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Chapter 16
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
Iggy leads Max and Kenny along an alley between the buildings and into an apartment with a busted door. It smells like old lady perfume and cats, and Iggy explains that the woman who lives here left to visit her sister. Kenny looks around, dismisses Iggy, and then tells Max to sit down. Max looks at the front door, but suddenly, Kenny is behind him. Kenny makes Max promise that he won’t run and he says that they need to talk. Max sits down in a soft chair and he wonders where the woman’s cats went. Kenny leans over Max and he says that even though Grim and Gram think that Max is stupid, nobody related to Kenny is stupid. He tells Max that Max has to act smart and then he pulls out a rope. Kenny ties Max’s hands and feet, ties the other end around his waist, and lies down to sleep.
Max’s ability to worry about the old lady’s cats despite his own perilous situation speaks again to his kindness and his compassion. He wants to care about others, even when he’s in grave danger himself. Meanwhile, Kenny speaks to Max as though Grim and Gram are being actively horrible to him. Kenny must do if this if he wants to make Max believe and trust him. He must try to alter what Max knows is true by telling a compelling, believable lie—however, it becomes clear that all of this is a lie when Kenny ties Max up. Kenny wants what he says to be true, but he knows he hasn’t convinced Max.
Themes
Max can’t move from the chair. Time feels frozen and his hands start to tingle. He falls asleep halfway and he starts dreaming about a meowing cat when he feels a tug. Kenny wakes Max and he says he needs to say some things. First, Kenny claims that he didn’t kill anyone—people assumed things about him because he’s big. Then, he confirms that Max never received the presents or letters he sent. Kenny says that Grim and Gram hate him, even though he’s a loving and emotional person; he even cries during sad movies. Max can see that there are tears running down Kenny’s cheeks. Kenny continues that the adults who locked him up took his life away. Max can’t help but listen.
As Kenny speaks to Max, he tries to hit all the points that he knows might sway Max: he notes the fact that people are afraid of Max because he’s large, and he tries to convince Max to sympathize with him. Being a naturally sympathetic person (as well as a captive audience), Max can’t help but listen. However, thanks to Max’s transformation since meeting Freak, Max has good experiences with Grim and Gram to bolster his belief that Kenny is lying.
Themes
Kenny says he’s worried that Max might wonder about Annie. He says that if Max still believes what Grim and Gram told him, he’s wrong—Max was too tiny at the time to know the truth. Kenny fetches a Bible off the table and he swears on it that he didn’t kill Annie. He asks Max if he’s satisfied. Max’s throat closes up, but he manages to squeak out that he’s satisfied. Kenny lies down and he goes back to sleep, while Max stays up until sunrise. He tries not to think about the things he doesn’t want to remember.
It becomes clear that Kenny’s stories aren’t having the desired effect when Max stays up all night, remembering things he doesn’t want to. Though it’s unclear at this point what Max remembers, these memories are certainly uncomfortable and scary—it's likely that Max purposefully chose to forget them since forgetting is a way for Max to protect himself.
Themes
