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
Percy plummets into the river and sinks into the mud—but he realizes that it didn’t hurt, that he’s not wet, and that he can’t feel the Chimera’s poison anymore. He snatches a cigarette lighter out of the muck and lights it. It occurs to Percy that he’s also breathing. He imagines a woman’s voice like Mom’s asking what Percy should say, and Percy thanks Poseidon for saving him. Percy wonders why Poseidon saved him when he’s such a poor hero, but Riptide appears in front of him. The woman’s voice then tells Percy to take the sword. She says that she’s just a messenger, not Mom, but Mom’s fate isn’t hopeless—Percy must go to the beach in Santa Monica before going to the Underworld. Before the woman leaves, she tells Percy not to trust the gifts.
The ability to breathe and light a lighter underwater shows Percy that if he trusts in who he is and who his father is, he can do amazing things—and use these skills to his advantage later, if he needs to. The messenger also makes it clear to Percy that someone is looking out for him, which suggests that Percy has more friends and family out in the world than he might realize. Most importantly, however, she gives him hope that he can do something to help Mom.
Themes
Confused, Percy grabs Riptide, caps it, and swims for the surface. He passes a news anchor saying that it’s not a terrorist attack and that there are survivors. Another newsperson says that they have surveillance footage of a teen boy setting off a “freak explosion.” Grover and Annabeth finally find Percy as a woman from the observation deck passes on a stretcher and points. Percy pulls Annabeth and Grover away and tells them what happened. They hear another reporter mentioning Percy by name as the culprit and showing a photo. They make it back to the train just before it pulls away.
Percy and his friends may be on a quest in the divine world, but they still have to deal with all the issues that go along with being 12-year-old kids on the loose in the mortal world—especially when humans see things like explosions, not swordfights with monsters. In this sense, the novel suggests that Percy and Annabeth will never truly fit in in either world. In both realms, they have to deal with things that tie them uncomfortably to their other world.
Themes
