'Corrupted Bodies': The Relationship between Power, Corruption, and Illness in Irvine Welsh’s Filth

Anthony May

doi:10.16995/ddl.279

Abstract

Irvine Welsh’s (1998) novel Filth is an exploration of the nature of corruption. The novel examines physical corruption, and discusses mental illness as a factor that affects the decline of the physical body. Welsh also discusses institutional corruption and depicts racism, homophobia, sexism, and sectarianism as prevalent within Scottish state institutions. The novel presents the pursuit of power as the root cause of corruption in the individual, and in the society which they live in. In Filth , the main protagonist, Bruce Robertson, is symbolic of the link between personal, institutional, and societal corruption. His pursuit of power over other people leads him to behave in ways that are destructive to himself and to others. His idolisation of Margaret Thatcher is a key factor within this; he perceives Thatcher to have pursued absolute power, and he follows her example. In common with much of Welsh’s other work, Filth is critical of neo-liberalism, and portrays British government policy in the contemporary era as defined by corrupt ideals and methods.

Highlights

Covering the period 1979-1998, Irvine Welsh’s Novel Filth depicts endemic corruption within Scotland’s police force
The novel shows the corrupt behaviour that became the norm within Scottish institutions, and within the British government, which those institutions serve
It is suggested that the corruption depicted was a consequence of the individualism that marked the ideology of the period

Summary

Introduction

Covering the period 1979-1998, Irvine Welsh’s Novel Filth depicts endemic corruption within Scotland’s police force. Like many of his colleagues, Robertson is racist, sexist, and homophobic, and he utilises his membership of the Freemasons to avoid criminal charges related to his violence and drug abuse He suffers from a number of physical and mental problems which Welsh presents as being a consequence of his corrupt mind-set. It is clear that the term is not used lightly, and the novel suggests the existence of ‘filthy’, corrupt methods and beliefs within the Lothian and Borders Police Force, which is presented as representative of all the major public institutions in Scotland during the 1980s and 1990s. The following investigation will begin with an examination of Robertson’s corruption in terms of physical and mental health, before moving on to analyse the other forms of corruption described in the novel These are all interrelated, and include political corruption, institutional corruption, ‘filthy’ points of view regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious background, and a wider societal corruption involving all these various factors. The relationship between the various forms of corruption will be discussed; Welsh presents power as the ultimate corrupting variable, and the pursuit of absolute power as the source of most corrupt behaviour

Physical and mental corruption in Filth

Personal and political corruption in Filth

Filth and Scottish politics

Conclusion

Works Cited