Shuggie Bain

Agnes’s alcoholism proves to be her downfall. While it wrecks her life and eventually kills her, her addiction has a damaging impact on her family. How do her family members respond to her addiction? Who is impacted the most?

What role does dancing play in Shuggie’s life? What connection does it have to his identity and expression?

The economic downturn for the working class in an era of deindustrialization heavily informs the social fabric of Shuggie’s Glasgow. How do the effects of deindustrialization affect the citizens of the areas where Agnes and Shuggie live (Sighthill, Pithead, East End, The South Side)?

Shuggie Bain has been critically praised as an unflinching love letter to Glasgow, not shying away from its faults. How does Stuart portray the city? What aspects of the novel demonstrate its regionalism?

According to George from Alcoholics Anonymous, the lament of Saint Agnes is, “I am on fire. I do not burn” (230). How does he extend this lament to be a metaphor for the suffering that alcoholics face? How can this be applied to Agnes’s life and death?

For most of the novel, Shuggie and Leek care for Agnes; their relationship with their mother underscores their relationship with each other. Examine Shuggie and Leek’s relationship. How do they help each other survive in a broken home?

Shuggie suffers as a queer individual in a homophobic society. What kind of abuse does Shuggie suffer? How does it inform his character? Is he able to overcome the way he is treated?

Agnes is never satisfied with her life; nothing is ever enough for her, not even Shuggie, who tries to be everything for her. Based on the evidence in the text, what is the cause of this attitude? Is Agnes’s dissatisfaction primarily intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?