A Study Of Dick's Choices Of(Im) Politeness In The Novel Tender Is The Night

This study tries to interpret S.F.Fitzgerald's novel Tender Is the Night with the help of Brown and Levinson's(1987)politeness strategies and Bousfield's(2008)impoliteness strategies.It aims to explore the protagonist Dick's choices of these two strategies thus three research questions are proposed: 1)What are the features of Dick's application of(im)politeness strategies at each stage? 2)Are there any changes in the application of these strategies from stage1 to stage 3? If any,what are they? 3)What are the functions of politeness and impoliteness strategies in the novel Tender Is the Night?Through quantitative and qualitative approaches,these questions are answered as follows: 1)Dick applies more politeness strategies than impoliteness strategies at each stage.At Stage 1,politeness strategies are applied with sincerity and care for others,whose intention is to show friendliness and care for others to maintain the good relationship,and impoliteness strategies are seldom used.At Stage 2,with few impoliteness strategies applied,Dick sometimes employs politeness strategies sincerely,yet sometimes passively,unnaturally,insincerely and guiltily,indicating his intention of repairing the cracks in the interpersonal relationship.At Stage 3,the application of politeness strategies appears indifferent and impassive while impoliteness strategies of threatening,insulting,snubbing and condescension are frequently used.Dick's care for others and desire of softening the aggravating conflict fade.2)The application of politeness strategies turns out to be controlled and enthusiastic in the beginning but indifferent and negative in the end,while the impoliteness strategies applied from Stage 1 to Stage 2 increase and become more aggressive at Stage 3.These changes mean the rupture of Dick's interpersonal relationship,and at the meanwhile indicate that he experiences the process of controlling himself,losing himself,struggling for himself and giving up himself.3)Politeness and impoliteness strategies in this novel contributes to shaping the character,depicting interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts,driving the plots as well as revealing the themes.