Politeness Strategies As Lucy’s Survival Mechanism in The Fallout (2024) Series

Abstract

This study aims to examine the use of politeness strategies in the TV series Fallout (2024), focused on Lucy as the main character, to build trust with strangers in a post-apocalyptic world. By applying Brown & Levinson's (1988) politeness framework and Holmes' (1995) perspective of politeness strategies which can form social bonds, the researcher identified and categorized utterances that contain politeness strategies and interpreting their role in fostering trust. The first three episodes were chosen as the data source, since they provide the narrative foundation and demonstrate how Lucy employed politeness strategies to build trust with newly encountered strangers. The researcher used qualitative descriptive method to collect and analyze the data. The findings have revealed that Lucy often mitigated threats through negative politeness by using honorific terms like “Sir” and “Ma’am” and showing gesture non-aggression when communicating with others. Furthermore, she reduced social distance using positive politeness by aligned herself with stranger’s struggle, and encourage them to help her using bald-on-record strategies through the demonstration of sincerity and commitment. The way people communicate each other can serve as a means to survive in a new and full of danger environment. Moreover, it also can establish some cooperation with other people. According to the analysis, politeness in this context goes beyond social etiquette and serves as an essential tool for establishing trust. She transformed initial suspicion into cooperation as a survival mechanism in in high-risk situations.