Part 2
Now inseparable, the boys let Kevin’s imagination remake the whole neighborhood. Kevin is obsessed with King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the code of the quest; he lends Max a dictionary and a book of legends and teaches him that a true knight is measured by deeds, not size or speed. With Kevin riding high on Max’s shoulders, ordinary streets become a realm of dragons and damsels, and the pair set off on made-up adventures that feel gloriously real. On the Fourth of July they slip out into the night to watch the fireworks up close, wandering where they are not supposed to go and tasting a heady sense of freedom. Another escapade leads them down to the millpond, where a plunge into the water nearly turns dangerous, and Max’s steady strength keeps them both safe while Kevin’s quick thinking keeps them out of worse trouble. Through it all, Philbrick shows the friendship deepening: Kevin gives Max a story to live inside and words to grow into, and Max gives Kevin the mobility and courage to actually go on the quests he has only dreamed of. Each boy is becoming braver, and more himself, because of the other.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Quest words: legend, chivalry, noble, peril, venture… |
| Literary Elements | Allusion to King Arthur, vivid imagery, and the extended quest metaphor |
| Cross-Curricular | The legend of King Arthur and the knightly quest |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| Chapters 4–5 | Knights and Quests — Kevin shares his love of King Arthur, lends Max a dictionary and legends, and recasts the neighborhood as a realm of dragons and daring quests. |
| Chapter 6 | Fireworks and the Millpond — on the Fourth of July the boys roam free to watch fireworks; another adventure at the millpond turns risky, and their strengths save them. |
Five words, and every one of them is borrowed from a book Kevin has read too many times. A legend is an old, famous story handed down over time, and Kevin knows every King Arthur legend by heart. Chivalry is the knightly code of honor and bravery, and he does not just admire it — he lives by it. Noble means showing high, honorable character, which is what a knight’s deeds were supposed to be. Peril is serious danger, and the millpond holds real peril for two boys, whatever they call it. To venture is to go somewhere risky or unknown, which they do on the Fourth of July. Notice which of the five is not pretend. The games are borrowed, the code is borrowed, the quest is borrowed — but the millpond is real water, and it has never heard of Arthur.
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
The events of Chapters 4–6 become clearer when readers separate a character’s motive from the obstacle encountered and the response that follows. Now inseparable, the boys let Kevin’s imagination remake the whole neighborhood. Kevin is obsessed with King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the code of the quest; he lends Max a dictionary and a book of legends and teaches him that a true knight is measured by deeds, not size or speed. With Kevin riding high on Max’s shoulders, ordinary streets become a realm of dragons and damsels, and the pair set off on made-up adventures that feel gloriously real. On the Fourth of July they slip out into the night to watch the fireworks up close, wandering where they are not supposed to go and tasting a heady sense of freedom. Following motive through response reveals why “Adventures Begin” forms a consequential sequence.
- Kevin lends Max a dictionary and a book of legends.
- On the Fourth of July they roam out to see the fireworks.
- The boys recast the neighborhood as a realm of quests.
- Kevin shares his love of King Arthur and the knights.
- A millpond adventure turns risky, and their strengths save them.
The craft of Part 2 works through allusion, imagery, and metaphor, each shaping how readers judge the new conflict. Philbrick fills these chapters with allusion — references to another famous story, here the legends of King Arthur, his knights, and their quests. When Kevin speaks of the Round Table, of chivalry, of vanquishing enemies and rescuing the helpless, he is borrowing a whole world the reader may already half-know, and letting its meaning pour into the boys’ small adventures. The allusion does real work. It lifts an ordinary walk to the fireworks into a noble quest, and it gives Max a heroic role to grow into. It also tells us something about Kevin: a boy trapped in a body that cannot fight has chosen a fantasy in which honor, not muscle, makes the hero. That authorial design makes “Borrowing King Arthur” a lesson in deliberate suspense.
Kevin does not just like the King Arthur stories; he uses them as a map for how to live, and it helps to know what those stories are. The legend of King Arthur is one of the oldest and most retold tales in the English language, gathered over centuries into a great cycle about a boy who pulls a sword from a stone, becomes king, and gathers the bravest knights of the land at a Round Table — round so that no one sits above anyone else. Their code, called chivalry, prized courage, loyalty, honesty, and the protection of the weak, and the knights proved themselves not by boasting but by going on quests, dangerous journeys toward a worthy goal. That last detail is why the legend suits Kevin so exactly. A quest does not ask how fast you can run or how much you can lift. It asks where you are going and whether the goal is worth it — which is the only contest in the world a boy on crutches can enter on equal terms.
Imagine a boy who will never run or fight, who has decided instead to live inside the grandest story he knows: knights, a Round Table, a code that says honor matters more than muscle. He cannot go on a quest alone, so he finds a giant of a friend, climbs onto his shoulders, and points the way — and suddenly the plain streets are a realm, the fireworks are dragon-fire, and two outsiders are knights. There is real danger in it, a cold pond and a dark Fourth-of-July night where they are not supposed to be, and there is real joy, the kind that makes a body feel gloriously alive. And underneath the game, something true is happening: one boy is handing the other words, and stories, and a braver way to see himself.
- SATCentral Ideas — the main point of the passage as a whole
- TOEFLFactual Information — a fact stated directly in the passage
- SATDetail — a fact the passage states directly
- TOEFLRhetorical Purpose — why the author included a particular detail
- SATWords in Context — what a word means the way this passage uses it
- TOEFLProse Summary — choosing the three sentences that capture the main ideas
- SATInference — a conclusion the passage supports without ever stating it outright
Kevin’s favorite stories are among the oldest in the English language: the legends of King Arthur. These tales were not written all at once by a single author; they grew over many centuries, told and retold by poets and storytellers across Britain and France, until they were gathered into a great web of stories about a legendary king. Whether a real Arthur ever lived is uncertain and probably unknowable. What is certain is that the legend became one of the most beloved stories in the world, returning again and again in new books, plays, and films.
The heart of the legend is a set of ideas about how a person ought to live. In the stories, a boy named Arthur proves his right to be king by drawing a magical sword from a stone when no grown warrior can. As king, he gathers the bravest knights of the land at a Round Table — and the table is round on purpose, so that no knight sits at the head and all are counted as equals. The knights follow a code called chivalry, which prized courage, loyalty, honesty, generosity, and above all the protection of the weak.
Knights proved their honor not by boasting but by going on quests. A quest is a long and dangerous journey undertaken to reach a worthy goal — to right a wrong, rescue someone in danger, or seek a sacred prize. What matters is not how large or strong a knight is, but how he behaves when the quest grows hard. In the legend, a person’s worth is measured entirely by deeds and honor, never by the size or strength of the body — which is exactly why this world grips a boy like Kevin.
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 2 “A Story I Live By”
Kevin uses the King Arthur legend as a map for how to be brave and good. Write about a story, book, movie, or hero that shapes how you try to act. What is the story, what does it teach, and how has it changed something you have done? 6–10 sentences. End with the one idea from it you most want to live by.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 2 Complete!
You finished Chapters 4–6 of Freak the Mighty.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Rodman Philbrick. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Rodman Philbrick’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.