Freak the Mighty

by

Rodman Philbrick

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Freak the Mighty makes teaching easy.

Gwen Character Analysis

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:
Friendship Theme Icon
).
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.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Gwen, Annie
Page Number: 26
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 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.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Gwen
Related Symbols: Freak the Mighty
Page Number: 143
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:
Get the entire Freak the Mighty LitChart as a printable PDF.
Freak the Mighty PDF

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:
Friendship Theme Icon
).
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.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Kenny (Killer) Kane, Gwen, Annie
Page Number: 26
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 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.

Related Characters: Max Kane (speaker), Kevin/Freak, Gwen
Related Symbols: Freak the Mighty
Page Number: 143
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: