In Shuggie Bain, the act of dancing is used as a symbol of joy, identity, and hope. When Shuggie is very young, he dances to make Agnes feel better when she is depressed and drunk. His exuberance and sense of freedom consistently combine to lighten her mood, and he learns that dancing is a tool with which he can lift her out of dark spaces. His dancing later becomes a source of mockery because others only see oddness in his effeminate movements. Shuggie learns to hide this part of himself to avoid bullying. On one occasion when the family lives in Pithead, he relents and dances in the living room at his mother’s request, only to realize that Colleen McAvennie and her children are watching through the window across the street. They are in an uproar of laughter at his expense, but Agnes warns him that he better keep going so they don’t win. Despite his horror, he continues. As he gets older, Shuggie begins to accept himself in spite of societal intolerance. At the end of the novel, he dances in public once again to cheer up his friend Leanne—a final symbol of hope at the conclusion of the narrative.
Dancing Quotes in Shuggie Bain
With his free hand he gripped her thighs and tried to pull the dead weight of them apart. There was no giving. The lock was tight. He dug his fingers into the soft tops of her legs, digging the nails in until he felt the skin burst, until he felt her ankles open.
He pushed into her as she wept. There was no drink in her now. There was no fight in her any more. When he was done he put his face against her neck. He told her he would take her dancing in the lights again tomorrow.
Shuggie lifted her lager can. He put it to his lips like it was a magical power juice. The bitter oaty flavor made him flinch, the way it tasted like fizzy ginger, milk, and porridge all at the same time. He danced for her, stepping side to side and clicking his fingers and missing every beat. When she laughed, he danced harder.
Agnes whirled as though dancing with an imaginary partner. “Get your wee arse outside and dance with your mother,” she called too loudly, her voice bounding off the miners’ houses.
Inside, in the shade of the cool bedroom, Shuggie scowled on the edge of his bed…He had never been embarrassed by the sober her before. It was a new and unwelcome feeling.
He was enjoying her attention. Something inside him flowered, and he started popping his body like he’d seen the black boys on telly do. They self-consciousness left him, and he spun and shimmied and shook in all the telly ways. He was mid Cats leap when he let out a sharp scream. It was high-pitched and womanly…Across the street, in the window of their front room, stood the McAvennies. They pressed again the large glass window, and they were gutting themselves with laughter.
…“If I were you, I would keep dancing.”
“I can’t.” The tears were coming.
“You know they only win if you let them…Just hold you head high and Gie. It. Laldy.”
…Shuggie looked at her now and understood this was where she excelled. Everyday with the make-up on and her hair done, she climbed out of her grave and held her head high.
…It was hard to keep moving again, to feel the music, to go to that other place in your head where you keep your confidence…But it was in him, and as it poured out, he found he was helpless to stop it.
“Listen tae that voice!...Er, posh boy. Whaur did ye get that fuckin’ accent? Are ye a wee ballet dancer, or whit?”
This went down the best of all. It was a divine inspiration to the others. “Gies a wee dance!” they squealed with laugher. “Twirl for us, ye wee bender!”
Shuggie sat there listening to them amuse themselves. He took the red football book and dropped it into the desk drawer of this strange school desk. He was glad, at least, to be done with that. It was clear now: nobody would get to be made brand new.
“You know, hearing about your Calum did make me wish we could go up the dancin’ one time?”
Leanne was still swinging the dirty bag, and now she howled with laughter. It was so loud, so vibrant, it made the videocassette jakeys jump with fright. “Ha! You? Get to fuck wi’ those poncey school shoes,” she squealed. “There is no way Shuggie Bain can dance!”
Shuggie tutted. He wrenched himself from her side and ran a few paces ahead. He nodded, all gallus, and spun, just the once, on his polished shoes.
Dancing Symbol Timeline in Shuggie Bain
