Example: Kill Bill: Volume 2
Consider the question of what happens to the character of Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah) in this movie. At the end of the movie a shot is shown of each of the characters on the Bride's kill list with a caption telling the fate of the character. For Elle Driver the caption reads "???," director Quentin Tarantino seemingly leaving it up to the audience to decide. Using narrative logic, we take all relevant information from the narrative and come to a conclusion about Driver's fate. Driver is last depicted thrashing about in a trailer, having been blinded by the Bride. This trailer is also occupied by a deadly black mamba, a fact that is emphasized when it is shown poised to strike as the Bride leaves the trailer. Logically, a thrashing, blind woman and threatened snake occupying a confined space would lead most to conclude that Driver falls prey to the snake and is dead at the end of the film. This conclusion may be further supported by taking into consideration the film's rhetorical and artistic devices. The film is largely a tale of deadly vengeance, and the other targets of the Bride are known to be dead at the film's end, thus the ending is better rounded by assuming Driver to likewise be dead. Also, the Bride's codename is Black Mamba, and this same snake killed another of the Bride's targets, so if one presumes the snake is a rhetorical extension of the Bride's wrath, it would most likely strike Driver down while she is vulnerable.
However, one may also argue that Driver survived. Again, this conclusion can be supported with logic and analysis of the movie's narrative. The strongest evidence may be the very fact that Driver's fate is left open to question. Another point is that, despite blindness, Driver is still a highly trained professional who would not easily succumb to death by a small reptile.
This example shows how the application of narrative logic may lead to different conclusions using the same evidence. However, these conclusions are similar in that they do not impact the narrative itself, but only build upon it.
Read more about this topic: Narrative Logic
Famous quotes containing the words kill and/or volume:
“He wrote me sad Mother’s Day stories. He’d always kill me in the stories and tell me how bad he felt about it. It was enough to bring a tear to a mother’s eye.”
—Connie Zastoupil, U.S. mother of Quentin Tarantino, director of film Pulp Fiction. Rolling Stone, p. 76 (December 29, 1994)
“Love is both Creator’s and Saviour’s gospel to mankind; a volume bound in rose-leaves, clasped with violets, and by the beaks of humming-birds printed with peach-juice on the leaves of lilies.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)