Choose Life

Throughout the film, Mark Renton talks about "choosing life" versus choosing his current lifestyle: the drug culture. Renton spends most of his life searching for his next high. Without the drugs, he has no real existence. The other characters display the same dependency on drugs. Eventually, the baby in their apartment dies because the drugs have consumed their lives so much that everyone forgot to care for the child.

Although Renton does talk about "life" in a rather cynical, sarcastic manner (the dentist bills, the game shows, the bills), he increasingly realizes that even the bad parts of others' lives are better than the best parts of his. After breaking off from his friends, Renton embarks on a life of his own creation, which he plans to pursue on his own terms rather than those offered by his friends, his dealers and his drug habit.

Free Yourself From Drugs