Example Essay from Four-Square Outline

Kacey Miller

Mr. Miller

Seventh-Grade Language Arts

08 January 2013

Freak the Chivalrous

According to the Song of Roland, a chivalrous knight vowed, among other things, “to fight for the welfare of all, to protect the weak and defenseless, [and] to preserve to the end in any enterprise begun (Alchin, para. 3). Roland, a loyal subject of Lord Charlemagne in the late tenth century A.D., inspired what later became known as Charlemagne’s Code of Chivalry, and this code has even provided motivation for modern literature, namely Rodman Philbrick’s Freak the Mighty. In this novel, the main characters embark upon quests that would impress even the legendary Arthurian knights. Through the returning of Loretta’s purse, the rescuing of Max and Loretta from the antagonist of dragon proportions, Killer Kane, and the writing of the tales of Freak the Mighty, Max and Kevin honor Charlemagne’s Code of Chivalry.

As mentioned, the first example of chivalry in Freak the Mighty occurs whenever Kevin and Max return Loretta’s purse. Because Kevin saw Blade, a neighborhood bully who (as his name suggests) does not hesitate to wield his knife blade when others get in his way, ditch a purse into the sewer, he knew that recovering the purse was a dangerous operation. However, Freak and Max do retrieve the purse and then, in order to rescue a damsel in distress, brave the run-down New Testaments, and return the purse to its owner: “We have the right address after all . . . Iggy is Iggy Lee, he’s the boss of the Panheads, this bad-news motorcycle gang . . . Freak blurts out, ‘We found your purse!’ and he tosses down the purse” (Philbrick 66). This evidence shows that, despite certain danger, Max and Freak were willing “to fight for the welfare of all.” They knew that retrieving the purse in the first place was risky because Blade and his gang could quite possibly return to recover what they had stolen. Max and Kevin had already experienced Blade’s wrath whenever they stood up to him at the Fourth of July millpond celebration. Blade chased them into the pond with a knife. Moreover, whenever entering the grounds

of the New Testaments, both Kevin and Max felt a strong sense of decay and an overall depressing mood. Max knew exactly what kind of people inhabited this facility but decided to fight for the welfare of what they thought was a damsel in distress.

Another example of chivalry in Freak the Mighty happens whenever Kevin rescues Max and Loretta from Killer Kane.

Max’s father spent several years in prison for killing Max’s mother but (at this point in the story) was paroled. Consequently, he abducts his son with plans of taking him far away from Max’s grandparents—only to be stopped by Kevin, who (despite a

Miller 2

severe physical handicap) rolls down through a cellar window and blinds the antagonist just in time to save the lives of Max and Loretta: “'Guess what I got for Christmas, Mr. Kane? . . . this squirt gun and . . . sulfuric acid’ . . . That’s when Freak squeezes the trigger and sprays him [Killer Kane] right in the eyes” (131 & 132). This evidence reveals the strong impact that the ideas of chivalry had on Kevin. Kevin has such a severe case of dwarfism that his body (with the exception of his internal organs) is no longer growing. Also, he has had to rely on Max to carry him from place to place for the past year. Still, despite knowing very well that Max’s dad is a convicted killer, Kevin makes his way through the cellar window and vanquishes the antagonist—thus “protecting the weak and defenseless.”

The final example of chivalry in Freak the Mighty occurs whenever Max writes the tale of Freak the Mighty. Throughout the story, Max feels that he has a mental deficiency, one that especially manifests itself whenever he tries to write. As Kevin approaches his demise, he challenges Max to write down the events of their quests. However, Max becomes especially distraught when Kevin passes away, so Max eventually has to choose between being a “drag” as Loretta terms it, or to honor Kevin’s memory by putting their adventures into words on paper: “So I wrote the unvanquished truth down . . . and now that I’ve written a book who knows, I might even read a few. No big deal” (160). As mentioned, one precept of Charlemagne’s Code of Chivalry is “to preserve to the end any enterprise begun,” and this is exactly what Max does by writing down the details of their adventures. Before Kevin died, he challenged Max to accomplish just such a feat, but Kevin’s death, coupled with Max’s belief that he was incapable of handling such a task, left Max dragging his feet in the “down under.” However, Max’s encounter with Loretta brings him to his senses, and he realizes that “preserv[ing] to the end,” in this case, is simply a matter of putting the details of Freak the Mighty’s enterprise down on paper.

In short, chivalry is a recurring theme in Freak the Mighty through the returning of Loretta’s purse, the rescuing of Max and Loretta, and the writing of Freak the Mighty’s story. Kevin and Max, inspired by the legend of King Arthur and his

chivalrous knights, brave the sewer, the infamous Blade, the New Testaments and their remarkable residents, Killer Kane, and their own physical and mental limitations. By doing so, Freak the Mighty fought for the welfare of all, protected the weak and defenseless, and preserved to the end in their noble enterprise to honor Charlemagne’s Code of Chivalry.

Miller 3

Works Cited

Alchin, L.K. “The Middle Ages.” Middle-ages.org.uk. 16 November 2012. 06 January 2013.

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/index.htm.

Philbrick, Rodman. Freak the Mighty. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1993.