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.
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.
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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.
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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.
Get the entire Trainspotting LitChart as a printable PDF.
Spud Character Timeline in Trainspotting
The timeline below shows where the character Spud appears in Trainspotting. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Kicking
...she’d have to call him back later. Now, at the party, Nicola comes in, and Spud follows her. They start talking to Stevie, and before he knows it, he’s telling them...
(full context)
It Goes Without Saying. Rent Boy is hanging out with some friends, including Sick Boy, Spud, and Matty, when they hear a loud noise. Lesley comes into the room screaming about...
(full context)
Spud and Matty panic because they can’t call the police—the place is full of drugs. Sick...
(full context)
Speedy Recruitment. Spud and Rent Boy are at an American-themed pub. They talk about how they both have...
(full context)
Spud’s interview later in the afternoon gets off to a rougher start. Instead of lying or...
(full context)
Spud and Rent Boy meet at the pub afterward. Spud worries maybe he did too well...
(full context)
Relapsing
...is really cold because the only candle in the room has gone out. He finds Spud and complains about the cold, but Spud says nothing. Rent Boy figures Spud is probably...
(full context)
...him there, and he tells them the news about Granty. Across the bar, Lenny spots Spud, Tommy, and Second Prize, and he insults them as worthless junkies, unlike Granty, who valued...
(full context)
Kicking Again
Na Na and Other Nazis. Spud complains about the heat and about being low on cash. He’s walking around and happens...
(full context)
After leaving Begbie, Spud stops by the unemployment office to see Gav, his friend who works as a clerk...
(full context)
Eventually, Spud decides to go visit his grandmother, Na Na. Although Spud’s mother and sister do more...
(full context)
...some of Rent Boy’s other male relatives are at the pub, including his brother Billy. Spud and Dode talk briefly about Rent Boy with his father, before going off to their...
(full context)
...Skrewdriver T-shirt in the head. The rest of the Nazis try to corner Dode and Spud, but Spud backs up against a wall and tries to punch and kick them off....
(full context)
The First Shag in Ages. After a day of getting stoned, Spud and Rent Boy go to a nightclub to get drunk. After the high wears off,...
(full context)
As Rent Boy and Spud feel like some of the last ones in the nightclub who haven’t paired off yet,...
(full context)
...hair that he likes and watches another man try and fail to flirt with her. Spud goes over to talk to the woman’s friend, so Rent Boy goes over too. The...
(full context)
...taxi. In the taxi, Dianne complains about her friend, who is still hanging out with Spud and some other guy. Rent Boy learned from his past mistakes and tries to agree...
(full context)
...Recently, Begbie beat an American tourist so bad that the incident made local news. Now, Spud jumps every time he hears an American accent.
(full context)
...to pick a fight with some strangers. Sick Boy brings out some low-quality ecstasy, and Spud and the others all take it. While they’re high, they get the idea of trying...
(full context)
Spud knows about Rent Boy and Dianne but thinks Rent Boy won’t take advantage of these...
(full context)
...and starts freaking out, throwing a rock at it and telling everyone to kill it. Spud doesn’t like how Rent Boy is cruel to animals and thinks that Rent Boy resents...
(full context)
...Sick Boy doesn’t acknowledge the awkwardness and just jokingly insults Rent Boy. As they talk, Spud realizes that Dawn, like the squirrel, was also free and innocent. When Spud starts walking...
(full context)
Blowing It
Courting Disaster. Rent Boy and Spud are in court. The judge accuses them of stealing books from a bookstore to sell....
(full context)
...gives him a suspended sentence if he gets addiction treatment, allowing him to walk free. Spud, however, will have to serve six months in prison. Rent Boy passes Spud and apologizes...
(full context)
...Sick Boy make fun of Rent Boy as a momma’s boy. All of a sudden, Spud’s mother comes over and starts accusing Rent Boy of being the reason Spud is headed...
(full context)
...almost everyone he knows, Rent Boy feels alone. People at the pub start reminiscing about Spud. Begbie happens to notice June at the pub and gets mad at her for leaving...
(full context)
...Boy figures Billy’s death is good for him because it makes other people more sympathetic. Spud and Tommy are there; Spud looks clean, but Tommy looks pale and wasted, a total...
(full context)
...being disrespectful. 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...
(full context)
Exile
...Goes Out. A group of people high on drugs enter a bar. The group includes Spud, Begbie, Rent Boy, Alison, and Kelly. They all drink while Kelly flirts with Rent Boy....
(full context)
Spud wants to have sex. He’s been thinking recently about Nicola, who looks a little like...
(full context)
...to hear about that, but he simply says he doesn’t like the taste of meat. Spud figures Rent Boy is doing the right thing for the wrong reason with his vegetarianism.
(full context)
...Rent Boy and Kelly leave after a drink. Several drinks later, Alison says she’d like Spud to come stay with her for a while because she doesn’t want to be alone....
(full context)
Home
Easy Money for the Professionals. Begbie makes Spud promise to keep a secret, not even telling Rent Boy. Spud and Begbie take a...
(full context)
There’s a knock at the door. Begbie and Spud fear it’s the police, but it’s just a short young guy who helped with the...
(full context)
Memories of Matty. Begbie, Rent Boy, Spud, Alison, and others have all gathered for Matty’s funeral. At a small chapel connected to...
(full context)
Several people at the funeral recall their memories of Matty. Spud remembers how when Matty was stoned, he used to watch Australian soap operas. Alison remembers...
(full context)
At the pub, Spud tries to defend Sick Boy for missing Matty’s funeral, saying Sick Boy is in France,...
(full context)
Still the pub, Rent Boy goes over to join a conversation between Spud and Alison. Spud says he’s attended way too many funerals for someone his age. He...
(full context)
Exit
Station to Station. Begbie, Rent Boy, Second Prize, and Spud wait for a bus, with Begbie holding an Adidas bag. They have big plans, and...
(full context)
...attention that Begbie might draw if he gets violent. Even more worrying is how high Spud and Rent Boy seem to be. Spud in particular can be clumsy and might mess...
(full context)
Sick Boy complains privately to Begbie that Rent Boy and Spud broke their promise to stay clean for the job. Begbie senses that Sick Boy is...
(full context)
...talk to now that Sick Boy has left. Rent Boy pretends to sleep and wakes Spud up so that he’ll be stuck with Begbie. Begbie keeps talking until the bus reaches...
(full context)
...they were growing apart. The only one Rent Boy really feels bad about hurting is Spud, who never hurts anyone (other than occasionally robbing them to support his heroin addiction). On...
(full context)
