On sort of a related note...I saw "Pulp Fiction" for the first time (yeah, yeah, I know) this weekend, and there was one part that really resonated with me. It was the semi-monlogue that Samuel L. Jackson gives right near the very end of the movie, after a failed robbery, in which he tells the robber that he's going to let him go:
"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.' I been sayin' that s*** for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherf***** before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some s*** this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9-millimeter here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or is could by you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that s*** 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."
That's how I feel, too. Except...that I was trying to be the righteous man. And failing. I never realized that one never gets to righteousness by trying. Whatever it is I was doing, it's starting to dawn on me that maybe being the shepherd is the best thing to which I could aspire at this point in my life. I guess Holden Caufield felt that, too...
(And is it just me, or is that dialogue something straight out of an Elmore Leonard book?)
"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.' I been sayin' that s*** for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherf***** before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some s*** this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9-millimeter here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or is could by you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that s*** 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."
That's how I feel, too. Except...that I was trying to be the righteous man. And failing. I never realized that one never gets to righteousness by trying. Whatever it is I was doing, it's starting to dawn on me that maybe being the shepherd is the best thing to which I could aspire at this point in my life. I guess Holden Caufield felt that, too...
(And is it just me, or is that dialogue something straight out of an Elmore Leonard book?)
1 Comments:
Or Hawk. Did I tell you that Hank reads Robert Parker too? He and I were discussing how awesome "A Catskill Eagle" is the other day.
Post a Comment
<< Home