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Iggy Lee
Freak’s mother; he often calls her “Fair Gwen of Air,” a play on Guinevere from the King Arthur legends. When Gwen was young, she was Max’s mother, Annie’s, best friend. She’s extremely beautiful, kind, and protective of Freak, and she’s one of the first adults that Max decides is okay. Though Gwen initially reacts with terror when she sees Max, she makes a point to apologize and explain that she was only afraid because Max so resembles Kenny, and Kenny always scared her. Gwen matches Freak’s sarcasm and sass, and it’s never obvious to Max that Gwen is likely experiencing major emotional stress on account of Freak’s illness and impending death. She forms a close relationship with Max over the course of Max and Freak’s friendship, and so she helps him see Freak when Freak is hospitalized. Following Freak’s death, Gwen moves to California and she gets a new boyfriend; Max never gets to say goodbye.
Gwen Quotes in Freak the Mighty
The Freak the Mighty quotes below are all either spoken by Gwen or refer to Gwen. 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:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
I shrug. Is it really such a big deal for a boy to look like his father? Which is typical butthead thinking, because of course it’s a big deal, if your father happens to be in prison. Which everybody in town knows about, it’s not like there’s any secret about what he did or why he’s there, except everybody acts like it should be a secret, and the bigger I grow and the more I look like my old man, the worse it gets.
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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.”
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Chapter 22 Quotes
The deal is, this is really two birthdays for the price of one, because Freak the Mighty is almost a year old.
[...] Freak says we can’t expect her to understand, because you can’t really get what it means to be Freak the Mighty unless you are Freak the Mighty.
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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.”
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Get the entire Freak the Mighty LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Gwen Character Timeline in Freak the Mighty
The timeline below shows where the character Gwen appears in Freak the Mighty. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. The Unvanquished Truth
...moves in down the street with his mom, whom Max refers to as “the Fair Gwen of Air.”
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Chapter 2. Up from the Down Under
...cheap moving company moving furniture into the duplex down the way and then he sees Gwen. She’s beautiful and she seems familiar, but Max tells himself that there’s no way he...
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Chapter 3. American Flyer
...objects require maintenance, and that he’ll install a new “propulsion unit” as soon as Fair Gwen of Air gets a replacement. Max has no idea what this means but he says...
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Chapter 4. What Frightened the Fair Gwen
...knows what Freak means—even though he doesn’t. Max asks why Freak calls his mom “Fair Gwen of Air” and whether it’s a nickname. Freak tries not to laugh and he says...
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Freak explains that since his mom’s name is Gwen, he calls her the Fair Gwen sometimes. He says that way back when there were...
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...reading. He acts excited when Freak offers to loan him books, and then they hear Gwen. When Max crawls out of the basement, Gwen looks terrified. Freak climbs out next, and...
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Chapter 5. Spitting Image
...and dim and he feels like a cloud. He goes to this place right after Gwen runs off with a look on her face that tells Max that she thinks he...
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Gram says that she thinks Gwen just didn’t expect Max to be so big, and now Gwen is afraid she offended...
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...he knows he probably just scared her. Gram insists that it wasn’t Max who scared Gwen, but she won’t tell Max who did. Gram continues that Gwen is a remarkable woman...
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Gwen apologizes one more time and she starts to explain herself again, but Freak interjects that...
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Chapter 8. Dinosaur Brain
...day, Max notes that Freak must have ants in his pants. Freak suspiciously asks if Gwen asked Max to say that, and then he says that out of the 2,247 species...
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Chapter 10. Rats or Worse
...exciting to be out alone at this time of night. Freak tosses Max one of Gwen’s black blouses, but Max refuses to wear it. Freak stands up to his full height...
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Chapter 11. The Damsel of Distress
...confused look that scares Max more than anything else. Loretta says that Freak must be Gwen’s kid, but Iggy says he doesn’t remember Gwen. She continues that Kenny is in prison...
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Chapter 12. Killer Kane, Killer Kane, Had a Kid Who Got No Brain
...Freak nonchalantly says that the things Loretta Lee said about his dad are true, but Gwen won’t talk about it. Freak says he knows his dad left because of him, but...
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Chapter 14. Cross My Heart and Hope to Die
...Max carries Freak in from the car and they hole up in Freak’s room, per Gwen’s orders. There, they discuss Freak’s impending operation to get a new bionic body. Max insists...
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Chapter 15. What Came Down the Chimney
Christmas Eve is quiet. Gwen and Freak have supper with Max, Grim, and Gram, and nobody says anything about Kenny...
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...gift from Max. It looks like a jackknife, but it’s actually a bunch of screwdrivers. Gwen gets a scarf, and then Freak gives Max his gift: it’s a pyramid-shaped box covered...
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Chapter 16. A Chip off the Old Block
...that the cold doesn’t even matter, and that his life with Grim, Gram, Freak, and Gwen was just a dream. Now, he’s awake and Kenny is real. The lights are off...
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Chapter 18. Never Trust a Cripple
...Max just says that they didn’t steal Loretta’s purse. Iggy quickly says that Freak is Gwen’s son, but Kenny shoves Iggy down into a chair and he asks what they’re going...
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Chapter 20. Freak the Mighty Strikes Again
...cellar. He tells the cops about her and they help her out. Grim, Gram, and Gwen rush to the boys, and as Gram hugs Max, Gwen scolds Freak for getting out...
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Chapter 21. The Accident of Nature
...to not be alone in the down under. Freak gets in huge trouble for disobeying Gwen’s order to stay in the car, mostly because Freak now has trouble catching his breath....
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Chapter 22. Remembering Is Just an Invention of the Mind
...asks for a ride on the space shuttle, a linear accelerator, or a real helicopter. Gwen suggests that Freak is going to be a very obnoxious teenager, and she doesn’t understand...
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...but Max figures that he’s just excited about the new computer. They sing, and then Gwen brings out the computer. Freak turns it on and he starts to show Grim how...
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Chapter 23. The Empty Book
...It’s not the same without Freak to turn the houses into castles, however. Max finds Gwen’s car at the hospital but he remembers Grim’s warning to leave her alone so he...
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A bit later, Gram drives Max home. Over supper, Grim observes that Gwen looks like she’s in awful pain. Confused, Max says that Gwen isn’t the one who’s...
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Chapter 25. What Loretta Said
...ago. He hid in the down under for days, so he missed Freak’s funeral and Gwen’s departure. Grim and Gram finally convinced Max to come out but for a long time,...
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...Max thinks that he never expected anything else. Loretta told Max that she just heard Gwen is in California with a new boyfriend whom she loves. She asked Max what he...
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