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
Chiron takes Percy on a tour of the camp. Campers point at Percy and stare. Percy looks back at the farmhouse and realizes it’s massive; he sees an attic curtain move and feels he’s being watched. Chiron assures him that there’s nothing living up there and he leads Percy to the strawberry fields, which the camp grows to pay their expenses. Mr. D is forbidden from growing grapes, but he can affect all fruit-bearing plants. Percy flashes on Grover and asks again if Grover will get in trouble. With a sigh, Chiron says that Grover has big dreams but is a late bloomer, and his performance with Percy won’t look good to the Council of Cloven Elders. Chiron mentions the “fate” of Mom, and Percy asks if the Underworld is real too. Chiron says it is, but then he changes the subject.
Again, the revelation that Mr. D can’t grow grapes anymore speaks to the political and controlling nature of the gods’ relationships. Percy’s concern for Grover suggests that even if Percy was shocked that it’s Grover’s job to protect him, Grover is right: their friendship is genuine. Learning more about what Grover wants out of life and what life as a satyr entails allows Percy to gain empathy for his friend, and eventually to figure out how to best support him.
Themes
Chiron shows Percy the woods, asks him if he has a sword and shield for capture the flag on Friday night, and then points at the other sporting arenas. The mess hall is an outdoor pavilion with white Grecian columns. There’s no roof, but Chiron gives Percy an odd look when Percy asks what they do if it rains. Then they see the cabins: there are 12 arranged in a U, with two at the bottom of the U. They all look different. Looking at the two head cabins, Percy realizes that each cabin represents a god or goddess. The head two, representing Zeus and Hera, and two others are empty—but all the rest are full of campers. A huge girl from a red cabin sneers at Percy. When Percy asks, Chiron confirms that he’s the Chiron from the stories and that he’s been a teacher for 3,000 years.
Though Percy’s question about inclement weather makes perfect sense for a mortal camp, Chiron’s odd look suggests that Camp Half-Blood doesn’t work like that. This is one of the many things that shows Percy how different this place is and how different life is as a half-blood. Despite sharing his half-blood status with the other kids, the girl who sneers at him makes it clear that there are still rivalries and tension among campers.
Themes
Chiron leads Percy to Annabeth, who’s on the porch of cabin number 11. Percy can’t figure out what she’s reading, but then he realizes the book is in Greek. The cabin is old, worn, and overflowing with campers. The campers all bow to Chiron and then he gallops away. Annabeth introduces Percy to the cabin as “undetermined,” and a kind-looking blond boy with an unsettling scar on his face named Luke greets Percy. Annabeth blushes and says that Luke will be Percy’s counselor for now in the Hermes cabin. Luke explains that Percy will be here until he’s determined. Percy doesn’t understand this. Annabeth drags Percy outside and tells him he has to do better—most kids at camp wish they could’ve fought the Minotaur.
Annabeth wants Percy to understand that he’s already special at camp, since he fought the Minotaur—but he’s acting like a normal kid, something that’s unbefitting of how cool he is in the eyes of the other campers. Essentially, Annabeth is trying to make Percy see that he’s already a hero, even though he hasn’t formally gone on a quest yet. Percy, on the other hand, doesn’t feel like a hero—he feels more like a normal kid who can barely function in the mortal world, let alone in the divine world where nothing makes sense to him.
Themes
Percy is doubtful that he actually fought the Minotaur from myth, but Annabeth explains that monsters don’t have souls, so they can’t really die. She confirms that Mrs. Dodds, a Fury, isn’t dead. Annoyed, Percy asks why he has to stay in the Hermes cabin when there are plenty of empty bunks elsewhere, but Annabeth insists that one’s cabin depends on who one’s parent is. Percy says his mom is Sally Jackson. Annabeth insists that she’s referring to Percy’s dad, whom she says isn’t dead. She shocks Percy when she asks if Percy has been kicked out of schools and diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. She says that the dyslexia means he’s hardwired for ancient Greek, and the ADHD is just quick battle reflexes. Most kids here have gone through the same thing. She says that Percy is definitely a half-blood, since the ambrosia he drank didn’t kill him.
As far as Percy is concerned, life in the divine world of the gods should work the same way it does in the mortal world; thus, the Minotaur should be dead. It isn’t, however—it seems to reincarnate and exist so that heroes like Percy can prove themselves throughout the ages. This another way the novel insists that the Greek stories have staying power. Within the world of the novel, the stories aren’t all that stick around—the creatures themselves continue to exist and they bring those stories to life.
Themes
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The huge girl, Clarisse—one of Ares’s daughters—saunters over with some friends and tells Percy that they have an initiation ceremony for newbies. Percy knows he has to earn his reputation, so he refuses Annabeth’s help. Clarisse picks him up by his neck and shoves him into the bathroom. She starts to bend Percy’s head over one of the toilet bowls, but Percy feels an odd sensation in his stomach. Water blasts out of the toilet and straight into Clarisse’s face. Other toilets explode and spray her friends right out of the bathroom. The sensation in Percy’s stomach lessens and he sees that the bathroom—and Annabeth—are soaked, but he’s dry. Outside, Percy and Clarisse exchange insults, and Annabeth says she wants Percy on her team for capture the flag.
Now that Percy is at Camp Half-Blood and is starting to understand who and what he is, he doesn’t try to explain away what happens. He might not understand how he makes the water shoot out of the toilets, but he no longer blames his ADHD for making him see things or miss things. In other words, Percy is already getting more comfortable with who and what he is. Clarisse’s bullying behavior also makes him more comfortable, as this is something he’s dealt with many times in his everyday life. In this sense, not much changes from the mortal world to the demigod camp—bullies still exist.
Themes
