Knights of the Kitchen Table

Sam is the brains of the group. Scieszka shows this by evoking a physical stereotype and having Sam wear glasses. Where Fred and Joe jump into interesting or dangerous situations quickly and then rely on their wits to see them through, Sam is more thoughtful. He comes up with more cerebral solutions, such as giving Bleob a riddle. Sam assesses situations based on what he knows or suspects. He realizes that the kids are no match for either Bleob or Smog, and he fights with his mind instead of his muscles. When tricking Bleob into leaving doesn’t work, Sam finds another way to avoid conflict by fooling the giant and dragon into fighting one another. Sam’s ability to plan is his version of magic, and alongside more physical forms of battle, he represents types of greatness.

Fred is the joker of the group. Where Sam thinks ahead and Joe uses his wits, Fred uses physical knowledge to fight his battles, such as tiring out the black knight. Fred also acts as comic relief. He doesn’t understand the speech patterns of the knights and is always asking for someone to translate. In addition, he blurts things out without thinking, which often causes Sam to correct him or be concerned that Fred’s blunders will get the group in trouble. These qualities create tension and propel the storyline forward. Fred often stumbles into solutions, such as when he breaks Merlin’s window with the baseball. Though Fred doesn’t know it at the time, this event triggers Merlin to learn that the boys are from the future, which gets them sent home.