Scottish Dialect
The most obvious and prevalent use of imagery in the book is the thick Scottish dialect. This technique enforces a sensory perception upon the reader whether they are familiar with the patois or not. Chosen completely at random, try this on for size:
“It wis soon time fir us tae go. Johnny wis gabbin a load ay shite intae ma ear; things ah didnae want tae listen tae.”
This phonetic representation of the Scottish accent spoken by the characters works both ways. For natives, it likely presents little difficulty working out and so the imagery creates a national bond of sorts. For those who may actually even need to put open the captions while watching the film adaptation just to understand the actors, the imagery has the opposite effect: it creates an immediate sense of foreignness while at the same time forcing the serious reader to pay closer attention to each word than one might otherwise.
Space for Rent
Even though Mark Renton narrates half the chapters in first person, only Sick Boy gets mentioned by name more often and not by much at that. The reader knows why Sick Boy is called that because the nickname is directly addressed: he’s a sick dude. That “Renton” pops up so often even though Renton is himself narrating so much of the tale must serve a purpose, then. Think about his last name as a verb spelled slightly different and apply the definition of that verb to his lifestyle and the turn of the plot. There is imagery in the revelation.
Let's Go Out and Spot Some Trains
There is only one brief mention of trainspotting in the book and the scene did not survive the transition to film. This makes the title an excellent example of how imagery can often work best by not working too much. What is trainspotting, exactly? Doesn’t really matter since it has no bearing on the story, but suffice to say that it is what is and a hardy band of comrades enjoy the experience to no end and for those who don’t enjoy it the entire point of trainspotting an see utterly absent. Kind of like shooting up heroin.
Drug Abuse
The second most obvious and prevalent use of imagery in the book is the plethora of almost hallucinatory prose detailing procurement and use of heroin and the repetitive art of kicking it. Many books about addiction are often accused of glamorizing the act. This is not the case with Trainspotting. Anyone delves into the quite graphic imagery of advanced heroin addiction outlined here who is immediately compelled to go out and try to recreate it already has some very serious problems so far beyond reasoning that no book in the world could likely be the deciding factor that sends them over the edge. Simply put: the imagery here is virulently anti-drug abuse.
