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In Philbrick's Freak the Mighty, can you identify an example of bias?

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In Freak the Mighty, bias is evident in the attitudes of Max's grandparents and Kevin's mother toward Max due to his resemblance to his father, "Killer Kane." They harbor preconceived fears that Max might inherit his father's violent traits. Additionally, Tony D., a school bully, exhibits bias against Max and Kevin, mocking them for their physical differences to assert dominance. These biases reflect unreasonable and hostile judgments based on appearance and assumptions.

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Bias is defined as a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned.

In Rodman Philbrick's novel Freak the Mighty, Max's grandparents show a bias against Max's father. Gram and Grim are Maxwell Kane's mother's parents, and though it is never directly stated in the novel, it is reasonable to infer that "Killer Kane," as Max's father is referred to, had something to do with his mother's death. His grandparents make comments about Max's physical appearance being so much like his father, and they seem, at times, to be almost afraid of him. This shows a bias in that they are assuming that he will be like his father. They have preconceived notions about him because of his appearance and his genetic link to "Killer Kane." Here is a quote that shows Grim's suspicions of Max from chapter 2:

"Grim's got it...

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in his head I'm at a dangerous age and they need to keep me under observation. Like I might make bombs or start a fire."

Kevin's mother Gwen also shows a bias against Max the first time she sees him. She considers only his physical size, and Max describes the fear she exudes in chapter 4. He says:

"I go up and open the bulkhead door and his mother is in the back yard and she's looking at the little red wagon. She catches sight of me coming up out of the down under and it's like somebody shot her. Like she's scared out of her mind."

Hope that helps! It's a great book!

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When someone is biased, it means that they hold unreasonable, and possibly hostile, feelings towards others from a specific group of people. Since Kevin and Max are in middle school, Tony D., the one they call Blade because he carries a knife around with him, is biased against the two younger boys. Tony D. is biased mostly because he feels powerful when he can beat up or intimidate younger kids. He perceives that it is easier to pick on Max and Kevin because they look weak and scared. Therefore, Tony has unreasonable and hostile feelings towards these boys for no other reason than that they seem to be easy targets. In fact, Tony D. demonstrates his biased feelings when he gets the two boys' attention before running after them, as in the following passage:

"Hey you! Mutt and Jeff! Frankenstein and Igor! Don't look around, I'm talkin' to you, boneheads. What is this, a freak show?" (29).

Tony D. throws out stereotypical comments to criticize and provoke Max and Kevin, which also define the biases he is drawing from. For instance, Max is large and goofy for his age while Kevin is small and dwarf-like for his. Tony D. uses these differences to single the boys out from "normal" society, which is a very biased thing to do, just to gain power and control over someone else. 

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