Element of novel "The Lightning Thief"

A.            Theme

Identity The Lightning Thief is all about identity and about discovering identity. At the beginning of our narrator's tale, Percy Jackson doesn't yet know who his father is or that he has any special powers of any kind. He thinks of himself as a "bad kid," one who always gets into trouble.

Heroism The story tells us about being a hero even if no one is rooting for you. The book also tells us on being a hero in our own way.

Isolation Isolation leads to anger, hatred, and violence in The Lightning Thief. In the beginning, we learn that our narrator, Percy, is a lonely dude. He's often kicked out of schools because he's not "normal." Trouble seems to find him wherever he goes, and he has two learning disabilities (dyslexia and attention deficit disorder), making him truly feel like an outsider. Even when he has discovered that he has special powers and when he has found a place full of kids just like him, our narrator is still isolated and must stay in a cabin all by himself (thanks to his dad). When Percy feels alone in the world, he can be cold and angry. When he feels as though he has a place in the world, our he is full of courage and possibilities. But Percy isn't the only one: Hades (the God of the Underworld) lives in loneliness underground, excluded from Mount Olympus by his brothers. The half-blood Luke resents his father, the god Apollo, for not being around or being interested in him. Isolation often results in violence, while connection and a sense of belonging often brings peace. That being said, Percy's isolation from society is also what makes him such a perceptive dude and an entertaining narrator – he notices and understands things about people in a unique way.

Love Amid battles with venomous monsters and angry gods, one thing becomes perfectly clear about Percy Jackson: he loves his mom more than anything. It is this love that keeps Percy strong, that motivates him to complete his quest, and that helps him to do the right thing. This love contrasts heavily with the violence that Percy experiences in The Lightning Thief, and it is what makes life worth living for him. During his quest, Percy has access to some of the most powerful weapons and magic in the history of Western Civilization, but he doesn't give a hoot about this kind of power. He is not tempted to steal anything for his own gain. He seems to understand that love (having a mother who loves him for who he is) is more important and more powerful than any master bolt or helm of darkness.

Family Family can be both a destructive and creative force in this novel, but no matter what, it's really important to gods, demi-gods, and mortals alike. The Greek gods are all related to each other, and they sure do have their share of family issues – there is so much tension between them that one wonders how they have survived for so long without ripping each other to shreds. Well, that's exactly the situation we find when we begin reading The Lightning Thief: the brothers Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades don't trust one another. This lack of trust nearly leads to World War III. Similarly, we see how destructive family can be when campers like Luke feel unloved and unclaimed by their mortal parents. Even the demi-gods and gods want to feel like they are part of a family – it's not just a mortal thing. At the same time, we watch as Percy matures and grows wiser as he learns more about his father and as he realizes that his father is truly proud of him. Though his home life in Queens, NY is troubled thanks to Smelly Gabe, Percy's relationship with his mom is what makes everything OK. Their little family is what Percy lives for.

Traditions and Customs The Lightning Thief is based on the idea that the Ancient Greek gods and goddesses are still alive and still ruling the earth, sea, and sky. Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, follows the heart of Western Civilization wherever it goes and is now located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building in New York. Our narrator, Percy, discovers that he is very much a part of this tradition, and throughout the story he learns more and more about the customs of this tradition. At the heart of this story and of Percy's quest is a plot to destroy Greek gods and goddesses. Many are beginning to question the traditions and customs that have ruled for thousands of years. Some view tradition and customs as a means of manipulating a people, while others revere tradition and customs for the way they protect and celebrate humanity and civilization. We are left wondering whether change might be a good thing or an incredibly destructive thing.

Language and Communication The Lightning Thief teaches us that there are more ways of communicating and of using language than one. The story helps us think outside the box and realize that there are no limits or rules when it comes to communication: if we open our minds, we can communicate with animals and gods. First of all, our narrator and protagonist extraordinaire, Percy, is dyslexic and has attention deficit disorder, which means that he has a really hard time reading and writing English and paying attention in school. This makes school REALLY hard for him, and he ends up feeling like a loser/dummy most of the time. But then he realizes that he's a demi-god, that his brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek and not modern English, and that his ability to notice lots of things at once is actually an essential skill to have when fighting a Minotaur to the death. Over the course of this story, we see characters communicate via dreams, rainbows, animals, names, green mist, riddles, and more. We often see characters communicate without words at all. Communication can happen on multiple levels at any given time, and it is often what goes unsaid or unspoken that is most important.

Lies and Deceit Many people in The Lightning Thief, both mortal and immortal, hope to deceive our narrator and others for the sake of causing chaos and violence. Lying doesn't necessarily involve saying something untrue in this novel. Often lying simply involves keeping information from someone (like the way Percy chooses not to tell Chiron everything that the Oracle told him). Percy's entire quest is built upon a deception, and so we could say that the entire novel is built upon deception. It gets tricky, though, when certain characters know how to read minds or eavesdrop on dreams. It becomes clear that lying is not a very easy task when gods and goddesses are involved.

Violence The Lightning Thief is a nail-biter. Our narrator, Percy Jackson, really can't go three feet without encountering someone or something that wants to kill him, pronto. And he's only twelve years old. The gods can get pretty mean and bloody when they want to, and they seem to want to get mean and bloody a lot. Violence is a way of life among the gods (maybe because they can never die and, therefore, don't value mortality). Even when Percy returns the master bolt to Zeus, Zeus thanks him by telling him he will spare Percy's life for the time being. This is a dog-eat-dog (or god-eat-god) world that Percy lives in. And we're not just talking about the world of the gods; the mortal world can get pretty rough too. At the end of the novel, Percy realizes that his stepdad has been hitting his mom. Violence forms the shadow that contrasts with the light in this novel, and the light is found in Percy's friendships and in his relationship with his mother.

Memory Memory is often manipulated in the world of The Lightning Thief, and it is often redefined as well. Memory is not so much what a person recalls of the past, but mostly refers to the collective memory of a culture. The gods have been around for thousands of years, and so their memories and that culture's memory extend far back in time. This leads to all kinds of misinterpretations and manipulation of the past. It becomes clear that memory is a powerful thing, and if one could control a people's memory, one would have a lot of power over them.

B.             CHARACTERS

1. PROTAGONIST

a.       Perseus "Percy" Jackson

The protagonist and narrator of the series and a son of Poseidon. Being a child of the "Big Three" (Zeus, Hades, Poseidon), Percy is possibly the child referred to within the prophecy, which foretells that the next half-blood child of the "Big Three" to reach the age of sixteen would make a decision that would either save or destroy Olympus.[1] He was technically only selected to go on two of the five quests in the series, the first being the retrieval of Zeus' master thunderbolt. He is the leader of this quest. He actually reminds me of Hercules in the Disney movie since they are both sons of gods from the very start of the story but they don’t know within themselves until they are told by their god parents. They also have the some similar qualities such as bravery, heroism and they were both humorous throughout the story.

b.      Annabeth Chase

A daughter of Athena (goddess of wisdom and battle). She is shown to be somewhat pompous at first, but quickly warms to Percy on their first quest together.Being a daughter of Athena, she is very intelligent and has a fascination with architecture. She ran away from home when she was seven and met Luke and Thalia, who took her with them to get to Camp Half-Blood.[1] She aids Percy in four of his five quests and is captured in one of them.

c.       Grover Underwood

He is a satyr and Percy Jackson's best friend. He has found the four most powerful demigods of the century: Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon), Thalia (daughter of Zeus), and Nico and Bianca di Angelo (children of Hades). Before his death, Pan (a god of nature) proclaims Grover as the bravest satyr and names Grover as his successor to carry on his word to protect the wilderness. He is also the assigned protector for Percy as he was the one who lead him to Camp Half-Blood. Even though he was the protector of Percy, he is actually described as a coward, with Percy usually being the brave one between the two.

2. ANTAGONIST

a.       Luke Castellan

Luke is the main antagonist. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years" (8.15). He is the counselor in Hermes cabin, and he helps Percy a lot in Percy's first days at Camp Half-Blood, showing him the ropes and explaining that everyone at the camp is family. Percy thinks Luke, who is seven years older, is perhaps the coolest guy he's ever met. Gradually, over the course of Percy's time at camp, he realizes that Luke holds a grudge against his own dad, Hermes. He was also one of the more dynamic characters in the story as he was a friend of Percy at the start and he turned out to be the traitor in the camp who serves for Kronos

b.      Kronos

Though we never actually see Kronos, he definitely has a presence in Percy's story. He talks to Percy through Percy's dreams, luring Percy down to the Underworld. Percy believes that Kronos, who is a Titan and the father/grandfather of the Olympians, is healing and is planning to overthrow the Olympians, but when he conveys this belief to Zeus, Zeus doesn't want to hear it and dismisses the idea. Luke confirms Percy's suspicion at the end of the story.

c.       Medusa

Medusa disguises herself as Aunty Em, who owns a roadside curio-shop ("Auntie Em's Garden Gnome Emporium") in the middle of the woods in New York. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth don't recognize her at first because she is completely veiled.

d.      The Minotaur

This huge, horned dude attacks Percy, Grover, and Sally Jackson as they try to get Percy safely to Camp Half-Blood for the first time. The Minotaur nearly kills Percy's mom, making Percy furious. Percy rips the Minotaur horn off and kills him with it.

e.       The Monsters

Though we mortals don't notice them, the world is full of monster. Percy and his demi-god friends encounter plenty of monsters, because monsters can smell half-bloods and like to chase them down and kill them.

3. MINOR CHARACTERS

a.         Chiron

Mr. Brunner is Percy's favorite teacher, and teaches Latin. Later, Percy realizes that Mr. Brunner is Chiron, a very smart centaur who has trained many heroes before Percy's time, including Hercules. At Yancy Academy, Chiron helps Percy learn about Ancient Greece (the history of the gods and the Titans). On Percy's first day at Camp Half-Blood, he realizes that Mr. Brunner's name is actually Chiron and he has the body of a horse. Chiron is very wise. His whole job is to help train demi-gods for the work of a hero. 

b.        Sally Jackson

Sally Jackson is Percy's mom. She works at a candy shop in Manhattan and lives in an apartment in Queens, NY with her smelly, mean husband, Gabe. She has a love of life, and she loves her son more than anything else in the world

c.         Gabe Ugliano

Gabe is Percy's stepdad, and, as his last name indicates, he is ugly in body, mind, and soul. Gabe hates Percy's guts. All he likes to do is sit on his booty all day, eating chips and dip, and playing poker with his buddies. He takes money from Percy and from Percy's mom, Sally. We learn that the primary reason why Sally married Gabe was for his stench. His smell is so strong and overpowering that it helps mask Percy's demi-god smell from monsters.

d.        Mrs. Dodds

The Furies are just some of the monsters that hang out in the Underworld and that guard Hades, but they are a pretty deadly trio. They are sisters. One of the Furies poses as Percy's math teacher at Yancy Academy, Mrs. Dodds, and comes very close to killing him.

e.         Mr. D (Dynosus)

Mr. D is the irritable director of Camp Half-Blood and the God of Wine. His father, Zeus, has sentenced him to centuries of servitude at Camp Half-Blood for bad behavior: 

f.         Poseidon

Percy's father rules the sea. He is a member of the Big Three, the three sons of Kronos, along with Zeus and Hades. Just like the sea, Poseidon can be difficult to read and interpret – Percy doesn't know if his dad loves him or cares about him. But, over the course of the story, we realize that Poseidon is very proud to be Percy's dad.

g.        Zeus

Zeus is the god of the sky and the leader of the Olympians. He has an awful temper, so don't get on his bad side. He controls the weather and everything in the sky.

h.        Hades

Hades is a member of the Big Three and he governs the land of the dead – the Underworld. He is so arrogant.

i.          Athena

Annabeth's mom is really cool. She is the Goddess of Wisdom and is Zeus's daughter. 

j.          Ares

Ares is the God of War, and he is Zeus's son. We first meet him in Denver when he rolls up in a Harley outside of the diner where Percy, Grover, and Annabeth are about to eat.

k.        Clarisse

Clarisse lives in cabin #5. Ares, God of War, is her dad. She is the resident bully at Camp Half-Blood. When she tries to "initiate" Percy into camp culture by sticking his head in a toilet, Percy is able to communicate with the water and use it against Clarisse.

l.          The Olympians

The Olympians are all of the major Greek gods and goddesses who rule on Mount Olympus.

m.      The Oracle

The Oracle can see into the future and can offer prophecies, or predictions. She lives in the attic in a decaying mummy's mouth and her prophecies take the form of a magical green mist.

n.        Cerberus

Cerberus guards the entrance to the underworld. He's a ginormous doggy with three heads. His job is to sniff out the living who might be trying to sneak into the Underworld.

C.            Plot

1.      Exposition

The book starts off introducing a sixth grader named Percy Jackson. He is dyslexic and always gets into trouble. One day, Percy goes with his school, Yancy Academy, a private, boarding school for troubled kids on a field trip. They go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at Greek and Roman stuff.

2.      Rising Action

The rising action of the book took place after Zeus found out that Percy was a son of Poseidon. Percy was blamed for being the one who stole Zeus’ lightning bolt as it was missing since the start of the story. Originally, it was Hades who was speculated as the thief due to his bitter feelings of his exclusion from mount Olympus. But the blame was shifted to Percy once he was claimed by Poseidon because Poseidon broke the oath taken by him, Zeus and Hades upon River Styx on not having any demigod child as these children grow up to be powerful among others. In order to prove his innocence, Percy along with Grover and Annabeth set off on a quest given by the Oracle to retrieve the bolt from the true thief and deliver it to Olympus on or before the summer solstice, which is exactly ten days from when they set off.

3.      Climax

The climax of the story occurred on two different event as a conflict within Percy surfaced when Ares told him that his mother was still alive and is being held hostage by Zeus. This had him torn between saving his mother and preventing a war between the gods. As they journeyed on towards Los Angeles, they stopped by Las Vegas at the Lotus Casino.  As it turns out, the casino was the western equivalent of the Lotus Island, which trapped its visitors in the island for eternity. Percy and the others were also trapped in the casino but managed to escape only to find out that they had spent 5 days there; leaving only a day left to finish the quest. Finally arriving at Los Angeles, they first went to the ocean and met the Nereid. The Nereid gave Percy 3 pearls that are to be used only in times of emergency. After that they went on to DOA Records, which was supposedly the entrance to the Underworld.

4.      Falling Action

The information that Ares gave Percy, it left him conflicted on his objectives of the quest. On one hand he wanted to save his mother while on the other, he needs to prevent a war between the gods that could ultimately result in the destruction of the world. He also needs to find a way out of Olympus in order to deliver the lightning bolt that was with him all along. This resulted on his use of the three pearls that were given to him by the Nereid earlier in the story. But the problem was that he had only three so he left his mother behind so that he could prevent the war. Once they used the pearls, they were teleported back to the ocean where Percy met the Nereid and they stumbled upon Ares who was waiting for them there. After a brief exchange of words, Percy engaged Ares in battle and managed to defeat him..

5.      Resolution

With no time to spare, the trio made their way back to New York and rushed to the Empire State Building, which was said to be the western representation of Mount Olympus. There, Percy went into the room of the Olympians and returned the bolt of Zeus just in time before the war was about to occur. Zeus accepts the bolt and calls off the war and gives Poseidon time to talk to his son. After their visit to Mount Olympus, Percy, Annabeth and Grover went back to Camp Half-Blood. Here Percy was later on attacked by Luke who revealed himself as the lightning thief as he also revealed that he was serving under Kronos the titan. In the end, Percy prepare to go home and back to the Camp next year.

D.            Synopsis

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.

E.             Setting

1.       From New York to Los Angeles, CA, and all the stops along the way Are you ready to travel around America, following Percy on his quest? This story takes place everywhere: in the sky, in the sea, underground, and all across America. It takes place in the present, and so you'll probably recognize a lot of the places that Percy visits, both from the world you live in and the Ancient Greek stories you may have heard about.

2.     New York: Yancy Academy, Sally's Apartment in Queens, and Montauk Beach Percy is from Queens, NY. His mom lives in a little apartment with Percy's stepdad, Smelly Gabe. Percy always seems to feel homesick for this apartment. This desire to go home tells us a lot about how much he loves his mom, because going home also means confronting the worst stepdad in the world. Here is a good description of what it's usually like at home: Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer were strewn all over the carpet. (3.14) Gabe uses Percy's room as his "study," littering his magazine and dirty clothes everywhere. Percy and his mom have being going to Montauk Beach since Percy was a baby, and this beach is also the place where Sally fell in love with Poseidon. When they visit, all of their fears seem to melt away, and Sally seems to get younger and more carefree. They tell stories and forget the real world for the weekend. Percy later realizes that when he was little, he used to see the faces of smiling women in the beach waves – these were Nereids, keeping watch over him. Here, Percy describes their rental cabin at Montauk: Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in. (3.83) Now, doesn't that kind of sound like cabin #3 at Camp Half-Blood? Yancy Academy is "a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York" (1.8), and it is a boarding school. There, Percy is surrounded by kids very different from him: they're kids from very affluent families, but whose parents don't necessarily care much about them. When Percy discovers at the end of his sixth-grade year that he will not be invited back, he tells us that he will miss, "the view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees" (2.15).

3.     Camp Half-Blood Camp Half-Blood isn't your normal camp where the campers learn skills like swimming, canoeing, and arts and crafts. It's a camp for young demi-gods and demi-goddesses (a.k.a. the children born of Olympian gods and their human boyfriends/girlfriends). There, half-bloods train in the art of killing monsters and of surviving in the mortal and immortal worlds. Dionysus – a.k.a. Mr. D – is the camp director, and Chiron, a famous hero trainer, helps out. Percy tells us that, "in all there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads" (6.109). Check out Percy's map of Camp Half-Blood as you read his description of it: The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, and amphitheater, a circular arena—except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings (5.57) Here, the weather is always nice, and it never rains. That is, unless Zeus decides to make it rain. Here are the cabins at Camp Half-Blood (check out our "Characters" section to learn more about who these gods are and what they are like). Imagine them in a U-shape with Zeus and Hera's cabins at the head. Percy describes them as "without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen" (6.50). We found a map of the cabins for you too if it helps. Cabin #1: Zeus Cabin #2: Hera Cabin #3: Poseidon Cabin #4: Demeter Cabin #5: Ares Cabin #6: Athena Cabin #7: Hermes Cabin #8: Artemis Cabin #9: Hephaestus Cabin #10: Aphrodite Cabin #11: Hermes Cabin #12: Dionysus Camp Half-Blood's boundaries are enchanted so as to protect the campers from any monsters or outside forces. However, we learn that anyone within the camp can summon a monster. This is how a hellhound from the Underworld is able to penetrate the camp boundaries. Thalia's tree on Half-Blood Hill is an enchanted pine tree infused with the spirit of a demi-goddess named Thalia (Zeus's daughter) who died battling the Furies on that hill a few summers before. The pine tree provides huge magical enchantments that help keep Camp Half-Blood even more safe and secure.

4.     Stops Along the Way: Auntie Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, the Woods, St. Louis Gateway Arch, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles The Lightning Thief takes us on a wild tour of America. We spend the night in the New Jersey woods, we encounter a scary roadside curio-shop, we watch the Midwestern landscape roll by from an Amtrak train window, we visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, we hang out in Denver, we get sucked into a Las Vegas casino, and we wander around the streets of Los Angeles in search of an entrance to the Underworld. In short, we get a pretty detailed, but unusual tour of the United States. But why do the gods live in America, anyway? Well, let's let Chiron take it away: "Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not—and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either—America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here." (5.191) The spirit of Western Civilization lies in the waterparks, casinos, monuments, and architecture of the United States.

5.     The Underworld Let's start with the facts. The Underworld is a vast world underground ruled by Hades, where the dead go to, well, hang out for eternity. The Underworld entrance is located in Los Angeles (West Hollywood), and it is divided into three fields: the Elysian Fields (prime real estate), the Asphodel Fields (neither good, nor bad; just so-so), and the Fields of Punishment (torture central). Percy describes the Underworld as being like one giant concert with no light and no beach ball floating around – just spirits milling about for miles on end. The dead are kind of transparent when you look at them directly, and they aren't very cheery. There's a stalactite ceiling far above. To get to the fields, Percy and his friends have to bribe Charon to ferry them across the River Styx: We were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas and guilt edges. (18.84) Charon explains that the river is "polluted" with human "hopes, dreams, wishes that never come true" (18.84). The shoreline of the Underworld features a black sand beach and a huge wall stretching as far as the eye can see in either direction. Percy tells us, "the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike" (18.97). There are metal detectors, security cameras, and tollbooths everywhere. The dead have two options: the "ATTENDENT ON DUTY" line and the "EZ DEATH" line. For those who'd like a chance to make it to Elysium (prime real estate), they need to pass through the long ATTENDENT ON DUTY line, so that they can be evaluated by three judges (judges are spirits like Shakespeare, King Minos, and Thomas Jefferson). For those who wouldn't like to be judged (for fear of being sent to the Fields of Punishment for bad deeds they might have done), they can simply take the EZ DEATH line and spend eternity in the Asphodel Fields (not bad and not good, just so-so). Cerberus guards this part of the Underworld – he's a giant, three-headed Rottweiler who is able to sniff out the living among the dead. So far, the Underworld sounds perfectly gloomy. Which, we guess, must be the point. Once past the security check-point, Percy and his friends can see spirits being tortured in horrible ways over in the Fields of Punishment to the left. To the right, the Elysian Fields glow like a beautiful gated community, with a lake and luxurious houses. And stretched out for miles in front of them is the concert-like scene of the Asphodel Fields – spirits drifting about aimlessly over dead, trampled grass, as far as the eye can see. Hades's palace looks like Zeus's palace, only with black stone walls and bronze floors – perhaps Hades is making a statement about how the Underworld can be just as cool as Mount Olympus. His house is big, to put it mildly. His gates are engraved with images of famine, trench warfare, nuclear bomb devastation, and more. His front yard features a garden of jewels, Medusa's statues (people Medusa has turned to stone), and Persephone's dangerous pomegranate orchard (dangerous because, if you take a bite of her pomegranate, you are stuck in the Underworld forevermore). Overall, we're impressed by the sheer size of the Underworld. It truly is a world of its own. The fact that Hades is having problems with overcrowding tells us a lot about the way in which the human population is growing, and perhaps it also tells us a bit about the state of things in the world above.

6.     Mount Olympus Found on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, one accesses Mount Olympus by elevator. When up top, one must walk across a very narrow bridge hanging thousands of feet above the Manhattan streets. On the other end of the bridge is a huge mountain of clouds that features a beautiful Ancient Greek community: Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces – a city of mansions—all with white colored porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze barriers glowing with a thousand fires.(21.30) Mount Olympus is the home of the gods, so it's only right that it look like the ritziest and most decadent place you can imagine. Gorgeous minor gods hang out here and there, merchants sell beautiful replicas of Ancient Greek treasures in the streets, the muses give a concert in the park, and naiads flirt with passers-by. Just a normal day in Olympus. Everyone is calm, peaceful and beautiful. Once inside Zeus's palace on Mount Olympus, Percy makes his way to the room where the Olympians' thrones are located: Room really isn't the right word. The place made Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Massive columns rose to a domed ceiling, which was gilded with moving constellations. (21.37) Each throne personifies its ruler. For example, Poseidon's throne looks like a deep-sea fisherman's chair, while Zeus's throne is very sleek and minimalist, solid platinum. The gods live well and luxuriously on Mount Olympus.

F.              POV/Narrative Voice

First Person (Central) Narrator

The POV used the story was a first person POV. We could see in the book that the protagonist, Percy was also the narrator of the book. We are only limited to his experiences, thoughts and feelings. This is very evident in the book as the protagonist/narrator used “I”, “mine” or “my” in the whole book. This has certainly made the book more interesting because it leaves the readers wondering what would happen next as they are only limited to the experience of one person. The readers would also have no choice but to believe the narrator is the protagonist himself because they only know the side of the protagonist throughout the whole story

G.             Verisilimitude

Hero maybe alone. But Hero is not fighting alone. There are always someone besides Hero to give help and make Hero stand up again after losing. Like Batman and Robin

H.            Climax

The climax of the story is happy ending with Annabeth go home with her father. And Percy prepare back to his mother and promise to Poseidon that he will back to Camp Half-Blood next year with look at the sea Long Island.

I.                   Conclusion

Personally for me, I really took a liking to the book because I have always been fascinated with the thought of having multiple gods that domain over different territories. these thoughts of mine eventually lead me into reading a lot of mythologies especially Greek and Norse mythologies even though I am not an avid fan books. For this book and series (as I hopefully finish reading the other sequels), it was just really clever on how Rick Riordan managed to instill events from a different era to our world in the present. The book really did deserve its praises from heralded critics and author such as Eoin Colfer, the New York Times, and Publishers weekly. The different, prestigious awards that the book and author has also garnered such as the New York Times Notable Book of 2005, Young Reader’s Choice Award in 2008, and the Mark Twain Award in 2008. Overall, I really do recommend this book, especially for those who have a have an interest in history as this was a freshening take yet entertaining to the Greek traditions.