Irony Strategies of Maxim Flouting Performed by the Characters in This Boy
make his mother imagine the implicature behind his statement. Toby wants to make her mother regret her decision because she leaves Roy who can handle their lives as
he can make that car stop overheating. In short, Toby wants to say that Roy is the right man who can replace his father.
Another example of changing the topic strategy is explained in the following example.
Dwight: Get some sleep, did you? Toby : About four hours.
Dwight: Well, you must have needed it. Good. Oh, by the way......you didnt
hear a funny pinging noise in the engine, did you? God, look at me. I gotta shave. I look terrible.
50RlCt
The dialogue above happens when Toby lies in a bed because he gets some exhausting night before. Dwight enters Toby
‟s bedroom. He puts his hands into his pockets, leaning against the doorway. Dwight already knows that Toby stole his car
the night before. On the other hand, Toby thinks that Dwight does not know what happened with his car when he stole it the night before. To make Toby know that he
is angry with what happens to his car, Dwight turns the topic of the conversation. He talks about the broken engine of his car. Dwight also talks about his beard which is
needed to shave. By saying about the broken engine, Dwight wants to make Toby imagine that he knows what Toby did with his car. Meanwhile, the aim in saying his
beard which is needed to be shaved is to make Toby know how frightening Dwight is, when he is angry.
The dialogue below also shows the use of changing the topic strategy. Toby : Yeah, is she nice?
Norma : Shes okay. Shes pretty. Toby : I hate changing schools.
Dwight: Speaking of changing, I had a talk with Jack on the way up here, and
he says he wants to be a better boy. And thats good, cause things werent going well for him in Seattle: the police actually came to
his house to talk to Caroline about him. Uh-huh, the police.
31RlCt
The dialogue above happens when Dwight, Toby, Norma, Skipper and Pearl are eating dinner at the kitchen table. Norma talks about the school that Toby will enter.
Toby moves to a new school because he moves from Seattle to Concrete. Hearing Toby
‟s utterance, Dwight explains more about how Toby‟s life in Seattle is. He fails to observe a maxim of relation because he changes the topic of the conversation. He
wants to make his children imagine the meaning of his statement which is talking about the police. He wants to say that Toby is a kind of naughty boy.