Being a coming-of-age novel, we can clearly see the development of Stephen as a character and as a human being. In particular, I want to point out the transition of Stephen from an innocent child just trying to understand the world into a brooding edge-lord. In the first chapter, one of Stephen's defining traits as a character is that he is an outcast. He watches the fellows play rugby, and even when he himself is participating, he still avoids the ball and only observes. The same can be seen when he interacts with the older kids; he has no idea what's going on when they ask him questions such as the classic "What does your dad do because my dad could totally beat up your dad," or the good old "Do you kiss your mom" mind-game which only a regular Sun-Tzu could think of. In the second chapter I find it cool that Stephen has embraced this trait not as a flaw in his personality, but rather a defining trait he is proud of. During the party he sits in the cor