Trainspotting

Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson is the acknowledged womanizer of the group. As Mark describes it in Chapter 1 when Simon heads to a back room to have sex with Alison: “It seemed, for women, that fucking was just something that you did wi Sick Boy, like talking, or drinking tea wi other punters” (13). Obsessed with his idol, Sean Connery, Simon appears to want to be a hero; like Mark, he recognizes the debilitating impact of drugs on his life. He disappears to France for some time after getting clean but reappears in the last chapter to take part in the final drug deal (although he appears to be clean).

Like Mark, Danny, or “Spud,” is cheating the welfare system. Chapter 10 shows the two of them preparing for job interviews—meaning they will walk the fine line of looking like they want to get the job while making sure they say and do just enough to ensure they don’t get the job, and can thus keep collecting government money. Danny is the most empathetic character in the group, as he stands up for his Uncle Dode and a squirrel that Mark mistreats. Mark notes, after having made off with the Skag Boys’ money, that Danny would never harm anyone.

As a borderline sociopath, Frank “Franco” has violent tendencies that first appear in Chapter 12 when he instigates a bar brawl with skinheads and hoodlums. His friends seem to barely like him but are stuck with him, as they’ve been friends for a long time. Fighting to Begbie almost seems to be a pastime, a sport that he actively pursues, as in Chapter 13 when he tries to pick a fight but fails, labeling this a “disappointment” (85). He also beats his pregnant girlfriend and picks up another girl while his girlfriend is giving birth to his child, suggesting that he is an unempathetic, heartless character who feels beholden to no one.

Frank’s character represents the violence of the drug culture and much of the contained rage felt by the Skag Boys as they grapple with their underdog status in society. The reader gets an idea of where Frank’s rage comes from in the “Trainspotting” chapter when he and Mark come across Frank’s dad, drunk, sitting at Leith Central Station; Frank doesn’t acknowledge his father but beats up a boy shortly afterward.

Tommy is a young man who seems initially more “together” than some of his friends. Mark introduces him to heroin after Tommy’s breakup with his girlfriend Lizzy. He starts out as a golden boy: “offensively fit. Majorca tan still intact; hair sun-bleached, cut short and gelled back. […] It has to be said that Tommy’s a fairly handsome cunt wi a tan” (87). Just pages later, however, Tommy has gotten his first hit of heroin—and is hooked from here on out. He ends up with the death sentence of HIV/AIDS.

Tommy is one of the many victims in the novel and is, in a way, Mark’s guilt child. As other characters (like Matty) are redeemed by their children, Mark made Tommy into a junky and will live with Tommy’s death on his conscience. Tommy’s impending death also represents the unfairness of the drug culture; Mark used more than Tommy and should have suffered the same fate.

Davie narrates two gruesome chapters. The first is Chapter 15, when he wakes up in his girlfriend Gail’s bed, discovering that he’s urinated and defecated in the bed overnight. The second is Chapter 30, when he reveals his plot to seek vengeance on Alan Venters, the man whom he blames for his own HIV diagnosis. Davie’s actions prove him to be addled and sick. He seeks out his own vengeance for the rape of his girlfriend and lets a dying man think that his young son has been raped and given HIV. He is another character with little empathy for those outside his sphere, with no penchant for forgiveness. He smothers Alan with no remorse.

Matty is another victim of HIV/AIDS, and it is Matty’s funeral that makes many of the Skag Boys reconsider their paths and reflect on their mortality. Matty’s daughter’s mother notes that his daughter is the only good thing that came of him, though it’s possible that his death was the catalyst for Mark deciding to get clean.

Stevie is a childhood friend of the Skag Boys and serves as a counterexample of someone who “got out” of the drug scene. He lives in London and is in a relationship with a girl named Stella. They admit their love for one another in Chapter 6.

Kelly briefly dates Mark, and by the end of the novel, she is putting herself through school. She is the face of feminism in the book, though colored by the novel’s gritty reality. She cusses out a construction worker that wolf whistles at her, then puts feces, menstrual blood, and even rat poison in the food of some rowdy, misogynistic customers. Her actions suggest that she has a short temper and, while she strives to educate herself, is not above some raunchier behaviors.

Mark’s brother Billy joins the army, which Mark finds ridiculous. Billy is subsequently killed by an IRA bomb while on patrol. His character serves to highlight political issues of the British Union.

This is Mark’s handicapped brother, who died before the book’s events took place. It’s suggested that Mark’s drug use took off after Davie’s death; this is notable as Mark relapses after Billy’s death.

Nina is a young teenaged cousin of Mark’s. She represents a purer counterpart to Mark; she’s never had sex and doesn’t seem to have any drug issues. She is still connected to the family and has an emotional breakdown in Chapter 5 following her Uncle Andy’s death. She appears again at Billy’s funeral where Mark attempts to hit on her.

June is the girlfriend of Frank. She makes an appearance in Chapter 12, when Frank picks a fight in the pub. She’s also referred to later when Frank picks up a girl at a bar and the reader learns at that moment June is giving birth to his child. Frank also beats her, making her another innocent bystander in the novel.

Johnny, aka “Mother Superior” and “The White Swan,” is a drug dealer introduced in the first chapter and who later reappears after he’s had his leg amputated. He is one of Mark’s preferred dealers and appears throughout the book. He’s also the person Mark is with when he overdoses for the first time. Johnny, now disabled, scams a grieving woman out of all her money without remorse, suggesting that he is a junky first and an empathetic human last.

This is the man who raped Donna, Davie’s girlfriend, and infected her with HIV/AIDS. She subsequently infects Davie. Davie goes on a quest for vengeance, which is laid out in Chapter 30, killing Alan after (falsely) convincing him that he’s tortured, raped, and killed his son. While Alan’s actions were abhorrent, Davie’s murder and mental torture almost make Alan a sympathetic character.

Dianne is the 14-year-old girl who Mark picks up at a bar in Chapter 20 in a moment when he’s off heroin and his sex drive has revived. He is horrified the next morning to realize her real age, yet he consciously has sex with her again later. Dianne is another victim of Mark’s poor decision-making.

Dawn is the baby girl who dies in Chapter 7 and the daughter of Simon and Lesley. She represents the significance of family and offspring.

Mike is the drug dealer who provides Mark with opium suppositories in Chapter 3, breaking his brief attempt to get clean. He insults Mark before providing him with the drugs, serving to show how much addicts will put up with to get their fix. Later, Mark will dig the suppositories out of his own feces, furthering the point.

This is the Italian man whom Mark meets in a pornographic movie theater. He invites Mark to sleep over at his house; Mark awakens to find out that the man has masturbated onto his face. Giovanni is a stateless exile, having left Italy after his wife’s family discovered he was having sex with the wife’s younger brother. His displacement reflects that lack of state and stable society experienced by many of the Skag Boys.

Giovanni’s self-imposed exile mirrors Mark’s at the end of the novel when he steals from his friends so that he will never see them again. The interaction with Giovanni also provides insights about Mark’s previous experiences with homosexuality.

Referenced by name on multiple occasions, “wee Goagsie” represents the fear of HIV/AIDS from early in the book. In Chapter 1, Johnny notes the importance of not sharing needles or syringes, saying, “Ken wee Goagsie? He’s goat AIDS now” (10). He becomes the faceless ghost of the disease that even the reckless drug-addicts fear.

Julie is another faceless representation of HIV/AIDS. Frank used to have a crush on her. She was sent home from the hospital with two men dressed in “sortay radioactive-proof suits,” which, according to Mark, “had the predictable effect. The neighbors saw this, freaked, and burnt her oot the hoose. Once ye git tagged HIV, that’s you fucked…” (78). He notes that this was in 1985; she died last Christmas.