Isolation
There are many narratives of isolation in the novel, both literal and figurative. The two main characters, at least before they encounter one another, are often physically isolated from their peers. No one plays with or befriends Max. Most of the kids are frightened of his size or look down on his “stupidity” but most of them are put off by the fact that he resembles his father, a convicted murderer. Kevin is similarly isolated but for a completely different set of reasons: he is small, sickly, and has weak legs, so even if they did want to play with him he couldn’t participate in their games anyway. Figuratively, both are kept isolated from everyone else, including one another, because of certain conditions. Kevin refuses to tell Max the truth about his impending death and Max keeps everyone else at arm’s distance because of the deep emotional trauma he has experienced in his youth.
Family
Narratives of family are also featured prominently in the novel. Family, however, is not always a positive matter and it is not limited to blood relations but rather ties of loyalty and genuine care. Max’s first experience of family is a tragic affair, his mother is brutally killed by his own father and later on he is actually abducted by his father while out of parole. His grandparents care for Max from that point after. Kevin and Max are in a sense brothers bound together by the collective experience of isolation and loneliness.
Friendship
Overall, the Freak the Mighty is a story about a friendship that grows between two unlikely characters, and as such there are several narratives that describe the quality and the depth of their camaraderie. Theirs is a friendship that transcends their failings as people and even the failings of their circumstances. It is interesting to note that as their friendship grows deeper the more afraid they become to come clean with the truth of their condition or the truth of their past.
Dishonesty
Descriptions of honesty, either through the act of outright lying or through the act of omitting certain details is unfortunately tied up with narratives of friendship. The lying is also done for several different reasons. Some lies, such as those uttered by Kevin, particularly about how serious his condition actually is, was done with the seemingly altruistic objective of “protecting his friend.” The most damaging lie however is the one that Max tells himself and actually ends up believing. He had managed to convince himself that he was indeed stupid and this self-limiting thought kept him from developing his abilities.
Redemption
The latter parts of the novel chronicle the posthumous redemption of Kevin through his encouragement of Max to fill up the blank journal that he left him. Max in turn uses this time to heal from the loss of his best friend as well as to develop his talent for writing--an ability that he'd have never considered were it not for the encouragement of Kevin. This act of discovering a latent ability is also a redemptive act in a way as this is Max's way of redeeming himself from the self-limiting lie that he was stupid.
