Freak the Mighty

Old and rusted, Freak’s red American Flyer kid’s wagon first appears when Freak drags it across the backyard to a tree, climbs onto it, and tries to reach into the branches to retrieve his ornithopter. Gwen sometimes pulls Freak on the wagon, and, before he figures out that he can simply place Freak on his shoulders, Max also uses the wagon to pull Freak over to his house. The wagon symbolizes Freak’s inventive use of whatever he has at hand to help him overcome his physical limitations. 

The one thing Freak wants more than anything is a new body to replace his tiny, stunted one. He has learned about robotics and explains to Max that bionics is “the science of designing replacement parts for the human body” (52). Freak imagines that the local hospital will build an entire mechanical body for him—it will be highly experimental, but he doesn’t fear the danger—and he’ll come out of it tall and powerful. Max believes him, and when he learns that Freak may be dead, he rushes to the hospital’s research wing, breaks in, and pounds on the inner doors, trying to reach his friend.