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Chapter 4
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
Max explains that sometimes, he goes to a place in his head where it’s cool 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 stole Freak. He lies down on the floor under his bed and he stays there until Gram knocks on the door, insisting she has something important to say. Max crawls out, noting that there seems to be less space under the bed than there used to be, and he opens the door. Gram looks like she’d rather be anywhere else, apologizes, and says that Gwen called. Max shrinks; he’s certain that Gwen reported him. Gram says that Gwen apologized, shocking Max. Gram confirms that Max and Kevin (Freak) were just “making friends.”
For Max, escaping inside his head is far easier and is preferable to spending time in the real world, where grown adults treat him like a dangerous enemy even though he’s just a 12-year-old kid. His reaction to what Gram says also suggests that he expects this kind of prejudiced behavior—it’s normal for him. That it’s shocking to hear Gwen apologized speaks to how unapologetically prejudiced people tend to be in Max’s town: because Max resembles his father, people assume Max is violent like Kenny.
Themes
Gram says that she thinks Gwen just didn’t expect Max to be so big, and now Gwen is afraid she offended Max. Max asks if Gram knows Gwen, and Gram explains that Gwen and Annie—Max’s mother—were good friends. She notes that Max and Kevin also went to daycare together she and asks if Max remembers, but Max just shrugs. He doesn’t want Gram to know how much he remembers about that time. Gram continues that Gwen is delighted that Kevin and Max are going to be friends and that Gwen invited Max for supper. Without thinking, Max asks if he has to go. Gram puts a hand on Max’s shoulder. He can tell that she’s nervous to touch him on account of his size, but she tells Max that it’d be nice if he went.
Here, Max confirms that he’s doing his best to ignore his early childhood memories, since they’re painful for both him and for the adults in his life. In other words, Max is doing what he can to protect Gram by acting like everything is fine, another indicator that Max is nothing like the violent person people think he is. It’s also hard to tell if Gram is truly scared to touch Max, or if that’s just Max’s interpretation. He seems to have few reasons to believe that adults won’t be afraid of him, so he may be unable to see that Gram is nervous for other reasons.
Themes
Max insists that it isn’t a big deal; 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 raising the “poor boy” on her own, but Max insists that Freak isn’t poor—his body is probably so small because he’s so smart. Gran brushes this off and Max agrees to have supper with Gwen and Freak, even though he feels anxious about it. It turns out to not be so bad. Gwen greets Max warmly, quickly apologizes for her behavior, and briefly explains that she was friends with Annie, but that Kenny was scary and crazy. Freak, who’s digging through boxes, tells Gwen to leave Max alone.
Gram and Gwen confirm here that people are afraid of Max because he resembles his father, Kenny. Max’s anxiousness seems to stem from his belief that all adults are afraid of him and they’ll therefore treat him poorly, which again says volumes about how cruel people in town generally are to Max. This treatment seems even more misguided when Max stands up for Freak’s dignity to Gram, since Max is clearly an empathetic and kind individual. In Max’s opinion, Freak doesn’t need pity—he needs people to accept that he’s an intelligent and worthy human being.
Themes
Gwen apologizes one more time and she starts to explain herself again, but Freak interjects that Gwen thinks that Max just looks like Kenny. Gwen looks small and embarrassed, but Max says that everyone says the same thing. He tells the reader that it shouldn’t be a big deal for a boy to look like his father, but for him, it matters since Kenny is in prison. Everyone in town knows what Kenny did, and the older Max gets, the more people think it’s a big deal. Max asks if Gwen really knew Annie and Kenny, but Gwen quietly says that Kenny didn’t make it easy for her to stay friends with Annie. Max passes Gwen a knife when she struggles to open a package of hot dogs. She doesn’t flinch, so Max decides she’s cool. Dinner is fun and full of laughter. When Max gets home, he cries with happiness.
Gwen’s treatment of Max is hopeful, as it suggests that people will be able to reevaluate how they perceive and treat Max as they get to know him better. Importantly, it seems that this process is beginning to happen as a result of Max’s budding friendship with Freak, which suggests that their bond may be beneficial for Max’s other relationships as well. When Max cries after having dinner with Gwen and Freak, it shows that despite Max’s attempts to isolate himself, he does crave human connection. Now, his life will be fuller with Freak in it.
Themes
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