42 something that had been believed and it could be false and also need to have
enough evidence. The maxim of quality was applied less frequently than maxim of relevance
but was applied more frequently than maxim of quantity. Nonetheless, not all characters applied the strategy. Table 4.4 shows the number of utterances
produced by the characters.
Table 4.4: Utterances Based on Maxim of Quality Produced by the Characters
Character Maxim of Quality
Tony Stark 15 times
Pepper Potts 8 times
Colonel 3 times
Obadiah 2 times
J.A.R.V.I.S -
TOTAL
28
There were twenty eight utterances concerning about this maxim. Tony Stark, as usual, flouted the maxim more than the others. He uttered it fifteen
times. Pepper Potts, contributed eight utterances. Colonel contributed three utterances. The least flouted maxim was Obadiah’s. He uttered two utterances.
Only four of the five characters flouted the strategy since J.A.R.V.I.S did not utilize it. J.A.R.V.I.S did not apply the maxim of quality because he never tried to
avoid imposition on the hearers.
4. Utterances Based on the Maxim of Manner
In this maxim, Grice mentions the general understanding, especially about “being perspicuous”. There are various types of maxim of manner, namely avoid
obscurity of expression, avoid ambiguity, be brief and, and be orderly. This part is going to explain about some utterances related to the rules.
43 There were four characters who applied some statements which directly
breaking the maxim of manner. They tend to speak longer than it was needed by the hearer. Some statements were uttered to imply something different and the
speaker expected to know the meaning. It was shown in some dialogues that were spoken by the characters. For instance, as seen in this case:
Dialogue 7 Setting
: In the Factory
Situation : Pepper Potts and Agent Coulson try to stop Obie’s plan.
Participants :
Pepper Potts and Agent Coulson. Pepper Potts
: My keys not working. Its not opening the door. Oh, wow Whats that? Its, like, a little device?
Its, like, a thing thats going to pick the lock? Agent Coulson : You might want to take a few steps back.
The dialogue occurred when all of the plans carried out by Obadiah had been known by Tony Stark. After that, Obadiah attacked Tony Stark and claimed
the control of the possession. Then, Colonel and Pepper Potts worked together to defeat Obadiah. Colonel tried to help Tony Stark for preparing the suit of war
while Pepper Potts and Agent Coulson went to Obadiah’s factory with an attempt to arrest Obadiah’s before attacking civilians with his own Iron man. Pepper Potts
found a way to Obadiah hideout and directly tried to open the door and uttered “My keys not working. Its not opening the door. Oh, wow Whats that? Its, like,
a little device? Its, like, a thing thats going to pick the lock?” Pepper Potts indirectly flouted maxim of manner in her statement in the dialogue. She implied
something different in this way. Besides, the utterances showed the obscurity of expression and gave the ambiguity in speaking longer than it was needed by the
hearer. Actually, what Pepper Potts only to say was she needed a help to open the
44 door because her key was not working. Because she was in a hurry, she tended to
speak longer and flouted the maxim of manner. In the dialogue 8, there was one statement flouted by Tony Stark who
indirectly implied something that had another meaning. It was shown by Pepper Potts and Tony Stark in their conversation. Tony Stark clearly committed
utterances which flouted the maxim of manner in his utterance.
Dialogue 8 Setting
: In Tony Stark’s House Situation
: Tony Stark needed help from Pepper Potts to do some
missions.
Participants :
Pepper Potts and Tony Stark
Pepper Potts : Tony, you know that
I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if youre going to start all of this again.
Tony Stark : There is nothing except this. Theres no art opening.
There is no benefit. There is nothing to sign. There is the next mission and nothing else.
Pepper Potts : Is that so?
Well, then, I quit. Pepper Potts met Tony Stark at his office. Tony Stark wanted her to go to
the company. In the next mission, he needed her to hack the mainframe that had been copied by Obadiah. Tony Stark began to insinuate his choice of mission by
giving indirect statements which had the opposite meanings because he would stop them especially Obadiah and his assistance. However, Pepper Potts did not
know what Tony Stark meant, she directly refused the order. Tony Stark cut and uttered “There is nothing except this. Theres no art opening. There is no benefit.
There is nothing to sign. There is the next mission and nothing else.” The statement implied something that had another meaning which flouted by Tony
45 Stark in maxim of manner. He just meant that he really needed help to finish his
mission by stopping Obadiah. Nevertheless, he showed the obscurity of expression and made the long statements by speaking longer than what Pepper
Potts needed. Actually, he could show the brief utterance and orderly. The maxim of manner was the third maxim which mostly flouted after
quality and relevance in the utterances of the five characters in the movie subtitle. They tend to talk too much by giving statements to their addresses and made the
hearer felt obscurity and ambiguity with the statement. “No. No. I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in front of everyone that I work with in a
dress with no back.” was another example in maxim of manner that made by Pepper Potts to respond Tony Stark when he wanted to dance with her. Pepper
declined the invitation because she felt uncomfortable but she uttered longer and implied something different with her statement. Besides that, it happened when
Tony Stark tried to meet Colonel in military because he needed his help to be a part of it especially the project. He asked, “Hello, sir speaking of manned or
unmanned, you gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong at spring break, just remember that, spring break, 1987.” The statement implied
something that he needed help from colonel to stop Obadiah. Tony Stark flouted the maxim of manner, he tend to speak longer and talked nonsense. It sounded
amusing for the others but it was too long, not clear and showed the ambiguity. Table 4.5 presents the number of utterances based on maxim of manner
produced by the characters. It was applied more frequently than maxim of quantity, which made it the most utilized strategy in the movie because Tony
46 Stark and Pepper Potts, the ones who had bigger roles in applying it, flouted this
maxim to implied statements to for the others.
Table 4.5: Utterances Based on Maxim of Manner Produced by the Characters
