Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Lightning Thief, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity, Heroism, and Normalcy
Family
Friendship and Belonging
Godliness vs. Humanity
Summary
Analysis
The camp lends Percy mortal money and gold drachmas. Annabeth packs her cap (a birthday gift from Athena) and a knife, while Grover fills his backpack with scrap metal and apples to eat. He also brings reed pipes, but he can only play two songs. At Thalia’s pine tree, Chiron meets the trio and introduces Argus, the head of security with eyes all over his body. Luke races up the hill to give Percy a pair of tennis shoes, which he says were a gift from Hermes. When he says “maia,” they sprout wings. Percy is touched—he thought Luke might resent him for getting so much attention. Luke hugs everyone and leaves, and Percy teases Annabeth for blushing.
Percy’s reaction to Luke’s gesture shows that Percy is acutely aware of how social relationships at camp play out. He understands that he and Luke might be rivals, and so it’s a significant gesture for Luke to give Percy such a nice gift. Being so much older, Luke bridges the gap between friend and mentor, which makes Percy even happier to receive this kind of positive attention from Luke.
Themes
Percy confirms with Chiron that being in the air is a bad idea—he’d be in Zeus’s territory—so he gives the winged shoes to Grover. Grover is thrilled, but he promptly falls, and the shoes drag him down the hill. Alone with Percy, Chiron laments that Percy needs more training, but then he excitedly offers Percy his pen. He explains that it’s a gift from Poseidon; he’s been keeping it safe. Percy uncaps the pen and it transforms into a sword. Chiron says the sword is named Anaklusmos, or Riptide. Percy can only use it against monsters, and it won’t hurt mortals since it’s made of celestial bronze. Chiron then shares that the pen will always return to Percy’s pocket and tells him that Mist will obscure him from mortals when he uses Riptide. Now, the quest feels real.
Percy seems to have an innate grasp of what he can and can’t do as a son of Poseidon than Luke does—the shoes are dangerous for Percy. In this sense, Percy is already at home in the divine world, and Riptide helps Percy feel even more connected to Poseidon. It helps him see clearly that Poseidon isn’t an entirely absent father—he did want to make sure that Percy had some way to protect himself.
Themes
Percy asks if there was a time before the gods, and what it was like. Chiron isn’t old enough to remember, but he says that Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age—but he didn’t care for humans. Humans only began to flourish under Zeus, after Prometheus brought them fire. Percy asks if the gods are really immune to death. Chiron points out that the Titans are immortal, but they’re locked up now in torturous prisons. Hopefully, the gods won’t suffer such a fate. Chiron tells Percy to relax and prevent the hugest war in human history. Percy gets in the car. On the way to the station, he asks Annabeth why she hates him. She insists that their parents are rivals and refuses to say more. Argus drops the trio at the Greyhound station, where Percy pulls down a flyer with his picture on it.
Chiron’s point is that while the gods and the Titans might technically be immortal, it’s still possible to overthrow them. This adds a human aspect to the gods, as it makes it clear that even though they’re divine, they’re not infallible. Percy and Annabeth’s conversation in the car is telling, as it makes it clear just how much stock Annabeth puts in following in Athena’s footsteps. Even though the fate of the whole world depends on Annabeth cooperating with Percy, it’s still more important to her to hate someone just because her mom does.
Themes
Percy isn’t far from Mom’s apartment. Grover explains that as a satyr, he can read Percy’s emotions and he knows what Percy is thinking. Grover tells Percy that Mom married Smelly Gabe for Percy’s sake—Gabe smells so repulsively human that he can mask Percy’s demigod scent. He says that Mom was very smart to do this. Percy feels guilty for not telling Grover and Annabeth the truth that he doesn’t care much about helping Poseidon, whom he’s starting to resent—he just wants to get Mom back from Hades. They play hacky sack until the bus arrives. Grover sniffs like he smells something, and after they board, Annabeth points out three old ladies getting on the bus. One is Mrs. Dodds. They sit across the front and block the aisle.
Riptide isn’t enough to make Percy feel genuinely loved; he still feels like he’s lost the only parent who’s ever cared about him. Because Grover can read Percy’s emotions, he functions as an interpreter for Percy and for the readers. Here, he helps Percy understand the depths of Mom’s love for him—which, regardless of Grover’s intent, simply makes Percy more committed to rescuing Mom from the Underworld. After coming to understand all Mom has done for him, it feels even more unthinkable to leave her there to rot.
Themes
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Annabeth and Grover look for an exit, but the windows don’t open. In the Lincoln Tunnel, Mrs. Dodds and her sisters announce loudly that they need to use the restroom. They walk to the back of the bus. Annabeth gives Percy her cap and tells him to sneak out the front of the bus. Percy grudgingly takes it and sneaks up the aisle past the Furies, but when the Furies get to the back, they transform into their monstrous forms and ask where “it” is. Still invisible, Percy grabs the steering wheel from the distracted bus driver. They struggle for the wheel, exit the highway in New Jersey, and barrel down a rural New Jersey road. Percy pulls the brake, which sends the bus into the trees. All the mortals race off the bus.
Though Percy, Annabeth, and Grover don’t pick up on it until later, it’s telling that the Furies are asking for “it”—that is, an object—and not Percy himself. It suggests that Percy and his friends are missing important information. Annabeth’s willingness to lend Percy her cap and essentially sacrifice herself and Grover suggests that even if she acts like she hates Percy, she really doesn’t. Though she’s trying to embody Athena, she also knows, deep down, that Percy is a genuine friend worth protecting.
Themes
Deciding he can’t leave his friends, Percy pulls the cap off and hails the Furies. Mrs. Dodds and her sisters crawl toward him, but Percy uncaps Riptide. Mrs. Dodds tries to pull Riptide out of Percy’s hand with her whip, but Percy manages to hang on as Grover and Annabeth help him wrestle the whips from the monsters. They manage to tie up Mrs. Dodds, and Percy destroys another Fury. When thunder shakes the bus, Annabeth shouts for Percy to get off. Outside, a tourist snaps Percy’s picture before he can recap Riptide. Lightning strikes the bus, and they hear Mrs. Dodds wailing inside. The trio plunges into the woods.
Percy, too, understands that he has to stand up for his companions, or he won’t be able to call himself a good friend. Throughout the quest, the novel ties these displays of heroics to defending one’s friends. This suggests that heroics for heroics’ sake is nowhere near as meaningful as acting courageously in order to save a loved one. Further, it implies that friendship itself is the whole point of these quests.
Themes
