Davie Mitchell is a resident of Leith who is friends with Tommy and peripherally knows Rent Boy and some of his other friends. Davie Mitchell doesn’t use heroin, and perhaps as a result, the sections of the novel he narrates are often more self-contained than some of the other sections. Despite abstaining from heroin, Davie still lives a fairly reckless life, at one point getting blackout drunk and creating a huge mess at his girlfriend Gail’s house. Later, Davie contracts HIV, leading him to enact a long revenge plot against Venters, the man who indirectly gave Davie HIV. Davie seems like a respectable man on the surface, and so his shocking stories represent the dark side lurking underneath polite Scottish society.
Davie Mitchell Quotes in Trainspotting
The Trainspotting quotes below are all either spoken by Davie Mitchell or refer to Davie Mitchell. 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:
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Exile
Quotes
“I always find the term ‘opportunistic infection’ amusing. In our culture, it seems to invoke some admirable quality. I think of the ‘opportunism’ of the entrepreneur who spots a gap in the market, or that of the striker in the penalty box. Tricky buggers, those opportunistic infections.”
Related Characters:
Davie Mitchell (speaker), Venters , Tommy, Rent Boy
Related Symbols:
Heroin
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Trainspotting LitChart as a printable PDF.
Davie Mitchell Character Timeline in Trainspotting
The timeline below shows where the character Davie Mitchell appears in Trainspotting. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Relapsing
...night, he has to mention that he already has tickets to see Iggy Pop with Davie Mitchell that night.
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As Tommy gets high, he loses track of what’s going on. Davie Mitchell says something about money, and Tommy thinks he sounds angry. The next thing Tommy...
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Traditional Sunday Breakfast. Davie Mitchell wakes up in a strange bed full of his own vomit, urine, and excrement....
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Davie figures out it’s Sunday. He remembers that yesterday, he, Tommy, Rent Boy, and some other...
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In the present, Gail knocks on the door to the room where Davie Mitchell’s staying. She says Davie Mitchell seemed really upset. She notices the soiled covers. She...
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Gail’s mother tells Davie Mitchell she’ll just wash the sheets. Davie Mitchell tries to protest, but she insists and...
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Blowing It
...asks if Rent Boy’s addiction has anything to do with the death of his brother (Davie Renton, not Billy), since Rent Boy started taking heroin shortly afterward.
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...connecting with other students. Dr. Forbes returns to the subject of Rent Boy’s dead brother, Davie Renton, who was totally paralyzed and could only blink and swallow. Rent Boy admits he...
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...his mother feels guilty and sees similarities between Rent Boy’s situation and the death of Davie Renton.
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...convince his Ma to give him some Valium, which she got a prescription for after Davie Renton’s death. She feels like she’s an expert in addiction after kicking her own Valium...
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...Rent Boy decides to get a ride back to the house with Tommy, Spud, and Davie Mitchell, who drop Rent Boy off and don’t come inside. Inside, Rent Boy’s mother is...
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Exile
Bad Blood. Davie Mitchell meets a man named Alan Venters at his HIV support group. Venters doesn’t stay...
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Most members of Davie Mitchell’s HIV support group are drug users. Davie Mitchell himself isn’t. He thinks of Rent...
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Davie Mitchell thinks back on his encounters with Venters at the support group. During an early...
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Davie Mitchell remembers how Venters always acted like he was immortal during support group meetings. Davie...
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Davie Mitchell keeps thinking about how he went to visit Venters in hospice care several times,...
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In his hospice talks with Venters, Davie Mitchell learns that one of the only people in the world Venters cares about was...
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One day, right as Venters condition is sharply declining, Davie Mitchell volunteers to help Frances by babysitting Kevin. The Wednesday before babysitting, Davie Mitchell goes...
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On the Saturday that Davie Mitchell is babysitting, he brings some sharp tools from his toolbox. Frances goes out to...
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After developing the photos, Davie Mitchell goes to visit Venters at the hospice. Venters is happy to see him, but...
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Davie Mitchell then pulls out his photos to show Venters. The first photos reveal him and...
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Later, Davie Mitchell goes to Venters’s funeral, and the minister gives a short speech because he has...
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Time passes, and Davie Mitchell and Frances break up. Davie Mitchell ends up back with the woman who initially...
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