to bet on himself, betray Marsellus, and run away with the money, though the question remains as to why he took such a big risk, as Marsellus and company were obviously going to retaliate. Butch’s decision might have been rooted in pride more than ambition, as he was an aging boxer who wasn’t going to be able to keep fighting after this particular match, win or lose. Butch couldn’t let himself lose and he needed the money, so the only way to get what he needed was by breaking his deal with Marsellus – and he was proving to him and the rest that he’s not a washed-up boxer. This fits with the theme of pride in Butch’s segment, where Marsellus even tells him that pride is going to mess with him after the fight.
There are a lot of details in the dialogues of Pulp Fiction that hint at events in other segments and that help put all the puzzle pieces together, even those that might not be quite clear. Whether Butch was driven by ambition or not, truth is that at the core of his plans was his pride, and he wasn’t going to let anyone mess with that, even if there was a lot of money – and his safety – on the table.