Another reason Freak's Christmas gift was so important to Max was because it was tailored to accommodate Max's learning challenges.
We first encounter Max's struggle with reading in Chapter Eight. In that chapter, Freak used a word Max had never heard before. That word was "archetype." Freak suggested that Max look up the word in his dictionary, but Max displayed little enthusiasm for doing so. First, Max didn't know how the word was spelled, so this made it difficult for him to identify the word in the dictionary. The other reason Max found reading a challenge was because he found it difficult to distinguish between certain letters. For example, the letter "R" looked like a backward "E" to him. This propensity to look at letters differently made reading a challenge to Max. Today, we would call Max's learning disability a form of dyslexia.
Also, because he found reading...
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difficult, Max didn't possess as extensive a vocabulary as Freak did. So, Max had difficulty understanding the definition of "archetype" that fitted Freak's meaning about the dragon. During the span of their friendship, Freak came to understand his friend very well. He knew how much Max hated to use the dictionary and how humiliated his friend felt about his reading disability.
This is the main reason Freak took such trouble with his gift. Freak used the specially designed pyramid-shaped box and dictionary to symbolize his regard and acceptance of Max. If we look at the first words of the dictionary, we can see that Freak went to great lengths to make the dictionary accessible to Max: the definitions were written in easy-to-understand language and there were funny, onomatopoeic sounds that Max might find humorous. For example, Freak called an aardvark "a silly looking creature that eats ants," and he defined the word "aargh" as the word "the aardvark says when it eats ants." Most importantly, Freak defined the word "dictionary" as a "source of knowledge, fun, and rude jokes."
Basically, Freak made the dictionary a less intimidating book to Max. This is part of the reason the gift meant so much to Max. The gift not only conveyed Freak's regard for Max, it also conveyed his confidence in Max's ability to transcend his learning challenges.
In *Freak the Mighty*, why is Freak's Christmas gift significant to Max?
In Chapter 15 of Rodman Philbrick’s novel Freak the Mighty, titled “What Came Down the Chimney,” the Christmas season has arrived, and the close relationship between Kevin (“Freak”) and Max, forged out of their respective disabilities and consequent alienation from most of their fellow children, has provided an opportunity for a serious demonstration affection. The specter of Max’s father, “Killer Kane,” being released from prison looms over them but, for now, they focus on the joyfulness that is Christmas. Freak has given Max a gift of a pyramid-shaped box, into which he has obviously invested time, energy and creativity – all within the norm of Freak’s mental acuity. As Max describes this unique gift,
“. . .Freak has the whole thing rigged with these elastic bands and paper clips, which is what made the sides unfold all at the same time, and inside is this little platform and on the platform is a book. Not a normal book, like you buy in the store, but a book he made himself, you can tell right away. It looks so special, I’m afraid to pick it up or I might ruin it.”
The book, of course, is a dictionary Freak has made especially for his friend. As Freak explains, “[w]hat I did was take all my favorite words . . .and put them in alphabetical order.” To Max’s query, “Like a dictionary?” Freak replies, “Exactly . . .but different, because this is my dictionary.” [Emphasis in original text]
Freak’s gift to Max is very special. The two boys bonded over their respective adversities, and emotionally merged into one symbiotic character, Freak the Mighty. Max’s brawn, simple-minded but kind nature has been affixed to Kevin’s physically disabled but superior intellect. They’re whole is greater than the sum of their parts. That Max, who has endeared the ridicule of others for his mental deficiencies, should be treated so kindly and helpfully by Kevin, in the form of this intricately-designed and constructed gift, is a matter of great importance for the bigger boy. Kevin’s gift is something only a true friend would take the time to make.