MAXIMUM RIDE
THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT
Family/Friendship
Growing Up/Loyalty
In Maximum Ride : The Angel Experiment
Themes and Topics
Max and her Flock were deprived of a normal childhood. They have neither parents nor biological family (except for Gazzy and Angel) and fend for themselves, relying on each other constantly to pick the other up. Being experimented on was hard enough to change them yet the younger ones of the flock still remain whimsical and childish since their escape from the School. However the chase is back on and the Flock has to find Angel before she’s hurt badly, forcing them to grow up and be responsible, think fast and fight hard, and work together.
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These 8, 11, and 14 year old children are in a position where they must be cleaner and slicker than undercover cops and actual detectives. No average kid of that age is capable of doing what they’re in store for, even if Max and the Flock aren’t just average kids. Throughout the book they experience a load of things like hot wiring a car, stealing money, and sleeping in parks when they have nowhere else to go. They had no choice but to be mature and serious. Even through the hardships and unforeseen happenings the Flock didn’t give up on finding Angel and remained devoted, loyalty is another trait that takes maturity to truly understand.
The quote “Family will always come through for you." Reigns true in Maximum Ride. The Flock is the only family they’ve ever known, they rely on each other for everything and only enlist trust in one another. Most of all when you need them they are there, and when you’re hurt they are as well. When Angel gets kidnapped the Flock doesn’t have to think twice before knowing they must go after her. Max treats Angel like a daughter and cares for her very deeply, since she is the youngest Max has practically raised her.
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The Flock doesn’t know their biological parents and it is a constant theme that they want to figure it out and somehow find out their true identities. In the story some of them find bits and pieces of their life, while ones like Nudge can only dream that a random woman on the sidewalk is her mother. Much like family the Flock is as well friends; they laugh with each other and experience things with one another. They also come across other people, for one they find a dog named Total and Angel quickly befriends him. Max also meets two humans while on their journey that she finds in herself to trust. Friends can be found in the most unexpected places, and sometimes people who aren’t blood can be more of your family than those who are.
These two are minor themes but are very constant throughout the novel. Max and her family have to possess a lot of bravery to even be living on their own let alone in the fear of being hunted. They have to suck up their fears when Angel is in danger. Max constantly and continuously has the same nightmare about Erasers chasing her to a cliff, but she never goes down without a fight despite her condition. This is where perseverance kicks in.
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Being steadfast while doing something of great difficulty even for those who are more capable (the buff Erasers and the Flock’s wings and higher endurance level) is key through the story. The Flock and Max are constantly put into situations where they have to defend themselves and each other, and there are many moments when they are incapable of that and success seems father and father away. However even when Max is weak or losing she pulls herself together and continues to move on, the bravery one needs for spirit is just as high as the bravery one needs for strength.
These are both more mature themes in the novel that aren’t really focused on in a legal matter. The story is told in the perspective of a fourteen year old girl, and though her intelligence is advanced because of the mutation she’s still a teenage girl who in this case lacks a legitimate education. When speaking about the School (the place where the testing occurs) she isn’t thinking about the secrecy and governmental aspect of the procedures done in the School, she’s thinking as any other regular human being would. She believes it’s horrible and wrong and as a victim of the experiments she obviously completely loathes everything the School stands for.
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In Maximum Ride the theme of test-tube babies and sold off babies (etc) is told by a child and a victim rather than worded in a scientific way by scientists or adults themselves, so we see the opinion and view of it from the eyes of someone else. The book doesn’t show approval of the experimentation but it does have a variety of characters, like Jeb (a scientist at the School) that all have different opinions of the work being done. When reading the book it’s common to skim across these themes when you’re focusing on an action packed story and the Flock’s survival, but it’s something that is a big part of the novel and a serious subject in comparison to more teenage-moral ones.
Bravery/
Perseverance
Genetic Manipulation/
Test-Tube Babies and Experimentation