The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson's Character Analysis

Percy Jackson Essay Outline

Introduction

• Introduction to Percy Jackson as the main character
• Mention of his transformation throughout the first book, "The Lightning Thief"

Percy's Discovery of his Identity

• Percy's initial introduction and age
• Revelation that he is a half-blood, half-human, half-god
• Journey to Camp Half-Blood

Percy's Quest and Challenges

• The quest to retrieve Zeus's master bolt
• Allies and companions: Grover and Annabeth
• Encounters with monsters and gods

The Underworld and Accusations

• Arrival in the Underworld
• Accusations against Percy and Poseidon
• The mysterious appearance of the master bolt

Ares, the Battle, and Revelations

• Confrontation with Ares
• Battle on the Santa Monica beach
• Discovery of Ares as the original thief
• Percy's curse

Return to Mount Olympus

• Percy's return to New York City
• Meeting with Poseidon and Zeus
• Kronos and Percy's dreams
• Percy's choice and the conclusion of the book

Character Analysis of Percy Jackson

• Percy's initial immaturity and growth throughout the story
• The impact of his newfound identity on his character
• The challenges and experiences that shape Percy's transformation

Conclusion

• Recap of Percy's character transformation
• The impact of his experiences on his maturity and development
• The significance of his role in the series

Percy Jackson Essay Example

In Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the main character and narrator Percy Jackson changes dramatically as a character over the first book, The Lightning Thief. Essay on Percy Jackson will analyze this character and its transformation throughout the story.

Meet Percy Jackson. He is twelve years old, and he decides to tell us the story of his past year. On the first day of summer, just after his sixth-grade year, Percy discovers that something is wrong with him. Or rather, something is right with him. He learns that he is a half-blood: half-human, half-god. He is taken to Camp Half-Blood in New York, a camp for kids just like him that is safe from monsters that like to attack half-bloods. At camp, Percy learns more information about himself: his father is Poseidon, god of the Sea and brother to Zeus and Hades. When Zeus’s master bolt (the thing that allows him to create lightning whenever he wants) is stolen, Poseidon is blamed for the theft. Zeus tells Poseidon that the master bolt must be returned to Mount Olympus by the summer solstice, or else he will declare war on Poseidon. Poseidon is miffed that his brother Zeus would even accuse him of such a thing.

Percy sets out on a quest to retrieve Zeus’s master bolt, which is believed to be in Hades’s captivity in the Underworld. Helping Percy are Grover, his BFF, and Annabeth, a smart demi-goddess and daughter of Athena. The three take a bus, a train, a truck, and a taxi cab to make their way across America, from New York to Los Angeles, where the gates of the Underworld are located. They stop in St. Louis, Denver, and Las Vegas along the way. During their quest, they battle vicious monsters like Medusa, they find disaster on the observation deck of the Gateway Arch, they are tricked by the god of war (Ares), they nearly lose their memories in an enchanted Vegas casino, and they are almost stretched to death.

Once in the Underworld, Percy finds that Hades does not have Zeus’s master bolt, and he is missing his own symbol of power: the helm of darkness. Hades accuses Percy of stealing both the master bolt and the helm of darkness for his father, Poseidon. He accuses Poseidon of being power-hungry. To make things worse, the master bolt magically appears in Percy’s backpack while he is talking to Hades. After escaping Hades’s wrath, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover encounter Ares, the god of war, on the Santa Monica beach. Percy questions Ares and discovers that Ares stole the master bolt and helm of darkness from the original thief (whose name we don’t yet know). Ares has been tempted by the possibility of sparking one of the biggest wars of all time between the Big Three: Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon. Percy and Ares battle it out on the beach, and Percy wounds Ares, winning the helm of darkness. Ares curses Percy. Percy returns the helm of darkness to Hades and takes a plane to New York City where he finds Mount Olympus on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. Percy meets Poseidon and Zeus for the first time and tells them everything that he knows and suspects. He tells them that he believes Kronos, king of the Titans who ruled in the age before the Greek gods, is getting ready to wage war on the Olympians (the Greek gods and goddesses). Percy has been having dreams about Kronos in which Kronos talks to him. Zeus doesn’t want to hear it. Poseidon tells Percy that he is proud of him and that he must make a choice when he goes home to his mom’s apartment in Queens, NY.

That summer at Camp Half-Blood, Percy has a great time living the life of a hero. He procrastinates making a decision about whether he will stay at Camp Half-Blood year round, or whether he will go home and live with his mom in Queens. On the last day of camp, Percy is lured into the woods by his friend, Luke. Luke confesses to Percy that he was the original thief of the master bolt and the helm of darkness. He tells Percy that he serves Kronos and that Kronos is planning to defeat the Olympians and get rid of them. Luke vanishes, leaving a deadly scorpion to sting Percy. Percy nearly dies from this scorpion bite, but is rescued by wood nymphs who take him to safety. Percy’s teacher, Chiron, nurses him back to health. Percy decides to go home and live with his mother for his seventh-grade year.

In conlusion, the character of Percy Jackson has been analyzed in this essay. At the beginning of the series he is shown as an immature and adolescent teen who is very quickly thrown into a whole new world, leading him to mature greatly and quickly as the series progresses. Percy had never been seen a ‘normal kid’ and quickly finds out why. When Percy finds out he is different, that he is a halfblood, he soon finds out what comes with the ‘job description’.

Works Cited

1. Brunner, J. (2014). The Character Development of Percy Jackson. Brighthub Education. https://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/133607-character-development-percy-jackson/
2. Byrne, R. (2016). An Exploration of Identity in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series. Journal of Literary Studies, 32(4), 71-87.
3. Corley, C. A. (2009). Mythology and Religion in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series. The ALAN Review, 36(2), 46-54.
4. Dines, N. (2017). Teaching With and Through Percy Jackson: Transformative Children's Literature in Middle Grades Classrooms. Language Arts, 94(5), 321-331.
5. Gamache, M. (2010). The Power of Percy Jackson: Engaging Reluctant Readers. Education, 131(1), 215-222.
6. Harris, J. (2012). The Function of Mythology in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 23(2), 259-274.
7. Hatfield, L. (2011). Myths and Morals: Understanding Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 84(1), 15-19.
8. Lamb, A. (2018). The Trouble with Half-Bloods: Greek Gods, Hybrid Identity, and the Cultural Politics of Blood in Percy Jackson. Children's Literature in Education, 49(1), 62-76.
9. Riordan, R. (2005). The Lightning Thief. Disney Hyperion.
10. Verburg, K. (2007). Teaching Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series: A New Voice for Mythology in the Classroom. The ALAN Review, 35(1), 7-14.