When a story focuses on the growth of a character from youth to adulthood it's called <em>"coming of age"</em>; <em>"The Exercise"</em>, a story writen by Irish author Bernard MacLaverty, narrates the life of Kevin which develops between both school and home experiences and between his father and his school teacher's interactions, both forging his character and helping him mature.
It helps develop the theme because with the teacher being strict Kevin no longer tries to get answers from his father and listens to the teacher and Kevin learns from it.
