Why didn't they split the money up?
Why didn't Begbie just take the £2,000 of his share and call it a day instead of leaving at £16,000 in the bag for someone to take it all (SPOILER: Like Renton ended up doing)?
shareWhy didn't Begbie just take the £2,000 of his share and call it a day instead of leaving at £16,000 in the bag for someone to take it all (SPOILER: Like Renton ended up doing)?
shareThat's actually a damn good question. It never occurred to me, but yeah, I see no reason why they shouldn't have done that. Me, I'd have went straight to the bank, never mind the bloody pub.
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I disagree. Sick Boy certainly would have done it -- Renton even says SB would have done exactly what he did if he had thought of it first. But Welsh wrote the character Begbie as a deranged psychopath who terrorizes his friends but also has his own twisted sense of ethics and believes strongly in his own brand of loyalty.
shareI agree with you. Begbie was the one protecting the money. I bet he also was planning on taking all of it. Just waiting for the right moment to do it. My guess is he would wait for someone to do something stupid, turn that into an argument, say that idiotic thing was justification for him to take the money, and threaten to kill them if anyone disagreed. In that situation not one of them would have stopped him and he knew it. He just needed the right moment so he can build up whatever reason would feel right to him. He feels superior to all of them so he needs to invent some reason to take the money no matter how flimsy.
As for the bank, Begbie is a wanted man. He could not make a bet earlier in the movie. He has to be careful about where he goes and what he does. A bank teller will probably not recognize him but there is a chance. Besides, I bet Begbie never had a bank account in his life. He is on the run and will use the money to pay for cheap places to stay and to keep drunk. Try to find people to bully into taking care of him.
Also, remember that Begbie was the only one of them who didn't do drugs (other than alcohol). I have not read the book but, as I understand the story, an underlying theme is the moral rot and nihilism that travel along with the dope. Whether he would or would not have stolen the money, Begbie certainly knew what the others were capable of.