Shuggie Bain

by

Douglas Stuart

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Shuggie Bain makes teaching easy.

Identity and Societal Expectations Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Identity and Societal Expectations Theme Icon
Coming of Age and Trauma Theme Icon
Addiction and Abandonment Theme Icon
Pride and Appearances Theme Icon
Sectarianism Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Shuggie Bain, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Societal Expectations Theme Icon

Shuggie Bain is about a boy grappling with his identity in a society that antagonizes him for being himself. The expectations for men and women are quite different in the novel’s community, and there’s a distinct dichotomy between what’s considered feminine and what’s considered masculine. From a very young age, it’s clear to everyone that Shuggie doesn’t adhere to stereotypical ideas of masculinity. He is intrigued with Agnes’s hair and clothing, and he gravitates toward the women painted on her beer cans. Both Lizzie and Shug tell Agnes she needs to watch Shuggie because there’s something amiss about him. But Agnes ignores their concerns; she lets him play with jewelry and buys him a doll to replace the beer cans—in other words, she supports him and lets him (for the most part) be the person he is. But even with a supportive mother, the older Shuggie gets, the more he is mocked for his speech, dancing, and conventionally feminine mannerisms. After years of hearing from family, friends, and neighbors that Shuggie’s queerness is a problem she must control, Agnes crumbles under the pressure of their intolerance. She begins to equate her alcoholism with Shuggie’s sexuality, as if both are flaws that can be helped if she and Shuggie make a concerted effort to start anew.

Tragically enough, Shuggie believes his mother and everyone else’s assertion that he must change, and he tries desperately to weed whatever is different out of himself. He memorizes football scores and practices walking in the manly way his brother shows him. When he goes through puberty and becomes attracted to other boys, his shame is immense. He wants so badly to become a new, normal person by the standards of the society that refuses to accept him as he is, but he can’t seem to change.

However, Shuggie’s otherness ultimately allows him to show compassion to the people around him. Although being different makes him a target for close-minded people, it bonds him with others who are viewed as outsiders. In part, this accounts for Shuggie’s closeness with Agnes, though Shuggie’s otherness is a result of the intolerant community in which he lives, while Agnes’s is the result of her alcoholism. Still, their bond deepens the more her condition—and her connection with the rest of the world—deteriorates. After Agnes’s death, Shuggie finds a healthier relational model in his friendship with Leanne, who—like him—has had experiences that have long isolated her from others. Together, they’re able to finally be themselves. In turn, the novel highlights just how meaningful it can be for people facing prejudice and mistreatment to find stable and supportive relationships.

Related Themes from Other Texts
Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…

Identity and Societal Expectations ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Identity and Societal Expectations appears in each chapter of Shuggie Bain. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
chapter length:
Get the entire Shuggie Bain LitChart as a printable PDF.
Shuggie Bain PDF

Identity and Societal Expectations Quotes in Shuggie Bain

Below you will find the important quotes in Shuggie Bain related to the theme of Identity and Societal Expectations.
Chapter One: 1992, The South Side Quotes

Shuggie tried to calm himself as he smoothed his hand over the mismatched sheets. He thought how his mother would have hated these bedclothes, the off colours and patterns, layered one upon the other as if he didn’t care what people would think. This mess would have hurt her pride. Someday he would save some money and buy new sheets of his own, soft and warm and all the same color.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:

His armpit was dusted in a fine lint, like baby duck feathers. He brought his nose to it; it smelled sweet and clean and of nothing at all. He pinched the skin and squeezed, milking the soft flesh till it flushed red with frustration; he sniffed his fingers again, nothing. Scrubbing at himself harder now, he repeated under his breath, “The Scottish Football League Results. Gers won 22, drew 14, lost 8, 58 points total. Aberdeen won 17, drew 21, lost 6, 55 points total. Motherwell won 14, drew 12, lost 10.”

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain (speaker), Eugene
Page Number: 11
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Two: 1981, Sighthill Quotes

He was a selfish animal, she knew that now in a dirty, sexual way that aroused her against her better nature…Big Shug Bain had seemed so shiny in comparison to the Catholic. He had been vain in the way only Protestants were allowed to be, conspicuous with his shallow wealth, flushed pink with gluttony and waste.

Lizzie had always known. When Agnes had shown up on the doorstep with her two eldest and the Protestant Taxi driver, she had had the instant compulsion to shut the door, but Wullie would not let her…They said it was wrong, to marry between the faiths, to marry outside the Chapel.

Related Characters: Agnes Bain, Shug Bain, Lizzie Campbell, Wullie Campbell
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Agnes Bain, Shug Bain
Related Symbols: Dancing
Page Number: 36
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain, Shug Bain
Related Symbols: Dancing
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:

Agnes used her free arm and pulled him tighter toward her. “Shhh. Now be a big boy for your mammy.” There was a dead calmness in her eyes.

The room turned golden. The flames climbed the synthetic curtains and started rushing towards the ceiling. Dark smoke raced up as though fleeing from the greedy fire. He would have been scared, but his mother seemed completely calm, and the room was never more beautiful…Agnes clung to him, and together they watched all this new beauty in silence.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:

“If you cannae make Shug do right by you, at least make him do right by the boy.” Lizzie narrowed her eyes at her grandson, at his blond dolly. “You’ll be needing that nipped in the bud. It’s no right.”

Related Characters: Lizzie Campbell (speaker), Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain, Shug Bain
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Three: 1982, Pithead Quotes

“Aye, ah took ye for a drinker.” She drew on her fag. “Aye, the minute ah saw ye, ah spotted it. They thought you were the big I Am, all done up in sequins, like some big dolly bird from the city. But ah could see through it. Ah could see the sadness, and ah knew ye had to be a big drinker.”

Related Characters: Bridie Donnelly (speaker), Agnes Bain
Page Number: 114
Explanation and Analysis:

As he climbed the stairs to the hallway he could hear her on the phone. “Fuck you, Joanie Micklewhite. You tell that whoremastering son of a Proddy bitch that he cannot have his cake and eat it too!” Each filthy syllable was enunciated with the alarming clarity of the Queen’s English. “You shitty, dick-sucking bastard. You are as plain and tasteless as the arse end of a white loaf.”

Related Characters: Agnes Bain (speaker), Shuggie Bain, Shug Bain, Joanie Micklewhite
Related Symbols: Agnes’s Phone
Page Number: 124
Explanation and Analysis:

It was still daylight, but there were harsh lights on in every room, and the curtains lay open in a shameful way. It was a very bad sign. In the front room Shuggie was idling between the net curtain and the glass. His palms and nose were pressed flat against the window, he was rocking his head back and forth in a soothing way, and no one was telling him to stop…Leek picked up his tool bag and turned away from the house.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain, Leek Bain
Related Symbols: House Exteriors
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:

“Well, first, never say common again. Wee boys shouldn’t talk like old women.” Leek hauched a wad of phlegm. “And you should try to watch how you walk. Try not to be so swishy. It only puts a target on your back…Don’t cross your legs when you walk. Try and make room for your cock.”

Related Characters: Leek Bain (speaker), Shuggie Bain
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:

“I can manage. I can fetch messages and make sure she goes to bed on time. Besides, Sister Nurse. You never answered my question. My mother told me that my grandaddy would be going to heaven soon, and I wanted to know if he had to get a bus or if we could take him in a black hackney?”

…“Och, son. It disnae really work like that. They don’t leave on a bus…when a person goes to heaven they don’t take their bodies wi’ them.”

…“So if your body doesn’t go to heaven, it doesn’t matter if another boy did something bad to it in a bin shed, right?”

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain (speaker), Wullie Campbell
Related Symbols: Black Cabs
Page Number: 180
Explanation and Analysis:

“That one is practically on call for the Greater Glasgow Taxi Livery.”

Agnes felt the sting of the words push into the bruises on her body. She lifted her mug anyway and nodded a sad acceptance of the award.

Jinty pulled the plastic bag from between her small feet and added, cruelly, “If you’re not a taxi driver, then this one’s not interested.”

Related Characters: Jinty McClinchy (speaker), Agnes Bain, Lamby
Related Symbols: Black Cabs
Page Number: 208
Explanation and Analysis:

Every small detail of the house told of what lay within. This evening the curtains were drawn tight against the cold and the lamps were on. His stomach lifted in hope. Shuggie opened the front door a crack, just enough so he could hear the hum of the house. He knew what to listen for.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain
Related Symbols: House Exteriors
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis:

“Well, you get a little bit stronger every day, but the drink is always there waiting. Doesn’t matter if you walk or run away from it, it’s still just right behind you, like a shadow. The trick is not to forget.”

…“I bet ye can master it,” he said plainly.

She looked up at him. “That’s why going to the meetings is important. You’ll never master it.”

…“Just wish I could have one with you. To feel normal.”

Related Characters: Agnes Bain (speaker), Eugene (speaker)
Related Symbols: Black Cabs
Page Number: 250
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Agnes Bain (speaker), Shuggie Bain, Eugene
Related Symbols: Dancing
Page Number: 261
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain (speaker), Agnes Bain (speaker), Colleen McAvennie
Related Symbols: Dancing
Page Number: 267
Explanation and Analysis:

She was so sure she was smiling up at Leek, so she didn’t know why her son would be so angry, why he was screaming down at her. All she understood was, he was hitting Eugene square in his thick neck with his fists. All she remembered was that another bedroom door opened, and there in the doorway was the little boy with the worried face of his own granny. His face was wet with disappointment. The front of his pyjamas was dark through with piss.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain, Leek Bain, Eugene
Related Symbols: Black Cabs
Page Number: 302
Explanation and Analysis:

With a slow hand, he pulled the back of Shuggie’s shirt from his tweed trousers and insidiously pushed his fat warm fingers down the back of Shuggie’s underpants. Without looking, Shuggie could tell the man was still smiling at him.

“Aye, you’re a funny wee fella, aren’t ye?”

Related Characters: Cab Driver (speaker), Shuggie Bain
Related Symbols: Black Cabs, Agnes’s Phone
Page Number: 316
Explanation and Analysis:

She strutted out a confident rhythmic clip and turned her head and said to the boy, “What would you like for dinner tonight?”

Shuggie looked up at his mother and did as he had been taught. “Roast chicken, please. I’m a bit tired of sirloin every other night.”

…The women said nothing as she passed, but she felt them draw their eyes over the coat, over the shoes and hair.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain (speaker), Agnes Bain (speaker), Colleen McAvennie
Page Number: 327
Explanation and Analysis:

“Ye come here to our wee scheme thinking yer some kind of big I Am. Walking around thinking yeese are better than the rest of us, with yer hairspray and yer handbag there…Ye and that funny wee boy try and rub oor noses in it, and the whole time yeese are lying in yer own piss and fucking other wummin’s men.”

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain
Page Number: 360
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Four: 1989, The East End Quotes

“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.

Related Characters: East End School Children (speaker), Shuggie Bain
Related Symbols: Dancing
Page Number: 378
Explanation and Analysis:

Her face changed then the worry fell away, and at last she looked at peace, softly carried away, deep in the drink.

It was too late to do something now.

…Shuggie arranged her hair as best he could. He tried to cover the brazen whiteness of roots, to arrange it just the way she liked to wear it. He unwrapped her dentures again and gently placed them back inside her mouth. Then, taking the toilet paper, he wiped the sick from her chin and pulled fresh paint across her lips, taking care to push the colour into the corners and stay neatly within the lines. He stood back and dried his eyes. She looked like she was only sleeping. Then he bent over and kissed her one last time.

Related Characters: Shuggie Bain, Agnes Bain
Page Number: 411
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Five: 1992, The South Side Quotes

“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.

Related Characters: Leanne Kelly (speaker), Shuggie Bain, Moira Kelly
Related Symbols: Dancing
Page Number: 430
Explanation and Analysis: