Despite the need for money to fund their drug addiction, Renton and his friends deliberately choose unemployment to both defy social norms and assert control of their own lives. After vowing to “lead a useful and fulfilling life as a good citizen”, Renton helps Spud to intentionally botch a job interview, an act against the normal responsibilities of an upstanding citizen. Although the government arranges job interviews for them, none of the jobs available to them would deliver them from their social class and provide them with the opportunity of a more successful life. By choosing unemployment, Renton and his friends are exercising what little control they have on their own terms. “The title comments on Thatcherite politics, locating the
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Without drugs to cloud his perception, Renton finally allows himself to externalize his frustration as he bombards his friends with his lack of national pride. Statistics reflect that there was a significant decline in British pride in Scotland during the Thatcher Era, but Renton’s admission of his disdain for being Scottish indicates that both his pride and morale were diminished (Tilly 671). In his journal, Wankerdom, Farred states, “Trainspotting is the voice of the disaffected, the postmodern, postindustrial Scottish junkie as-critic who rejects the romance of his nation’s history in favor of a scathing attack on Scotland’s historic anti-Englishness” (Farred 217). Further supporting evidence of Renton’s depression and hopelessness is present in the scene in which he delivers his rant. At the time of Renton’s monologue, he and his friends are walking towards a mountain that is off in the distance. By using the highlands as the setting for the scene, it “challenges the tourist view of Scotland. Calder writes, ‘Americans and Germans will be challenged to set their romantic conceptions of Scotland against the frustrating reality of modern urban life” (Karnicky 137). The mountain in the scene also provides symbolism to a far off, unattainable goal. The demoralizing conditions on Scotland in the 1980s coupled with Renton’s pessimistic speech …show more content…
From the onset of the film, Renton declares his defiance against middle class aspirations that are beyond reach for the lower class. In the highlands, Renton exclaims his frustration with the Scottish government and how, in him, it bred hatred and resentment. In his final voice over, Renton does not exclaim a newfound passion for social norms; he is reluctant to conform to a social stereotype but identifies the need for change. Although there is a significant amount of drug use throughout the film, it is not the focal point. Cardullo states, “It is neither a glorification of heroin use, an anarchist’s call for the destruction of society, nor, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a moralistic condemnation of drug addiction. Instead [Trainspotting] makes the characters’ desire for chemically induced oblivion comprehensible, given the sordid, disaffecting environment in which they live” (Cardullo 159). Trainspotting used the character of Mark Renton to portray the struggles of the disenfranchised youth who resorted to drug use in order to escape the harsh socioeconomic conditions that stifled the progression of the lower class and rebel against Thatcherism in
Without drugs to cloud his perception, Renton finally allows himself to externalize his frustration as he bombards his friends with his lack of national pride. Statistics reflect that there was a significant decline in British pride in Scotland during the Thatcher Era, but Renton’s admission of his disdain for being Scottish indicates that both his pride and morale were diminished (Tilly 671). In his journal, Wankerdom, Farred states, “Trainspotting is the voice of the disaffected, the postmodern, postindustrial Scottish junkie as-critic who rejects the romance of his nation’s history in favor of a scathing attack on Scotland’s historic anti-Englishness” (Farred 217). Further supporting evidence of Renton’s depression and hopelessness is present in the scene in which he delivers his rant. At the time of Renton’s monologue, he and his friends are walking towards a mountain that is off in the distance. By using the highlands as the setting for the scene, it “challenges the tourist view of Scotland. Calder writes, ‘Americans and Germans will be challenged to set their romantic conceptions of Scotland against the frustrating reality of modern urban life” (Karnicky 137). The mountain in the scene also provides symbolism to a far off, unattainable goal. The demoralizing conditions on Scotland in the 1980s coupled with Renton’s pessimistic speech …show more content…
From the onset of the film, Renton declares his defiance against middle class aspirations that are beyond reach for the lower class. In the highlands, Renton exclaims his frustration with the Scottish government and how, in him, it bred hatred and resentment. In his final voice over, Renton does not exclaim a newfound passion for social norms; he is reluctant to conform to a social stereotype but identifies the need for change. Although there is a significant amount of drug use throughout the film, it is not the focal point. Cardullo states, “It is neither a glorification of heroin use, an anarchist’s call for the destruction of society, nor, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a moralistic condemnation of drug addiction. Instead [Trainspotting] makes the characters’ desire for chemically induced oblivion comprehensible, given the sordid, disaffecting environment in which they live” (Cardullo 159). Trainspotting used the character of Mark Renton to portray the struggles of the disenfranchised youth who resorted to drug use in order to escape the harsh socioeconomic conditions that stifled the progression of the lower class and rebel against Thatcherism in