MostDopeZebra
Book Project
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
Three Themes:
1. You must earn your respect.
2. Your quest won’t always be simple. There will be obstacles.
3. Unlocking your full potential will lead to a brighter future.
Character Analysis:
Percy Jackson: Percy Jackson, the main character and protagonist of the book, is a
misunderstood teenage boy. Just like a lot of other teenagers in this world. Percy has issues at home, at
school, and finding himself. Percy lives in what seems to be the state of New York with his Mother and
his abusive step dad Gabe. He and Gabe have never gotten along. At school, Percy struggles and gets
suspended a lot. He especially struggles in English due to his dyslexia. It seems like his life is just one
immense chaos. Also, he keeps having “visions” of mythical creatures attacking him. He thinks he is
insane. We later find out that the reason Percy is such a strange child is because he is a half blood, a mix
breed between human and god. As we venture on through the chapters we find out numerous things
about Percy. We find that he is the son of Poseidon, the reason he struggles in English is not dyslexia
but his brain is trained to read his 1st language (the language of the gods) which is Greek; Therefore the
words are foreign to him. We also find out that the “visions” he is having, aren’t visions at all. The
creatures he keeps seeing are real; they are REALLY trying to kill him. Those creatures, everyone at camp
half blood (a camp Percy goes to eventually), and all the gods believe that Percy has stolen Zeus’s
lightning bold. In order to clear his name, and save his mother from a minotaur Hades had sent which
crushed Percy’s mom, Percy goes on an epic quest with some friends to FIND THAT LIGHTNINGBOLT! On
this journey Percy finds out a lot about his powers and about who he really is.
Grover Underwood: Grover Underwood is also a main character in this book. He is Percy Jackson’s best
friend. He goes to school with Percy and is the only one that REALLY accepts him. To Percy and the rest
of the mortal world Grover is just an average joe who constantly wears sneakers and a beanie. But,
grover isn’t what he seems to be. We find out that under the beanie he wears every day is a pair of
horns, under his sneakers are the hooves of a goat, and the reason that Grover is such a great friend to
Percy is just because Percy’s jokes and crazy antics. Grover is secretly Percy’s protector. Well, junior
protector to be specific. You might ask, “What exactly is a junior protector?” Well, a junior protector is a
Satyr (mythical creature with the body of a man & goat legs) that is sent on a secret mission. Grover’s
mission was to make sure nothing bad happens to Percy Jackson as long as he shall live. Junior
protectors become Full Protectors, and get there full horns once there mission is complete. Grover is
alongside Percy as he discovers his powers and ventures on the mighty quest to retrieve the all mighty
lightning bolt.
Annabeth Chase: Annabeth is camp half-blood’s fiercest fighter. She is the daughter of the Goddess
Athena. Like Percy, she never lived with her god parent. She has lived and trained at camp half-blood for
5 years. She goes along with Percy and Grover because although she has so much training she has never
been on a real quest.
Summary of Two Chapters:
In chapter 3, “Grover unexpectedly loses his pants” Percy and his mother go on a needed
vacation. As they are lounging in the cabin he starts to wonder why his mother is with Gabe and why his
father left them when he was so young. Feeling bad about lying to her son his whole life, she spills the
beans about Percy’s father. She doesn’t give names, but tells him that his dad is a god. So goes off and
tells the long story about how Percy’s dad and his brothers made a pact not to have children with mortal
women. Percy was an accident and what broke broke the pact. That is why his dad doesn’t want to see
him. His dad feels like Percy is a big mistake that he really regrets. It also is forbidden that gods come in
contact with their mortal spawns. After that she tells him that it’s not safe to live with her anymore. She
tells him that he belongs at camp half blood, were there are tons of kids just like him. There he will learn
to fight and protect himself from any evil creature that tries to harm him. After this conversation grover
appears looking for Percy. They all head to camp half-blood, but are stopped in their tracks by a vicious
Minotaur (evil bull creature). Grover, being the stud protector that he is, passes out. The Minotaur then
attacks Percy’s mother, turning her into dust. Percy then grabs Grover and runs the rest of the way from
camp Half-Blood.
In 2nd to last chapter “I settle my tab,” The gang walks into the lobby of the empire state build
and ask for the 600th floor. Percy alone clicks the button to the 600th floor and the elevator goes up like a
regular elevator, but then when he walks out he is on a narrow road in the sky. Then Percy finally clears
his name with Zeus. He starts talking to him and explains to him that Aires is the one that took the
lightning bold during a winter event held by the gods. Then he has the opportunity to talk to his father.
His father then tells him why he isn’t in his life. Zeus give him Hades helms and tells Percy that he took it
because he thought that Hades might have taken the lightning bolt. Afterward Percy goes back to hell
and gives back Hades his Helms. The whole conflict is resolved.
Ten Vocab. Words:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Minotaur -Noun; Evil mythical creature that is Part man and Part Bull
God-noun; Greek god and goddess such as Zeus, Athena, Poseidon
Satyr-noun; Kind mythical creature that is part man part goat. These creatures are protectors.
Lightning bolt--noun; The most powerful weapon in the world of greek mythology. This lightning
bold is owned by Zeus.
5. The Underworld—noun; Hell
6.
7.
8.
9.
Hades—noun; The devil in Greek mythology.
Half Blood—adjective; a word describing a person that is half god and half human
Blue—adjective; the color blue symbolizes the hatred Percy and his mother had for Gabe.
Nymphs—noun; Mythical water creatures (similar to a mermaid). A nymph gave Percy a magical
Perl to get out the underworld easily.
10. Greek—adjective; the language that all the gods speak.
Discussion Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why didn’t any of the gods have contact with their children.
Why did Percy’s mom stay with Gabe. Why or why not?
How did Percy’s mom still live even though she was crushed by a minotaur?
What are some symbolization this book uses?
Whatever happened to Grover and Annabel after the quest?