Freak the Mighty

by

Rodman Philbrick

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Max’s maternal grandfather, Annie’s father, and Gram’s husband. Grim is a gruff individual who, for much of the novel, regards Max with fear and possible loathing. This is because Max resembles his father, Kenny, who murdered Grim’s daughter and Max’s mother, Annie. Grim fears that Max is going to be just as cruel and violent as Kenny was, and so he makes almost no effort to get to know Max or support him. For the most part, Max is fine with this; Max thinks that Grim is a bit of a know-it-all and he shares Grim’s fears that he’s going to be violent and dangerous. Grim begins to change his tune when Max rescues Freak from Tony D.’s gang on the Fourth of July. At this point, he begins to refer to Max as “son” and he treats Max more like an adult. By the time that Kenny gets out on parole around Christmastime, Grim has fully shifted his thinking to believe that Max is a kind and generous kid in need of protection. Because of this, Grim takes out a restraining order to protect Max and he even considers getting a gun, though it’s unclear if he ever does (Gram forbids it, and Grim doesn’t want to have to lie to Gram). After Kenny is released on parole, kidnaps Max, and is sent back to prison, Grim encourages Max to tell his story in the hope that it will be cathartic for Max (as well as put Kenny behind bars for good). This suggests that Grim likely understands that Max needs to engage with his traumatic past if he ever hopes to heal. Grim respectfully agrees to leave Max alone after Freak’s death and he disappears from Max’s story after that.

Grim Quotes in Freak the Mighty

The Freak the Mighty quotes below are all either spoken by Grim or refer to Grim. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Friendship Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

It’s more than just the way Maxwell resembles him, Grim says that night in the kitchen, the boy is like him, we’d better watch out, you never know what he might do while we’re sleeping. Like his father did. And Gram right away shushes him and says don’t ever say that, because little pictures have big ears, which makes me run to the mirror to see if it is my big ears made me look like Him.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Grim (speaker), Kenny (Killer) Kane, Gram, Annie
Page Number: 3-4
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Me rescuing Freak. What a joke, right? Except that’s how it must have looked from a distance, because they never knew it was Freak who rescued me—or his genius brain and my big dumb body.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Grim, Gram, Tony D.
Related Symbols: Freak the Mighty
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:

I go, “Thanks for the towel, Gram. And the ice cream. Could I have sugar in the coffee? Two teaspoons, please,” and Grim claps his hands together and he says, “Of course you can, son,” and it’s like woah! because he never calls me that. Always Max or Maxwell or “that boy.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Grim, Gram
Page Number: 42
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“And carrying poor Kevin around, that seems to be putting real muscle on you.”

“He’s not that heavy. And anyhow it’s not fair everybody always says ‘Poor Kevin,’ just because he didn’t grow.”

Grim gives me this long, sorrowful look and then he clears his throat and says, “You’re right, he is a rather remarkable boy.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Grim (speaker), Kevin/Freak
Page Number: 54
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Gram says, “How can you tell such lies on Christmas Eve?”

“I’m telling tales, my dear, not lies. Lies are mean things, and tales are meant to entertain.”

Related Characters: Grim (speaker), Gram (speaker), Max Kane, Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Gwen, Annie
Related Symbols: King Arthur
Page Number: 95
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“They never talk about it,” I say. “They don’t have to because I can’t ever forget it, no matter how much I try.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kenny (Killer) Kane, Grim, Gram, Annie
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

“The man is an accident of nature,” he says. “All you got from him is your looks and your size. You’ve got your mother’s heart, and that’s what counts.”

The weird I thing I keep thinking about, what if something happens when I get older and I turn out to be another accident of nature?

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Grim (speaker), Kenny (Killer) Kane
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

I go, “Poor Gwen? She’s not the one having the special operation.”

Grim and Gram just look at each other like they can’t believe I’m so dumb, and finally Gram says, “Maxwell, dear, make an effort to eat your vegetables.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Gram (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Grim, Gwen
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“I don’t think it was a lie, Maxwell, do you? I think he needed something to hope for and so he invented this rather remarkable fantasy you describe. Everybody needs something to hope for. Don’t call it a lie. Kevin wasn’t a liar.”

Related Characters: Dr. Spivak (speaker), Max Kane, Kevin/Freak, Grim
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Freak the Mighty LitChart as a printable PDF.
Freak the Mighty PDF

Grim Quotes in Freak the Mighty

The Freak the Mighty quotes below are all either spoken by Grim or refer to Grim. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Friendship Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

It’s more than just the way Maxwell resembles him, Grim says that night in the kitchen, the boy is like him, we’d better watch out, you never know what he might do while we’re sleeping. Like his father did. And Gram right away shushes him and says don’t ever say that, because little pictures have big ears, which makes me run to the mirror to see if it is my big ears made me look like Him.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Grim (speaker), Kenny (Killer) Kane, Gram, Annie
Page Number: 3-4
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Me rescuing Freak. What a joke, right? Except that’s how it must have looked from a distance, because they never knew it was Freak who rescued me—or his genius brain and my big dumb body.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Grim, Gram, Tony D.
Related Symbols: Freak the Mighty
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:

I go, “Thanks for the towel, Gram. And the ice cream. Could I have sugar in the coffee? Two teaspoons, please,” and Grim claps his hands together and he says, “Of course you can, son,” and it’s like woah! because he never calls me that. Always Max or Maxwell or “that boy.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Grim, Gram
Page Number: 42
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“And carrying poor Kevin around, that seems to be putting real muscle on you.”

“He’s not that heavy. And anyhow it’s not fair everybody always says ‘Poor Kevin,’ just because he didn’t grow.”

Grim gives me this long, sorrowful look and then he clears his throat and says, “You’re right, he is a rather remarkable boy.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Grim (speaker), Kevin/Freak
Page Number: 54
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Gram says, “How can you tell such lies on Christmas Eve?”

“I’m telling tales, my dear, not lies. Lies are mean things, and tales are meant to entertain.”

Related Characters: Grim (speaker), Gram (speaker), Max Kane, Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Gwen, Annie
Related Symbols: King Arthur
Page Number: 95
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“They never talk about it,” I say. “They don’t have to because I can’t ever forget it, no matter how much I try.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kenny (Killer) Kane, Grim, Gram, Annie
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

“The man is an accident of nature,” he says. “All you got from him is your looks and your size. You’ve got your mother’s heart, and that’s what counts.”

The weird I thing I keep thinking about, what if something happens when I get older and I turn out to be another accident of nature?

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Grim (speaker), Kenny (Killer) Kane
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

I go, “Poor Gwen? She’s not the one having the special operation.”

Grim and Gram just look at each other like they can’t believe I’m so dumb, and finally Gram says, “Maxwell, dear, make an effort to eat your vegetables.”

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Gram (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Grim, Gwen
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“I don’t think it was a lie, Maxwell, do you? I think he needed something to hope for and so he invented this rather remarkable fantasy you describe. Everybody needs something to hope for. Don’t call it a lie. Kevin wasn’t a liar.”

Related Characters: Dr. Spivak (speaker), Max Kane, Kevin/Freak, Grim
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis: