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Sick Boy
Daniel “Spud” Murphy is perhaps the most agreeable member of Rent Boy’s friend group, but his somewhat innocent personality causes the other group members to take advantage of him. His nickname “Spud” (like a potato) reflects his essentially passive personality and how both his friends and his heroin addiction control his life. Spud lives off of unemployment benefits, and Rent Boy coaches him how to fail job interviews so that he can continue to receive benefits. But even Rent Boy’s advice isn’t enough to keep Spud out of jail after the two of them get caught stealing from a bookstore with a plan to resell the books later. At the end of the book when Rent Boy betrays all his friends, Spud is the only one he regrets hurting. Nevertheless, Rent Boy carries out the theft anyway, symbolizing how in the tough life of working-class Edinburgh, easygoing characters like Spud make themselves a target for more predatory or amoral characters.
Spud Quotes in Trainspotting
The Trainspotting quotes below are all either spoken by Spud or refer to Spud. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Kicking Again
Quotes
Ah chums Dode tae the hoespital. His wounds wir likesay no as bad as they looked. Ah goes intae see um lyin oan a trolley eftir thuv, likes, patched um up.
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Rents picks up a stane and flings it at the squirrel. Ah feel likes, sick, ma hert misses a beat as it whizzes past the wee gadge. He goes tae pick up another, laughin like a maniac, but ab stoap um.
Blowing It
Quotes
Ah walk tae freedom; perr auld Spud gits taken doon.
A polisman gestures tae him tae move.
—Sorry mate, ah sais, feelin cuntish.
Exit
Quotes
Now, free from them all, for good, he could be what he wanted to be. He’d stand or fall alone. This thought both terrified and excited him as he contemplated life in Amsterdam.
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Get the entire Trainspotting LitChart as a printable PDF.
Spud Quotes in Trainspotting
The Trainspotting quotes below are all either spoken by Spud or refer to Spud. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Kicking Again
Quotes
Ah chums Dode tae the hoespital. His wounds wir likesay no as bad as they looked. Ah goes intae see um lyin oan a trolley eftir thuv, likes, patched um up.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Rents picks up a stane and flings it at the squirrel. Ah feel likes, sick, ma hert misses a beat as it whizzes past the wee gadge. He goes tae pick up another, laughin like a maniac, but ab stoap um.
Blowing It
Quotes
Ah walk tae freedom; perr auld Spud gits taken doon.
A polisman gestures tae him tae move.
—Sorry mate, ah sais, feelin cuntish.
Exit
Quotes
Now, free from them all, for good, he could be what he wanted to be. He’d stand or fall alone. This thought both terrified and excited him as he contemplated life in Amsterdam.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
