Example Of Essay On “Filth” By Irvine Welsh: From Disgust To Compassion

Scottish author Irvine Welsh wrote his “Filth” in 1998 and this novel caused resonance among writers, critics, and readers as well due to its strongly marked brutality, hyperbolized cynicism, and sometimes antipathetic straightness. The main hero, Bruce Robinson, is a policeman in Edinburgh who seeks to get a promotion and become Detective Inspector. He is misanthropic man who is involved in promiscuous sexual relationships; the “hero” spends most of his time indulging in alcohol and drug abuse; and being a hypocritical man, Bruce does not respect his friends, authorities, and women. Along with the presentation of Bruce’s abusive behavior, Welsh gradually reveals the reasons of such hero’s attitudes towards life and people – Bruce is madly in love with his ex-wife Carol, he misses his daughter Stacey, and deeply suffers because he understands that his life is miserable and pathetic. In “Filth”, Welsh continues his challenge to high art: with its amorality, book causes disgust and expresses an aesthetic degradation; however, Welsh’s “Filth” arouses compassion for the main hero as well, and this is the biggest contradiction of the novel.
In order to evaluate “Filth” as an artwork, the aesthetic criteria should be considered. The distinctive feature of this book is that it is full of obscene speeches and abusive language; it is vulgar and rude, offensive and nasty; the cynicism of the main hero often turns into hatred against all people around, and his sociopathy often ends with the immoral acts. From start to finish, the author filled his novel with filth and there is no place for beauty or something gorgeous. “Filth” will never be the part of high art: an abundance of swear words, chapters on behalf of the tapeworm that is growing inside the main hero’s intestine, and the motives of Bruce’s actions have nothing in common with beauty, greatness, or magnificence. Irvine Welsh sought to create the low literature, with its vices and sins, and he made it perfect.
In this sense, “Filth” should be considered out of the context of beauty; conversely, this novel is a perfect image of “other” art – challenging, conflicting, and mind-blowing. The image of the main hero harmoniously connected with the representation of gloomy Scotland with its corruption, lawlessness, and illegality. While immersing themselves in a filth story, the readers get a vivid imagination of hopeless and lonely world, lost generation, and unhappy people who forget about faith and love; who prefer to use drugs, drink alcohol, and have brutal sexual relationships. The book images pessimistic mood as well as it does not stimulate to perform good deeds; what is more, it shocks by the cruel representation of the world we live in.
Therefore, the author’s aim to show another side of life with its immorality and cynicism (even if he describes it in hyperbolized form) made him create such picture of our world that evokes the feelings of sadness and sorrow. Welsh here observes the best traditions of tragicomedy: Bruce often laughs at himself, at people around, at the Scottish systems of government, law, working class; however, the readers understand that indeed the lifelong sadness, woe, and emptiness hide under this ironic and sarcastic laugh. In addition, in this novel, the author continues his writing traditions: he uses Scottish English (especially Edinburgh dialect and Scottish slangs), describes the life in Scotland, reveals the themes of racism, sexism, drug and alcohol addiction, free sexual relationships, and depraved lifestyle. Irvine Welsh wrote “Filth” in his authentic author’s manner and style: here, he continues to surprise the readers with excessive straightness, absence of censorship, intimate details, and brute truth about the real world.
Nonetheless, “Filth” evokes contradictory feelings of disgust and compassion. By the end of the novel, an impressionable reader will feel aversion and antipathy because his aesthetic sensibilities will be hurt, his imagination of beautiful world with kind and fair people in it will be destroyed. However, the readers should evaluate and perceive this book more deeply and consciously; they need to see that more profound and significant idea is hidden under the massive stream of Bruce’s abusive words, immoral deeds, and his misanthropic life. This idea lies in Bruce’s great sorrow and sufferings; it expresses his misery and shows how pathetic he is.

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