Trainspotting
It is easy to say that Trainspotting revolves around Heroin addiction in Leith. Whilst this is strictly true, to gain a full appreciation of the novel and to appreciate the dramatically honed down movie, we must understand the underlying themes. With the exception of Spud in the novel, none of the main characters appear to be along for the ride when it comes to heroin addiction. The novel's underlying theme for me is fear. All the characters, with the exception of Begbie and Diane show fear throughout the novel. They're too scared to take heroin in case they overdose or contract HIV, they're scared to buy it because the journey might involve a 'kicking' and they're scared of what will be waiting for them in the cold light of day when the 'high' wears off. At the same time they're too scared not to take heroin because what would they do? Could they get a job? Do they want a job and if not why not, do they choose not to join the rat race or are they too scared that they couldn't if they tried. They're all too scared of Begbie to tell him that they do not wish to socialise with him and would rather suffer the fear that he could turn on them in any second rather than lose the comfort of his misplaced loyalty to them. They woul
Another theme which stands out to me in both the novel and the movie is social acceptance. Renton's parents, Begbie and lets face it, a large part of society, all feel that whilst it is inexcusable to become addicted to heroin, it is understandable to have the desire to get absolutely annihilated drinking alcohol. When Renton is taken to his local pub by his parents 'when he is attempting to come off heroin' they are not slow to 'pass the pints'. Neither they nor Begbie can see that both heroin and alcohol are used to achieve the same goal. What the novel forces us to look at is why we feel that it is ok to seek oblivion after a hard week at the office yet it is not ok to seek oblivion when we have done nothing that week except score more heroin. Surely both consumers are equally as unhappy with their lives. Although most of the characters are dumbed down in the film, it is still easy to see why the film works so well. It is not in effect a character study but more a study of what society does to ones character. After watching the film, which I unfortunately saw before reading the book, I thought 'there but for the grace of god go I'. I imagined that had I fallen in with the wrong crowd that I could have easily ended up another Renton (every viewer likes to see themselves as the Renton, never the far more realistic Spud of the movie). However, after reading the book I realised that there was never the slightest possibility that I would have ended up anything like or even moving in the same circles as any of the characters. In fact, I don't even know where these people exist. In the film, it seems as if they are harmless unfortunates who have fallen in with the wrong crowd. In the novel however, they are the wrong crowd. The director and producer of Trainspotting stated that there were many issues, characters and scenes dropped from the film either because the audience was ahead of the story and did not need it reiterated to them - for example when Renton and Sick Boy discuss the problem of not so much coming of heroin but finding something to fill the void once they were clean. It was felt that the audience had already grasped this without having it spelled out to them again. The scene where Spud tries not to succeed in gaining employment was used in the film, however Renton's attempt was omitted as the director felt that it was impossible to convey Renton's panic when realising that he might actually get the job. The movie comes across almost like a pop video to me. From the start when the characters are introduced, almost like 2 dimensional cartoon super-heroes, we are treate
Some common words found in the essay are:
Begbie Diane, Sick Boy, Mother Superior, Renton's Whilst, Irvine Welsh, Whilst Renton, Billy Film, Leith Whilst, Davie Tommy, Bang Rites, they're scared, reading book, wrong crowd, sex brother's girlfriend, characters exception, watching film, scared heroin, book realised, fear throughout, fallen wrong, they're scared heroin, ok seek oblivion, fallen wrong crowd, seek oblivion,
Approximate Word count = 1765
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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