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 soon falls into a routine: Annabeth teaches Percy to read Greek in the mornings, and then Percy tries outdoor activities. He’s not particularly good at anything but canoeing, which isn’t a heroic skill. Campers watch him for some clue of who his dad is, which gets old, but Percy decides that he likes camp. He tries not to think about Mom, but he decides that if the gods are real, there must be a way to bring her back. He also begins to understand Luke’s resentment of Hermes. Percy wonders why his dad can’t just conjure a phone and call.
Again, the social aspects of camp are a lot like those in the mortal world, so in many ways, it’s easy for Percy to feel like he belongs at Camp Half-Blood. Gossip, conjecture, and camp activities like canoeing are normal parts of both the mortal and the divine world. Being here, however, forces Percy to confront the fact that his dad is absent—and clearly absent by choice.
Themes
The Hermes cabin meets Luke for a sword-fighting lesson. Percy does okay, but none of the blades feel right. Luke divides everyone into pairs and takes Percy; other campers warn Percy that Luke is the best swordsman in the last 300 years. They’re right: Percy is sweating by the time Luke calls a break. When Percy sees Luke pour water on his head, he does the same. It makes Percy feel strong. Then, Luke calls Percy up to help demonstrate a disarming technique. He demonstrates slowly, and then they spar in real time. Percy finds that sparring feels easy—but soon, the sword starts to get heavy again. Percy attempts the maneuver and succeeds. When they try again, Percy feels weak and doesn’t stand a chance.
That Percy feels stronger in the water (during canoeing and when he dumps the water on himself) is a clue as to who his father is—and a clue as to the kind of person and demigod Percy is. Even if these things don’t make sense to Percy at this point, he is still learning a lot about himself and is therefore becoming more comfortable with his identity. Further, that Percy’s father isn’t immediately obvious allows Percy to make more friends without getting too involved in camp politics.
Themes
On Friday, Percy and Grover sit by the lake. Percy asks how Grover’s conversation with Mr. D went. Grover turns yellow but says it went fine. Percy says that Chiron mentioned Grover’s big career plans, and he asks if Grover got the credit for his keeper’s assignment. Grover sadly says that Mr. D decided that this assignment isn’t over yet; if Percy were to get a quest he’d have to go too—but the chances of a quest are slim. Percy assures Grover that he would take him along if he got a quest, and then they discuss the gods and the cabins. Grover explains that Artemis and Hera have honorary cabins while Hades has no cabin, being the god of the Underworld. Grover says that after World War II, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—the Big Three—swore on the River Styx that they wouldn’t father any more heroes.
Taking interest in Grover’s career path allows Percy to demonstrate that he’s a kind and caring friend—he wants Grover to do well, and he wants to do what he can to help Grover do well. Grover can repay the favor by helping Percy understand how the divine world of the gods works. He makes it clear that it’s extremely important to honor the gods, even in ways that might seem silly—but it’s still important to show gods respect and reverence.
Themes
Grover says that Zeus messed up and had a daughter named Thalia 17 years ago. Children of Big Three attract more monsters anyway, but Thalia was also cursed because of Zeus’s broken promise. Hades let monsters out of Tartarus to torment her, and Thalia’s keeper couldn’t keep her safe—at the top of the hill above camp, Thalia told her keeper to take the other two half-bloods traveling with them to safety while she held off the monsters. She died in this battle, and Zeus turned her into the pine tree in the valley beneath the hill. Percy feels hollow; Thalia’s story makes his victory over the Minotaur seem small. He asks if heroes have gone on quests to the Underworld, but Grover becomes suspicious. Percy changes the subject and asks if satyrs always guard demigods. Grover explains that they try to identify kids of the Big Three, but he tells himself that Percy can’t be the son of anyone powerful.
The simple fact that the gods “mess up” and father children in spite of their promise shows that in important ways, the gods are very human. However, their mistakes have far more intense consequences than a human making the same mistake might: any child of the Big Three is going to be a target for the other two gods. This also speaks to the politics and the fraught relationships between the three divine brothers—Hades, in particular, is clearly very interested in getting revenge on his brothers.
Themes
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After dinner, it’s time for capture the flag. Annabeth carries in a huge, gray banner, while Clarisse presents a red one. Percy finds Luke and asks whose side they’re on. Luke says that tonight, they’re allied with Athena, along with the Apollo cabin. Ares has the other cabins. Chiron announces the rules, and battle equipment suddenly appears on the tables. Luke helps Percy find a shield and helmet, and then Percy follows his team into the woods. He tries to ask Annabeth what the plan is, but she only says that Percy’s job is to stay away from Clarisse’s spear and to stand on guard duty by the creek. Percy feels like an idiot and like the game will be awful when he sees a teammate run past him—he’ll miss all the fun as a guard.
Even if Percy doesn’t entirely understand how capture the flag works at Camp Half-Blood, he is, like most others at camp, very interested in proving himself—something that comes along with being a demigod. In this way, Percy isn’t so different from anyone else at camp, even if he still feels somewhat lost and out of place. Further, Percy sees his role as a guard as a product of being low in the pecking order at camp, which makes him feel like the others aren’t his friends.
Themes
Percy hears a terrifying animal noise; then, four Ares warriors and Clarisse leap out. They surround Percy, and Clarisse stabs at him with her spear. Percy protects himself with his shield, but he realizes that her spear is electrified. The Ares warriors kick Percy to the ground and insist that they don’t care about the flag—they care about Percy, since he humiliated them. They spar, and then one guy pushes Percy into the creek. Percy thinks he’ll die, but instead, the water seems to wake him up. He stands, fights off Clarisse’s friends, and then snaps Clarisse’s spear and hits her in the face. Luke races past with the Ares flag, which turns silver once Luke crosses the creek.
The Ares kids’ violence and desire for revenge reads as very childish—but this is the sort of thing the gods themselves do. A desire for revenge, in other words, is a universal experience. Even if Percy doesn’t understand this, or understand why the water has a positive effect on him, he does take the information he has and use it to his advantage by staying in the stream so that he can best Clarisse. This suggests that Percy can piece together some parts of his identity, even without all the information.
Themes
Percy hears Annabeth congratulate him, but he can’t see her. Annabeth removes a Yankees baseball cap. Angry, Percy says that Annabeth set him up as a diversion. With a shrug, Annabeth says that she would’ve helped if Percy needed it. She then asks what happened to his arm. Percy spits that it’s a sword cut, but Annabeth notices the cut healing. She tells Percy to step out of the water, which makes Percy feels exhausted. Annabeth starts to mutter, but Percy hears the howl again, and a huge black hound appears. Annabeth tries to defend Percy, but the creature leaps at him. It falls dead from a dozen arrows. Everyone ignores Luke and the Athena team’s victory. Chiron trots up and says that someone must’ve summoned the hellhound, and Annabeth tells Percy to get in the water. The creek heals Percy’s wounds, and a trident appears above his head—at this, Annabeth and Chiron inform Percy that his father is Poseidon.
As the hellhound and Percy take the spotlight, Luke and his victory fall out of it—suggesting that whether Percy knows it or not, a rivalry may be brewing between him and Luke. It’s also significant that many campers and adults shot at the hellhound to protect Percy, as it suggests that the community at Camp Half-Blood is robust and intent on protecting its own. Annabeth’s attempt to protect Percy in particular suggest that she already considers him a friend, something that’s complicated now that she knows Poseidon is his father.
Themes
