Mudeng, Hadassah Yael Leonard (2026) THE ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS AND DARBY SHAW’S BRAVE CHARACTERIZATION IN JOHN GRISHAM’S THE PELICAN BRIEF NOVEL. Undergraduate thesis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya.

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Abstract

The study examines the illocutionary acts in the dialogues of Darby Shaw, the main
character in John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief. It investigates how those acts
contribute to her characterization as a brave person. The objectives are to identify
the types of illocutionary acts she performs, describe their functions within the
narrative context, and explain how they construct bravery. The analysis applies
Searle’s speech act theory and characterization theory as its theoretical framework.
By using a descriptive qualitative method with the data collected through close
reading, note-taking, and purposive sampling of utterances containing identifiable
illocutionary force in contexts involving risk, conflict, or decision-making, the
findings reveal that Darby Shaw uses assertives and expressives dominantly and
also uses directives moderately and a few commissives. Pragmatically, these acts
function to report facts, construct legal reasoning, challenge assumptions, express
emotions, manage fear, influence others, and commit to future actions. The analysis
further demonstrates that Darby’s speech acts construct three forms of bravery:
intellectual bravery through assertiveness, operational bravery through directives
and commissives, and relational bravery through expressives under conditions of
threat, risk, and uncertainty. Overall, this study highlights the value of pragmatic
analysis in revealing how character traits are linguistically constructed in literary
works.
Keywords: bravery; characterization; illocutionary acts; literary pragmatics; The
Pelican Brief

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