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The Ornithopter
Freak the Mighty, the persona that Freak and Max create together, symbolizes the power of friendship to help people reach their potential and become better versions of themselves. As Freak the Mighty, Freak rides high on Max’s shoulders, giving him a previously unimaginable vantage point and giving Max the ability to “borrow” Freak’s brain. Because of this, both boys are able to experience things they never could before (unhindered mobility in Freak’s case, and intelligence, imagination, and pride in Max’s case) and thus their shared persona allows them to be better versions of themselves. Freak the Mighty, though relatively short-lived in real life (assuming the persona becomes impossible after Freak’s death), also gives Max and Freak a way to continue being their best selves after Freak’s death. Through Max’s choice to record Freak the Mighty’s story, Freak gets to live on forever exactly how he wanted to be remembered; while Max, through remembering all that Freak taught him, is able to accept his own intellect and imagination and to take pride in his identity and his abilities. Thus, Freak the Mighty is symbolic of friendship’s transformative power to change people for the better.
Freak the Mighty Quotes in Freak the Mighty
The Freak the Mighty quotes below all refer to the symbol of Freak the Mighty . 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 8
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Me rescuing Freak. What a joke, right? Except that’s how it must have looked from a distance, because they never knew it was Freak who rescued me—or his genius brain and my big dumb body.
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Chapter 12
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I’m standing up straight, as tall as I can, and I’m marching exactly like he wants me to, right and left, backwards and forwards, and it’s like music or something, like I don’t even have to think about it, I just do it, and all those kids chanting our name [...]
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Chapter 22
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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
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“Don’t get me upset,” he warns. “I won’t have the time, so you’ll have to do it. Just write it all down like you’re talking. Put in all the fun we had, the cool things we did. Our adventures.”
“But you know I can’t write, Kevin.”
“It’s all in your head, Max, everything you can remember. Just tell the story of Freak the Mighty, no big deal.”
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Chapter 25
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So I wrote the unvanquished truth stuff down and then kept on going, for months and months, until it was spring again, and the world was really and truly green all over. By the time we got here, which I guess should be the end, I’m feeling okay about remembering things.
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Get the entire Freak the Mighty LitChart as a printable PDF.
Freak the Mighty Symbol Timeline in Freak the Mighty
The timeline below shows where the symbol Freak the Mighty appears in Freak the Mighty. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. The Unvanquished Truth
...way with words, but Max could say things with his fists long before they became Freak the Mighty . Years ago, when Max first went to daycare, people called Max “Kicker” because he’d...
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Chapter 7. Walking High Above the World
...as “Killer Kane’s” son. When they ask Freak for his name, Freak says that they’re Freak the Mighty , and they’re nine feet tall.
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Chapter 12. Killer Kane, Killer Kane, Had a Kid Who Got No Brain
...Max around the room, leading the rest of the kids in a chant of “ Freak the Mighty !” Max feels like he’s dancing. For this, Max and Freak end up in the...
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Chapter 20. Freak the Mighty Strikes Again
...Freak for getting out of the car. As Gwen carries Freak away, he shouts that Freak the Mighty has struck again.
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Chapter 22. Remembering Is Just an Invention of the Mind
...obnoxious teenager, and she doesn’t understand that the birthday party is also a party for Freak the Mighty , who’s almost a year old. Max knows what Freak is getting: a new computer....
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Chapter 23. The Empty Book
...have time. He says that Max will have to record all their adventures and tell Freak the Mighty ’s story. Max picks up the book and he feels hopeless but he doesn’t want...
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