Tommy Character Analysis in Trainspotting

Tommy is an old friend of Rent Boy’s and also a friend of Davie Mitchell. At the beginning of the story, he does almost every drug but stays away from heroin. He and his girlfriend Lizzy split up after Tommy turns down seeing a movie with her to go to an Iggy Pop concert instead. Depressed after the breakup, Tommy asks Rent Boy for some heroin. Somewhat reluctantly, Rent Boy gives it to him, and Tommy soon becomes addicted. By the end of the story, Tommy is HIV positive and seems unlikely to last through the winter. Tommy’s situation represents the consequences of heroin use and causes Rent Boy to reconsider both his own actions and the nature of his relationships with his friends.

Tommy Quotes in Trainspotting

The Trainspotting quotes below are all either spoken by Tommy or refer to Tommy. 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:

The train was nearly twenty minutes late, an excellent performance by British Rail standards. Stevie wondered whether she’d be on it. Paranoia hit him. Waves of fear shuddered through his body. The stakes were high, the highest ever. He couldn’t see her, couldn’t even picture her in his mind’s eye. Then she was almost upon him, different to how he thought of her, more real, even more beautiful. It was the smile, the look of emotion reciprocated. He ran the short distance to her and held her in his arms. They kissed for a long time. When they stopped, the platform was deserted and the train was well on its way to Dundee.

Related Characters: , , ,

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 50

Explanation and Analysis:

Ah sing out, a twisting, pogo–ing mass of rubber. Iggy Pop looks right at me as he sings the line: ‘America takes drugs in psychic defence’; only he changes ‘America’ for ‘Scatlin’, and defines us mair accurately in a single sentence than all the others have ever done.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 75

Explanation and Analysis:

—It’s also a fuckin good kick.

Tommy looks at us. —Gies a go. Gies a hit.

—Fuck off Tommy.

—Ye sais it’s a good kick. Ah pure wantae try it.

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker)

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 90

Explanation and Analysis:

He wis ma felly. Ye eywis think it’ll be different, thit ye kin change. Thum, thit ye kin make a difference.

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker), , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 221

Explanation and Analysis:

“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: (speaker), , ,

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 239

Explanation and Analysis:

Tommy looks well. It’s terrifying. He’s gaunny die. Sometime between the next few weeks and next fifteen years, Tommy will be no more. The chances are that ah’ll be exactly the same. The difference is, we ken this wi Tommy.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 314

Explanation and Analysis:

Tommy Character Timeline in Trainspotting

The timeline below shows where the character Tommy appears in Trainspotting. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Sex, Libido, and Gender Norms Theme Icon

Her Man. Second Prize and Tommy are at a pub when suddenly, a curly-haired man in the pub punches a woman.... (full context)

...man and woman keep arguing. The man seems ready to hit the woman again, so Tommy intervenes to tell him to cool it. The man starts arguing with Tommy, so Tommy... (full context)

Tommy and Second Prize eventually leave the pub, cursing everyone in it. Second Prize feels queasy... (full context)

Scotland Takes Drugs In Psychic Defense. Tommy has the choice between buying his girlfriend, Lizzy, a birthday present or buying Iggy Pop... (full context)

The night before the Iggy Pop concert, Tommy invites Rent Boy over to watch Chuck Norris videos. The next day, he goes to... (full context)

As Tommy gets high, he loses track of what’s going on. Davie Mitchell says something about money,... (full context)

As it turns out, it’s not the landlord but Tommy at the door, shouting through the mail slot. Rent Boy shoots up in his penis... (full context)

Back in the present, Tommy, who uses other drugs but isn’t a heroin user, asks Rent Boy what it’s like... (full context)

Tommy says he wants a hit of heroin. Rent Boy refuses, but Tommy insists. The two... (full context)

Davie figures out it’s Sunday. He remembers that yesterday, he, Tommy, Rent Boy, and some other friends went to a big soccer match. There, they did... (full context)

...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 life.... (full context)

...the Apes. Sick Boy says if Rent Boy is so righteous, why did he get Tommy into heroin? Rent Boy feels like Tommy had a choice but doesn’t say so. Just... (full context)

...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 role reversal... (full context)

...for 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... (full context)

...Davie Mitchell himself isn’t. He thinks of Rent Boy, a friend of Davie Mitchell’s friend Tommy, and how Rent Boy has somehow been using needles for years without getting HIV. The... (full context)

...the pub. Suddenly, Begbie gets more serious and asks if Rent Boy has heard that Tommy’s sick. Rent Boy says he’s heard and is already planning to visit Tommy. (full context)

...Boy is a great guy and no one should blame him for selling heroin to Tommy, implying that earlier Second Prize was blaming Rent Boy. In exchange for the compliment, Rent... (full context)

Winter in West Granton. Tommy looks healthy, even though his HIV diagnosis means he’ll likely die sometime in the next... (full context)

Tommy gets angry at Rent Boy, saying Rent Boy has shared needles with many people but... (full context)

Rent Boy realizes that Tommy’s apartment is so run down that it probably doesn’t get much heat—Tommy might not even... (full context)

Everything you needfor every book you read.

Everything you need for every book you read.

Everything you need for every book you read.

Tommy Character Analysis

Tommy Quotes in Trainspotting

Tommy Character Timeline in Trainspotting

Everything you need
for every book you read.