A Pragmatic Analysis Of Dialogues In The Great Gatsby

Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, has received a lot ofattention since its publication. A great many scholars have studied The Great Gatsbyfrom many perspectives, such as the stylistic study of The Great Gatsby with referenceto its theme, symbolism, American dreams, the main writing techniques and so forth.The conversations in the novel have played an increasingly significant role within thestudy of language. The conversations between the main characters, such as kind andpersistent Gatsby, hypercritical Daisy and affectionate and faithful Nick, depictcharacters’ personalities and expose the implied theme of the novel.This thesis intends to make an analysis of the dialogues in the novel The GreatGatsby from a new angle. It proposes to conduct both qualitative and quantitativeanalysis of the applications of pragmatic theories in the dialogues in The Great Gatsbywithin the theoretical framework of cooperative principle and politeness principle. Onthe one hand, it aims to contribute to a better understanding of the theme, the plot, andto reveal the characteristics and inner worlds of some main characters. On the otherhand, it further testifies the feasibility and validity of applying pragmatic theories toliterature works.The data of the study is composed of twenty representative dialogues which are allselected from the novel. The study shows that Cooperative Principle and PolitenessPrinciple can be applied to the analysis of the dialogues in The Great Gatsby. In mostcases the characters violate cooperative principle in order to convey the impliedmeanings of the characters’ utterances. And the characters can successfully realize theirconversational goals by using certain politeness strategy and avoid doing face damageindirectly to other people, maintaining the stable and harmonious relationship in humaninteractions. Additionally, CP and PP provide a new angle to appreciate the vivid characters in the novel. This application can not only help the readers deduce theintentional meaning of the main characters, but help them gain a deeper appreciation ofthe entire story, including the development of the plot, and the theme as well asreflection of the characters’ personality.