Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Freak the Mighty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship
The Power of Storytelling
Memory, Grief, and Trauma
Family Legacy vs. Individuality
Summary
Analysis
With Freak still on his shoulders, Max heads for the food carts. Freak comments that the view is amazing from up so high, and then hisses that there are “cretins” at two and three o’ clock. Max is confused, so Freak explains that Tony D. and his gang are converging. He tells Max to turn left. Max doesn’t know his right and left, so he blanks and freezes. Freak kicks him with his left foot and something clicks in Max’s head. Max turns left, and as Freak shouts for him to go faster, Max runs as fast as he possibly can through the crowd. However, the minute Max thinks they’re safe, one of the gang members comes out of nowhere.
This valiant escape attempt speaks to one of the positive effects of Max and Freak’s friendship: together, they can do things they couldn’t do alone, such as escape from bullies using Freak’s intellect and Max’s large size. The “click” Alone, Max is unmoored, but with Freak to help him, it seems Max is able to reach his potential.
Themes
Max quietly asks Freak what to do, and Freak asks for a minute. Just as Tony D. reaches into his back pocket, presumably for a knife, Freak kicks for Max to go right. Max runs right over one of Tony’s boys and then he follows Freak’s directions through the crowd. Freak shouts for Max to run into the pond. Max hears Tony’s knife zip through the air and he races into the pond. Max almost trips in the sucking mud but he thinks of Tony D.’s teeth and he keeps going. Freak stops Max in the middle of the pond, when the mud is up around Max’s knees. The boys turn around and they watch Tony D.’s friends rescue him.
Again, it’s unlikely that Tony D.’s teeth are actually sharpened to points, but as the narrator, Max has the ability to tell his story in a way that makes it seem true. That Max doesn’t think at all about how deep he is in the pond until Freak stops him speaks to how totally Max trusts Freak, even at this early point in their friendship. This suggests that Max is more than willing to be friends with people if they give him the chance.
Themes
Tony D. shouts at his friends to gather rocks. Max is sinking deeper in the mud and he asks Freak again what they should do. Freak insists that the “cavalry” is coming, but Max doesn’t know what this means. He can’t move, but the rocks fortunately all fall short. Max hears a screech: it’s Freak whistling. Finally, Max realizes that Freak saw a cop car and that he’s calling it. The cop car spotlight hits them, and Freak waves and makes a fuss. Through a megaphone, a cop instructs them all to stay still, but Tony D’s boys scatter. Finally, the cops arrive and they help Max and Freak out of the pond. They say that they know all about Tony D., and then one says he recognizes Max as “Killer Kane’s” son. When they ask Freak for his name, Freak says that they’re Freak the Mighty, and they’re nine feet tall.
The cop’s comment that Max is Killer Kane’s son speaks to the fact that everywhere Max goes, he has to contend with his father’s reputation. The cops’ willingness to help Max, however, complicates this to a degree. The cop is still willing to help Max despite his father’s reputation, which speaks to the possibility that as adults continue to observe Max doing good deeds or experiencing violence him, they’ll reevaluate how they think of and treat Max.
Themes
