Final Draft of Appreciation

“Yonder always lies over the next horizon.”  -Freak to Max

This quote is very short, but in my opinion is immensely deep.  It is my favorite quote of all time and comes from the book Freak the Mighty.  When I read it for the first time I kind of glided over it not realizing the deepness of it.  Now I believe that I see the true meaning of it and its relevance.

            The first time that I read the book, I was in elementary school and loved it.  I loved the plot and the characters a lot.  Now rereading it I really enjoyed it and felt that I was able to go deeper into the amazing book than I had been able to before.  This is probably because I was able to read the story from a different perspective than before.  Freak the Mighty is a story about two outcasts who, for different reasons, became the best of friends, helping each other out in life tremendously.  At the beginning, they are both alone in life without any friends.  In Freak (Kevin)’s case it is his disease, Morquio Syndrome, causing his dwarfism and his abnormal skeletal development.  In Max’s case it is because of his size, as well as his LD which makes him different from others.  Because of this disability, I believe that Freak was life-changing to Max in several ways.

            One way that Freak was beneficial to Max was that he brought great wisdom to their relationship.  I believe that he was the wise character in Freak the Mighty, kind of like Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web.  I think that the quote is one of many ways that Freak shows his wisdom.

            I think that the quote means that you always strive for yonder or “perfection” (“excellence”), yet yonder is a place that can never be reached.  It’s like trying to reach the end of the world, but you can never get there because for every inch you move closer, it becomes an inch farther away.  I think that this relates to the theme of the book that there is no such thing as a “perfect” person.  You have to be proud of your imperfections or differences and not try to hide them.  I think this is what Freak was trying to give to Max even though he knew that he was dying and there was nothing he could do to stop it.  I think that you can feel the weight of his words and how Freak didn’t curl up into a little imaginary ball and shut himself out from the world.  He took the little time that he had left to create a lasting friendship with Max, living on in the life that Max is able to enjoy.

            Next, I would like to talk about what Freak brought to him and Max’s friendship.  He brought a sense of togetherness to their friendship.  He created Freak the Mighty and the whole idea of them being one.  Individually they weren’t special in their eyes but when they were together they were “perfect”.  He also helped Max in school.  He showed Max that reading was like listening and that made it easy for him.  He got Max to be in the regular class with him instead of the LD class which helped Max’s self-esteem.  There are many people in this world who don’t think very highly of themselves, but very few have someone to make them feel good.  I wish everybody had a helpful friend like that.

            Freak helped Max’s self-esteem immensely.  He gave Max a friend and someone he could depend on to be there for him.  In the beginning, Max was always hiding in his down-under where he had no contact with the outside world.  With Freak he was always venturing out, going on quests.  By the end he was not Max, but Freak the Mighty “walking high above the world” along with Freak.  This really shows that he was able to recover his self-esteem thanks to Freak.  Even when he was kidnapped by his mentally deranged father, he was rescued by Freak and his smart brain. Even though it was probably the last thing that he did, Freak did it as a friend.

            I believe that Freak was the most important person in Max’s life.  If there were only more people like Freak, this world would be a much better place.  He is the type of person who can make people feel special.  It is a quality possessed by very few, but makes a lasting impact on many lives.  It is amazing how under the poor circumstances of being at death’s doorstep that this personality shows or maybe it is the short time remaining that brings out this amazing quality.  His mark was made and lived on in the sequel, Max the Mighty.  You should really read this book because it is truly life-changing.