Freak the Mighty

Freak the Mighty is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was l Max the Mighty in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, very slow, but kind-hearted boy, and Kevin Avery, nicknamed “Freak,” who is physically crippled but very intelligent. (In the film, Kevin's last name was changed to Dillon.) Kevin is diagnosed with Morquio syndrome. At the end of the book is Freak's Dictionary of words.^[1]

The novel was adapted for the screen under the title The Mighty by Charles Leavitt; the film was shot in Toronto, Canada and Cincinnati, Ohio, and directed by Peter Chelsom, and released in 1998.^[2]

Plot

Many years after his times in Daycare, Maxwell Kane, narrating the book, has failed seventh grade twice in Middle School when he finds out that Freak (Kevin Avery), his only buddy from Daycare, is moving into the house next door with his mother, Gwen Avery (the Fair Guinevere). Freak has Morquio syndrome and wears leg braces and uses crutches and is two feet (0.6 meters) tall and thinks of himself as a robot since he was crippled. After Maxwell helps Freak get his toy bird out of the tree, they become best friends again. They name themselves "Freak the Mighty" when Freak starts to ride on Maxwell's shoulders, they equal nine feet (three meters) tall. In a part of this story Max gets kidnapped by his dad (Killer Kane) and Freak comes to rescue him with a water gun and they ended up getting away and Killer Kane was arrested. On Freak's 13th birthday, he, sadly, has a seizure and is taken to the hospital. Max later finds out Freak died because his heart got too big for his body. Max refuses to come out of the "Down Under", missing Freak's funeral and other events. In the end, Loretta Lee tells Max "nothing is a drag, kid" and Max pulls out an empty book that Kevin gave him before he died and Max writes "Freak the Mighty."

Characters

• Maxwell "Max" Kane is the main character and narrator of the story. He is described to be very big and have a striking resemblance to his father, Kenneth (Killer) Kane. In day care, Max earned the nickname "Kicker" because he had a thing of booting and kicking anyone who dared to touch him, when he was a child. Max lives with his grandparents, Grim and Gram, and usually stays in "The Down Under", a small room in the basement. He hates his father, whom he witnessed killing his mother, Annie. He becomes best friends with Freak, who customarily rides on his shoulders and acts as Max's surrogate "brain". Max becomes depressed after Freak dies, locking himself in The Down Under for days.

• Kevin "Freak" Avery is a crippled, blonde haired boy whom Max becomes best friends with. Kevin has Morquio syndrome, where the outside of his body is unable to grow. He walks on crutches and wears a leg brace. He is very intelligent for his age and size and carries a dictionary with him. He is interested in Robotics and the tales of King Arthur, to the extent of calling his his mother Gwen "The Fair Gwen/Guinevere of Air" and calling his adventures with Max "quests". Kevin looks forward to his surgery (which Max finds out was a lie so Max wouldn't know the truth), in which he will gain a robot's body. Unexpectedly on his 13th birthday, Kevin has a seizure. In the hospital, unfortunately, he dies because, as his doctor put it, "his heart became too big for his body."

• Grim is Maxwell's grandfather. He is usually pretty grim, thus explaining why Maxwell gave him the nickname, although in reality he is a pretty friendly person. He dislikes Max's father because of what he did to Grim's daughter, Annie. In the book, Grim decides to shoot Kenneth if he sets foot in the house, after hearing that Kenneth has been released from jail. At first, Grim feels sorry for Kevin, but later, he appreciates Kevin's abilities and intelligence.

• Gram is Maxwell's grandmother. Like her husband, she also dislikes Kenneth and misses her daughter, Annie. Gram is really kind and polite, careful not to hurt anyone's feelings. She protests against shooting Kenneth once Grim announces to do so.

• Gwen "Fair Gwen" Avery is Kevin's beautiful and kind mother. Kevin nicknames her "Fair Gwen of Air" after King Arthur's beautiful wife, Fair Guinevere. After her son's death, Gwen moves to California and starts a relationship with a man named Rick.

• Kenneth "Kenny" David Kane is Maxwell's father. He was sent to jail for strangling his wife to death. After his release on parole, Kenny kidnaps Maxwell on Christmas Eve and takes him to Loretta and Iggy's apartment Loretta Lee tries saving Max but ends up getting strangled by Kenneth, though she survives. Eventually Kevin rescues Max by spraying a mixture of soap, vinegar and curry powder in Kenny's eyes, which he claimed was sulfuric acid. In the end he ends up going to jail.

• Loretta Lee is a thin, red-haired lady whose stolen purse is recovered by Freak and Max. She is married to the leader of motorcycle gang The Panheads, Iggy. Loretta is an alcoholic and a smoker and lives in the "poor" part of the town, the Testaments. When she attempts to help Max escape, she is almost strangled to death by Kenneth Kane.

• Iggy Lee is an alcoholic like Loretta and lives with her in the Testaments. He is the boss of The Panheads, a motorcycle gang. It is suggested that he may have vertigo, as he states it makes him nervous looking up. He was also a friend of Maxwell's dad (Killer Kane), who makes him scared and nervous.

• Annie Kane is Maxwell's mother and does not appear in the book. She was brutally murdered by her husband.

References