Character Analysis: Freak The Mighty

Essay- “Freak the Mighty” By Rodman Philbrick
Have you ever thought of yourself as not important? As something, you’re not? As. Nothing. “Freak the Mighty” by Rodman Philbrick is a story about true friendship. The story involves two characters who are in the eighth grade together. These characters form a special bond. Kevin, who lives a fairly normal life has a rare physical disability. Another character, Max, suffers from a learning disability. Together these two unlikely friends go on quests and adventures. In the end, they both end up helping each other through life. In this essay, I will talk about Max’s self-esteem, his truths, and falses. Max is constantly speaking negatively about himself because of the things that he says are …show more content…
But really, he is just an eighth-grade boy who is very tall and looks like his father. He may look scary to most but inside he has a big heart. The truth is that Max has no self-confidence until Freak comes along. When Kevin comes into the picture, he teaches Max how to read and write. By reading the novel King Arthur the knights of the roundtable. He also was the one to tutor him. Kevin helps Max build back self-confidence by showing him that he can do a lot of helpful things.They both get to see how truly amazing Max is. However, Max thinks he's no good and is being judged. He feels this way because his father is in jail and Max thinks that will turn out to be like him one day. Also because he looks almost exactly like his father. Max believes that he is no good because of this disability to read or write. In addition he Max still feels like he’s not loved. Everyone is scared of him because of his appearance. He is very tall for his age and not the smartest. Max can also strike someone off guard especially since his father is in jail. People sometimes that Max is his father and get nervous because he’s supposed to be in jail. Throughout the novel, Max has a really low self-esteem and doesn't believe in himself for who he is and he doesn't realize that he has so much …show more content…
For instance, he feels like he is nothing and he can’t even do a single thing. Max says that he has no brain. He believes that since he can’t read or write very well that he has no brain. Max has something that most people would call a learning disability. A learning disability is; a condition of difficulties in acquiring knowledge and skills at the level expected of kids of the same age. In addition, Max thinks he needs Kevin to do everything. See Kevin helped him read and write; without him, he couldn’t. Kevin helped Max find who he is and get him out of his stage of nothingness. Finally, Max says that he can’t do anything. When Max tries to be himself, he can’t do that. When he tries to read and write, he couldn’t do that either. Max thinks that he can’t do anything because he can’t even handle his own dad. Kevin also had to help him, by shooting Max’s father with “Sulfuric Acid” (It was really just vinegar, soap, and curry powder.) In conclusion, these characters - Max and Kevin - often demonstrate the meaning of friendship. And Kevin is the one to help Max realize that these things are not true about himself. That Max does have a brain, and he doesn't need Kevin for absolutely everything and that he can do