Freak the Mighty Study Guide

Freak the Mighty

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

Freak the Mighty is a young adult novel that tells the story of the friendship between Maxwell Kane, a large boy who is mentally slow, and Kevin "Freak" Avery, an intelligent boy who is physically handicapped. Neither has an ideal life, Freak constantly plagued by medical problems and Max dealing with the release of his ex-convict father from prison, but each has something they can offer the other. They form a strong alliance and become inseparable, their friendship ultimately saving Max from being murdered by his father.

Freak the Mighty Characters

Table of Contents
  • Maxwell "Max" Kane is the main character and narrator of the story. He is described to be very big and have a striking resemblance to his father, Kenneth (Killer) Kane. In day care, Max earned the nickname "Kicker" because he had a thing of booting and kicking anyone who dared to touch him, when he was a child. Max lives with his grandparents, Grim and Gram, and usually stays in "The Down Under", a small room in the basement. He hates his father, whom he witnessed killing his mother, Annie. He becomes best friends with Freak, who customarily rides on his shoulders and acts as Max's surrogate "brain". Max becomes depressed after Freak dies, locking himself in "The Down Under" for days. He is also very insecure about himself. He usually calls himself a "butthead" and is never confident. Until Freak comes along, Max cannot read or write.
  • Kevin "Freak" Avery is a crippled, blonde haired boy whom Max becomes best friends with. Kevin has Morquio syndrome, where the outside of his body cannot grow. He walks on crutches and wears a leg brace. He is a genius for his age and size and is cuttingly sarcastic. He carries a dictionary with him. He is interested in Robotics and the tales of King Arthur, to the extent of calling his mother Gwen "The Fair Gwen Of Air/Guinevere " and calling his adventures with Max "quests". Kevin looks forward to his surgery (which Max later finds out was a lie so Max wouldn't know the truth), in which he will gain a robot's body. Unexpectedly on his 13th birthday, Kevin has a seizure. In the hospital, he dies, because as his doctor puts it, "his heart became too big for his body". In the film, Kevin's last name was changed from Avery to Dillon.
  • Grim is Maxwell's grandfather. He is usually pretty grim, thus explaining why Maxwell gave him the nickname, although in reality he is a pretty friendly person. He dislikes Max's father because of what he did to Grim's daughter, Annie. In the book, Grim decides to shoot Kenneth if he sets foot in the house, after hearing about his release from jail. At first, Grim feels sorry for Kevin, but later, he appreciates Kevin's abilities and intelligence.
  • Gram is Maxwell's grandmother. Like her husband, she also dislikes Kenneth and misses her daughter, Annie. Gram is really kind and polite, careful not to hurt anyone's feelings. She protests against shooting Kenneth once Grim announces that he will do so.
  • Gwen "Fair Gwen" Avery is Kevin's beautiful and kind mother. Kevin nicknames her "Fair Gwen" after King Arthur's beautiful wife, Fair Guinevere. She and Maxwell's mother were friends until Kenneth Kane came along. After her son's death, Gwen moves to California and starts a relationship with a man named Rick.
  • Kenneth "Kenny" David Kane (also known as Killer Kane) is the main antagonist of the book. He is Max's selfish and sociopathic father. He was sent to prison for strangling his wife to death. After his release from prison on parole, Kenny kidnaps Maxwell on Christmas Eve and takes him to Loretta and Iggy's apartment. Loretta Lee tries to save Max but ends up getting strangled by Kenneth, though she survives. Eventually Kevin rescues Max by spraying a mixture of soap, vinegar and curry powder in Kenny's eyes, which he claimed was sulfuric acid. In the end Kenny is jailed.
  • Loretta Lee is a thin, red-haired lady whose stolen purse is recovered by Freak and Max. She is married to the leader of motorcycle gang named The Panheads, Iggy. Loretta is an alcoholic and a smoker and lives in the "poor" part of the town, the Testaments. When she attempts to help Max escape, she is almost strangled to death by Kenny Kane.
  • Iggy Lee is an alcoholic, like Loretta, and lives with her in the Testaments. He is the boss of The Panheads, a motorcycle gang. It is suggested that he may have vertigo, as he states it makes him nervous looking up. He was also a friend of Maxwell's dad (Killer Kane), who makes him scared and nervous. He attempts to help rescue Max when he was kidnapped by his father. He is the husband of Loretta Lee.
  • Dr. Spivak is Kevin's doctor. She tells Max about Kevin's death and that the real cause of his death was his heart growing too big for his body.
  • Annie Kane is Maxwell's mother but does not appear in the book. She was brutally murdered by her husband, Kenneth Kane.
  • Tony D. is a juvenile delinquent who first encountered Max and Freak during the Fourth of July drunkenly asking them for M-80 fire works and along with his nasty gang tried to harm Max and Freak with a knife. His gang steals Loretta Lee's purse. He later tells Max he's sorry about Kevin (Freak), who died after having a seizure, though Max doesn't like it and wants to be enemies with him. He is also known as "Blade".
  • Rick does not appear in this book. After Kevin Avery dies, he starts a relationship with Gwen Avery in California.
  • Mr. Meehan is Maxwell's reading skills tutor.
  • Mrs. Donelli is Maxwell's new English teacher

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