Filth (novel)

Filth

Author	Irvine Welsh
Language	English, Scots
Genre	Crime novel
Publisher	Vintage Press
Publication date	1998
Publication place	Scotland
Media type	Print (Paperback & Hardback)
Pages	393 pp
ISBN	0-09-928429-4
OCLC	67804913
Followed by	Crime

Filth is a novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. A sequel, Crime, was published in 1998.

Plot summary

The plot centres on Bruce Robertson, a Scottish police officer. He is a sex-obsessed, misanthropic man driven by his intense hatred. He is a cocaine addict with a penchant for "the games" — Bruce's euphemism for the myriad foul plots he hatches directed at workmates — and sexual abuse of the women in his life. The novel begins with a murder, which is the case that Bruce Robertson is investigating; however, the natural evolution of the plot itself has little or nothing at all to do with the crime. The plot traces Bruce throughout his life, told from a first-person perspective. Through narrative devices such as the tapeworm he acquires, we get to explore the facets of Bruce's personality and learn about his past, through the various tedious police routines Bruce absconds from, his sexual endeavours eventually backfiring, and his various short or long-termed schemes and plots against his colleagues in order to raise his chances of gaining the hoped-for promotion to Detective Inspector.

In an example of a rather short-term scheme, at the police station's Christmas party Bruce first waits for a female colleague he calls "Size Queen" to get drunk, and then proposes a game in order to have sex with her.

A longer-term scheme, and also a major sub-plot, is the harassing phone calls Bruce directs at the wife of his friend, Clifford "Bladesy" Blades: Bunty Blades. By imitating the voice of British celebrity Frank Sidebottom to call Bunty up and ask vulgar questions, Bruce manages to drive a wedge between her and "Bladesy". After ingratiating himself with Bunty by playing the role of a concerned friend, Bruce manages to trick Clifford Blades into imitating the selfsame voice in a message left to his answering machine, which serves to portray him as Bunty's perverted caller - which Bruce, of course, "reveals" to Bunty. Bruce enters into a purely sexual relationship with Bunty Blades after feigning romantic interest, whilst "Bladesy" is arrested.

Apart from the general malevolent scheming, along the way Bruce Robertson also seeks to satisfy his cravings for violence, drugs, sex, and pornography whilst happily voicing his racism, sectarianism and misogyny and pining for his ex-wife.

Eventually Bruce is forced into taking leave due to injuries he suffers while dressed as his ex-wife, leading to the revelation that he committed the racially-motivated murder that is the main plot, and that the colleagues he so despised — particularly his boss Bob Toal — knew of this, and were protecting him all along. The book ends with Bruce committing suicide in order to claim revenge on his divorced wife, Carole.

Plot devices

Language

Welsh's style of writing involves interpreting the Scottish accent into writing; the use of Scottish slang, and dialectical spelling to reflect the enunciation of the word (e.g. "tae" is "to", "dae" is "do"). Also, the protagonist makes use of rhyming slang, like in "Sherman tank" - wank; Roger Moore - whore, and so on.

Themes

In Filth, Welsh deals with drug abuse, sexism, discrimination, racism, pornography, prostitution and alcohol abuse, among other problems faced by the Scottish working class.

Carole

Carole, Bruce's ex-wife and the mother of his child, Stacey, is a device Welsh uses to reflect an outsider's view of Bruce Robertson's character; certain chapters only involve Carole's inner monologue related to Bruce. It later transpires that it is, in fact Bruce fantasising while dressed as Carole.

The Tapeworm

At a certain point in the book, the narrative starts to be interrupted by a tube-like structure that appears on top of the text, and at first is only made of the word "eat" being repeated amid the zeros that fill the empty space within the tube. It is later revealed that this is actually the thoughts of the tapeworm growing inside Bruce's intestines.

At first, the tapeworm only encourages Bruce to eat. Later, after becoming self-aware (and naming itself "The Self"), the tapeworm starts to ask basic existential questions and names Bruce as "The Host". It also stumbles upon the existence of other worms (collectively named by the initial worm as "The Other").

The tapeworm's monologue, towards the end of the story, is used to explain the way Bruce turned into the person presented in the book; explaining the events of his past, producing monologue about Bruce's true feelings, and completing the cycle of his life with him.

An example of what is revealed about Bruce by the worm is that Bruce grew up in a housing scheme (ironic as he often expresses his hatred for "schemies" throughout the book), his first love (a girl named Rhona), and that Bruce killed his younger brother, Stevie Robertson, by aiding the collapse of a mountain of coal, burying Stevie. Another example, that relates back to an earlier point in the book, where Bruce and Ray Lennox visit the home of "Ocky", telling him the story of "The Beast" - a prisoner in HM Prison Saughton, kept in solitary confinement for his and others' safety - in order to intimidate him for information. It is thus revealed by the worm that "the Beast" is in fact Bruce's father, having raped Bruce's mother.

References to other Irvine Welsh novels

Alex "Lexo" Setterington - The protagonist, Bruce, references the violent rape that Lexo and his gang of football hooligans committed in Marabou Stork Nightmares.

"Ghostie" Gorman - Ghostie was among the rapists mentioned above. He was also a key character in Marabou Stork Nightmares. In Filth however, Bruce kills Gorman by biting out his tongue, causing him to reel backwards and fall out of a two-story window, where he suffers fatal head injuries.

Francis Begbie - Begbie was a main character in both Trainspotting and Porno. He is briefly mentioned a few times in Filth, associated with Lexo as running a second-hand furniture store in Leith. Mention of the business Begbie and Lexo are in is not made in Trainspotting, and only came to light in Welsh's 2002 novel, Porno.

Other minor characters mentioned in passing throughout Filth include: Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson (from Trainspotting and Porno), "Juice" Terry Lawson (from Glue and Porno), Danny "Spud" Murphy (from Trainspotting and Porno), and "Post" Alec Connolly, a recurring character in Glue.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of Filth is currently underway and is currently scheduled for release in 2012. It is to be directed by Jon S. Baird, from a script he co-wrote with Irvine Welsh. As of 16 May 2011, the film is in pre-production. Some cast members have credited, including British actors Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Gary Lewis (Gangs of New York) and Martin Compston (Sweet Sixteen). So far (as of 23 May 2011), there has been no indication as to which characters will be played by whom.