There are several places in Rodman Philbrick’s novel Freak the Mighty where the physical appearance of the narrator, Maxwell Kane, is mentioned.
The first mention is in the chapter entitled “Spitting Image,” which is a reference to how much Max looks like his father, Kenny “Killer” Kane. In the version I’m working from, it’s on page 23.
Gram reaches out a puts a hand on my shoulder, real light and feathery, you can feel how nervous she is just to touch me, and how it makes her uncomfortable to have to look up at me, because did I mention I’m a lot bigger than Gram? Bigger than Grim? Bigger than most people?
The second mention comes in the chapter entitled “Walking High Above the World,” and it is on page 34 in my version. Here, Freak is riding on Max’s shoulders, and he says, “Amazing perspective up here.” Max...
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responds, “I’m not that big. This way you’re like two feet taller than me.”
The third mention is in chapter ten, entitled “Rats or Worse.” It’s on page 54 in my version.
Grim takes a look at me one day and he goes, "All that walking you do, it must be stretching out your legs. And carrying poor Kevin around, that seems to be putting real muscle on you.”
A fourth mention is in the chapter entitled “Killer Kane, Killer Kane, Had a Kid Who Got No Brain.” On page 74, Gram is shopping for shoes for Max and mentions his shoe size is thirteen triple E.
Lastly, in the chapter entitled “A Chip Off The Old Block,” when Killer Kane kidnaps Max, he stops him in the light from a street lamp and says, “My, my, it’s like looking at an old picture of myself.” This is in reference to how much Max looks like his father.
The physical appearance of Max is described on page 26 in my edition, when Gram goes to Max and tells him that Gwen is sorry for what she said about him and also that she is delighted that Max and Kevin are going to be friends. When Gram reaches down and touches Max on the shoulder, Max mentions the first clear indication that we have had about his personal appearance and what he looks like:
...did I mention I'm a lot bigger than Gram? Bigger than Grim, too? Bigger than most people? It's true.
Max therefore explains why it makes some people nervous to be near him, because he is so much bigger than other people, which makes others think that he is a figure to be afraid of. It is his size which apparently intimidates those around him and makes them slightly uncomfortable.
On what page of Freak the Mighty does Max describe his appearance?
In bits and pieces, Max describes his physical appearance in the first several chapters of Freak the Mighty. On pages 3 and 4, Max overhears Grim and Gram talking about how Max resembles his father. On that same page, Grim also jokes that Max is growing so fast that they should “let [Max] go barefoot, he’s exploding out of his shoes” (4). So at this point in the novel, Max hasn’t described himself, but we know from the commentary of others that he is big and looks like his father.
In fact, as the narrator, Max spends most of his time describing the physical appearance of others, especially Freak and his mother Gwen, in the first chapters. It isn’t until after Gwen is startled by Max that he describes his physical appearance. Philbrick writes (23-24):
Gram reaches out and she puts her hand on my shoulder, real light and feathery, you can feel how nervous she is just to touch me, and how it makes her uncomfortable to have to look up at me, because did I mention I'm a lot bigger than Gram? Bigger than Grim, too? Bigger than most people? It's true.
Max then tells Gram that his physical size must have intimidated Gwen. Max seems to be used to this reaction from others. When Max goes over to Freak’s house for dinner, though, we realize what really scared Gwen was the fact that he resembles his father.