37 did not want to be disturbed by everyone, she just focused on her boss so that her
statement really uninformative. In another scene, Tony Stark wanted to know more information about training exercise which was related to the conference.
Colonel just uttered “Its not that simple” He implied the utterance. It is because he wanted to make an effective conversation, and also he would save his secret in
front of many people. Colonel showed that there is an effective way to communicate as standard behavior. Thus, he gave less information than what
Tony stark wanted to know. Based on the utterances, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and Colonel were
engaged in conversations where they frequently uttered maxim of quantity to each other. However, the total number of the utterances concerning with maxim of
quantity was smaller than the maxim of relevance. Therefore, the least utilized maxim among other maxim of conversation which shown in Iron Man movie was
owing to the fact that statements of friendship and solidarity were rarely shown by the characters. It was also uttered to show the effectiveness in speaking. Table 4.3
shows the number of utterances concerning with utterances based on maxim of quantity.
Table 4.3: Utterances Based on Maxim of Quantity Produced by the Characters
Character Maxim of Quantity
Tony Stark 9 times
Pepper Potts 4 times
Colonel 4 times
Obadiah -
J.A.R.V.I.S 1 times
TOTAL 18
38 There were totally eighteen utterances expressing the maxim of quantity.
Tony Stark flouted more utterances based on maxims in his conversations as many as nine times. He often uttered the expression based on maxim of quantity
to give compliments to his assistant and close friends. Pepper Potts and Colonel employed four utterances in his dialogue. J.A.R.V.I.S contributed one utterance
each concerning with maxim of quantity in his dialogues especially to respond to Tony Stark in another way. Obadiah was the only one who did not flout the
maxim of quantity since he never gave any compliments to others.
3. Utterances Based on Maxim of Quality
The function of this maxim is to make sure that a speaker has given the correct information to the hearer. Moreover, the maxim quality is one of maxims
that support the effective conversation. The maxim of quality has two subcategories under the super maxim, namely the speaker should not tell a lie in
conversation and the speaker should not tell something without enough knowledge or lack of evidence.
The utterance based on maxim of quality was the second maxim which is more flouted after maxim of relevance in the movie subtitle. It was shown by
some characters, especially Tony Stark who flouted it the most than the others. He tried to imply some statements that were believed to be false. Tony Stark and
Colonel, in the middle scene of the movie, were trying to finish his project for the first time and no one knew it. He forced to finish it as soon as possible to help
many people in the outskirts of Gulmira by using Iron Man. There were many farmers and herders from peaceful villages who were attacked by warlords. He
39 already knew that the mastermind who attacked the peaceful villages was
Obadiah. Tony attempted to help them. After that, he did not know that what had been done in Gulmira was included of monitoring by Colonel. Tony Stark was
trying to deceive everyone involved in the incident. Their conversation can be seen in dialogue 5.
Dialogue 5 Setting
: The Outskirts of Gulmira
Situation :
Tony Stark was attacked back by Colonel’s soldiers
Participants :
Tony Stark and Colonel Tony Stark
: Speak up, please. Colonel
: What in the hell is that noise? Tony stark
: Oh, yeah, Im driving with the top down. Colonel
: Yeah, well, I need your help right now. Tony stark
: Its funny how that works, huh? Colonel
: Yeah. Speaking of funny, weve got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from
where you were being held captive. Tony stark
: Well, thats a hot spot. Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you,
Colonel : Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?
Tony stark : Im not, I was just jogging in the canyon.
Colonel : I thought you were driving.
In the conversation above, Tony Stark clearly showed lack adequate evidence to one another that was considered as an example of maxim of quality.
Lack of evidence was frequently used by a speaker to utter something to their addressee. When maxim of quality was applied by someone who flouted it in
maxim of quality, it was utilized to show the expression, compliment, and fun by deceiving someone. Thus, the untruth was usual flouted in maxim of quality and
sometimes what you had believed, it can be false. It was shown when Tony Stark said, “Oh, yeah, Im driving with the top down.” He flouted the maxim of quality
because he said what he believed to be false. He did not say the truth by telling
40 something that implied another meaning. It was just an expression to keep his
secret and also to divert the attention because someone in the suit of Iron Man is Tony Stark. Moreover, for the second time he deceived colonel “Im not, I was
just jogging in the canyon.” Colonel was not sure because Tony Stark did not have enough evidence to prove. He was flouting a maxim to make a fun of
Colonel. Moreover, Pepper Potts was the one who applied the most maxim of quality
after Tony Stark in conversation. In the dialogue about the arrival of Tony Stark was a sign after the incident that involved him and Colonel in Afghanistan. He
was kidnapped by Obadiah’s subordinate. Besides, Colonel had lost contact in a few days and because of Tony Stark’s expertise, he could escape from the
abduction and eventually was helped by colonel. This is the conversation between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Dialogue 6 Setting
: The Airport
Situation :
The arrival of Tony Stark after incident in Afghanistan
Participants :
Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. Tony Stark
: Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them.
Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?
Pepper Potts : Tears of joy. I hate job hunting.
Tony Stark : Yeah, vacations over
It was obvious that Tony Stark asked Pepper Potts about his arrival after long-lost in a few days. Pepper Potts was already looking forward to this situation
when she met Tony with the joy. Indirectly, she shed tears in front of him. Tony Stark seduced her by asking a simple question. Pepper Potts just uttered the
41 maxim of quality, “Tears of joy. I hate job hunting” It was only the expression
that everyone especially Tony Stark cloud know about it. Pepper Potts flouted the maxim of quality by implying something what she had believed to be false.
Certainly, Tony Stark already knew that Pepper Potts lied. She tried to say the untruth in front of him because she was ashamed of her boss. It was just an
expression that implied something to cover up her feelings toward Tony Stark. In the movie, the writer mostly found utterances of the five characters
except J.A.R.V.I.S. They gave messages indirectly to their addressees and let them guess the meaning. Besides, they flouted maxim of quality to imply some
statements by breaking the maxim. “You dont need to apologize to me. Im your man. Just indifferent right now” was another example based on the maxim of
quality uttered by Colonel to inform Tony Stark that he was not angry to him because Tony Stark came late. He did not keep his promises. However, Tony
Stark really knew that he was angry to him. Indirect statement which was flouted by Colonel was the lack of evidence because Tony Stark had known the truth.
Besides, Obadiah was also included the character who used the maxim, when they talked about the project which was planned. Tony Stark wanted to ask about the
optimism in the project only 40 points at minimum. He cut and uttered “Yep”. In reality, Obadiah was not sure about the target that had been achieved because he
did not have enough evidence to prove actually. He just implied something to make sure that Tony Stark worked for him. Another utterance which was flouted
by Tony Stark “I think you lost objectivity. I think they just... People... We just danced.” The word ‘I think’ indicated that the speaker was not sure about
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
