Rewi

Rewi is a character in Lauren Keenan’s short story “The School of Life”. He is a boy who used to be Marcus’s childhood friend, which means they are likely around the same age – late teens to early twenties. 

Marcus describes him as “a young man with a shaggy mane” (l. 39) who is wearing a T-shirt that Marcus would wear and otherwise clean clothes (ll. 49-50). When he thinks about what Rewi was like when they were kids, Marcus remembers he was always dirty and wished to be a fireman (ll. 43-44).

Rewi comes from a poor household, and his family situation contrasts with Marcus’s. Rewi’s family is likely working-class, and he implies that he has not seen his father in a long time, likely after his father left the family (l. 80-81). He also says that if he...