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Chapter 13
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
The next day, Gram lets Max stay home to greet Freak when he gets out of the hospital. 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 that it’s scary, but Freak says he’s not scared. Freak isn’t sure when the operation will happen, but his doctor, Dr. Spivak, thinks maybe in a year or two. Max asks why Freak can’t just stay the way he is. Freak shakes his head and he says that nobody ever stays the same; his problem is that he’s growing inside but not outside. After this conversation, everything goes back to normal until Christmas vacation.
Max is afraid because he cares so deeply about Freak’s wellbeing. It’s disturbing and scary for him that Freak is going to go through pain and come out with a whole new body, concerns that reflect Max’s selflessness. Freak, of course, isn’t actually going to receive a bionic body because this isn’t scientifically possible—it’s just a story he’s telling. However, telling it to Max helps Max support Freak since it gives Max something to hope for, even as he fears the operation itself.
Themes
Max is in the down under wrapping presents when he hears shouting upstairs. This is unheard of—Grim never yells and Gram just cries when she’s mad. Max sneaks up the stairs in time to hear Gram shout “over my dead body” through tears, and he hears his grandparents arguing about Grim’s desire to get a gun for protection. Gram insists that “he” will break in, take the gun, and shoot them all. Max realizes they’re talking about Kenny. Gram reasons that if they let Kenny out, the police will give them protection, but Grim says they won’t—they didn’t protect Annie. Gram dissolves into tears.
This overheard conversation is very different from the conversation Max overheard at the beginning of the novel. While then, Grim and Gram were still concerned that Max was going to be violent, here their only concern is protecting him and themselves. This shows how far they’ve come in terms of humanizing Max. He’s no longer someone who scares them—he’s their grandson and he needs their support and protection.
Themes
A bit later, Grim knocks on Max’s door. He comes in, and for the first time he doesn’t comment about how smelly or messy Max’s room is. Max thinks that Grim looks old. Max asks if Kenny escaped, but Grim says that he’s just up for parole. Grim agrees with Max that this is dumb, but he tells Max that he went to court and ensured that if Kenny tries to come within a mile of the house, he’ll go back to prison. Max suggests that Grim get a gun, but Grim says he isn’t sure. He says he can’t tell Gram, but it’ll break his heart to lie to her. Max promises he won’t tell. Quietly, Grim gets up and he says that everything is going to be okay. He asks Max to stay inside for the next few days and Max promises that he will.
Though Grim used to be the one who was most concerned about Max’s supposed latent violence, he shows here that he’s truly changed his mind about Max. Taking out a restraining order shows that Max isn’t a liability or a burden in Grim’s mind; rather, Max is a cherished family member. Further, Grim is also talking to Max more an adult, not just an innocent child. This also reflects Grim’s understanding that Max is growing up—and that Max’s development isn’t something to fear.
Themes
