**Due to recent misinterpretations of some one post
from this blog, a disclaimer is now apparently necessary. If this is your first visit to The
Scratched Camera, please read the introductory post and discover, for yourself, that every typed word that
follows is unabashedly my opinion and mine alone. In said introductory post, which,
shockingly, I did not simply type up for my own good health, I state that we
all read events and characters with our own baggage in mind; no one observes
with a perfectly clear lens—hence the
name The Scratched Camera.
Therefore, it is completely your will to disagree with any material that
follows, just as it is my will to agree and advocate for what is mine.** ~End, irritating obligatory disclaimer~
Percy Jackson—He’d Do Anything to Save a Friend, Even if
They’re Part Barnyard Animal
Percy
Jackson’s reaction to the earth-shattering news that he is part god and part
man is startlingly ordinary. While
he understands, as Uncle Ben so adamantly informs us, that with great power
comes great responsibility, he can’t help but marvel and mischievously comment
as the chaos unfolds around him, his smirk in place and his cheeky remark
always ready to be dropped at the first sign that the morale is in need of a
boost.
Percy
Jackson was the character to solve my natural inclination to dislike
protagonists. He starkly
contrasted Harry Potter, the character I frequently compared him to in my
teens, as they were the first two series that truly convinced me that reading
wasn’t such a horrible thing after all.
The two seemed like night and day to me; Percy with his laid-back
demeanor and ability to keep a cool head even in moments of crisis, Harry with
his incessant angst—angst that I have since grown to fully understand, but
which served to annoy me to no end through my original read-through of the
series.
This
isn’t to say that both protagonists didn’t have a fair share of traits in
common. Collectively, there is a
driving desire to sacrifice themselves for the safety of the world or their
loved ones—a duty they are called on to perform regularly and which their
companions often draw attention to.
Annabeth acknowledges very early on that Percy’s Fatal Flaw is his
willingness to sacrifice the world or himself for his friends and family. Shockingly, Annabeth explains that this
flaw isn’t always necessarily a good thing.
As
a demigod, Percy is naturally rather short-tempered and impulsive; he finds it
very difficult to sit still and, as a result, whenever he discovers he can do anything
to resolve Camp Half-Blood’s current issues, he is quick to jump at the
opportunity, even if it may cost him his life. Early on, he has a difficulty understanding that the fate of
the world is an even higher priority than the fate of his friends and
family. In The Lightening Thief, Percy almost risks destroying the world in
light of saving his mother. In The Titan’s Curse, Jackson refuses to obey
orders to sit at camp and wait for the others to rescue Annabeth; he seeks to
join them on his own.
However,
by Titan’s Curse, he has a better
grasp on what it means to be a hero.
He immediately offers to be the one to take down the metal guardian who
resides over the junkyard of the gods, despite holding no responsibility for
its spring into action. Jackson
literally carries the weight of the world on his shoulders for several minutes,
as Artemis works to trick Atlas into resuming what should’ve always been his
burden. In The Battle of the Labryinth, he insists Annabeth flee, to leave him
to handle the monsters as Mount St. Helens works towards an eruption. Chase fights him, of course, but even
Percy can occasionally be too stubborn for her to trump.
In
The Last Olympian, Percy risks his
own life as he takes one dangerous swim across the River Styx. Doing so could’ve very easily killed
him, and, therefore, severely impaired Camp Half-Bloods prospects of defeating
Kronos, had he not had the will—not to mention, the tenaciousness of an
imaginary Annabeth—to lead him through it. However, he knew it was what needed to be done; it was their
best chance of winning the war against Kronos and preventing the destruction of
Mount Olympus.
In
the Heroes of Olympus series, Percy
gets an opportunity for a bit of a reboot, as the audience discovers in Son of Neptune that he has very few of
his memories still intact; all he has is his name, Annabeth’s, and an adorable
Panda Pillow Pet—told you this kid was the stuff of legend. Despite this potential for a
personality reboot, Percy persists in his bravery and courage, particularly in
terms of those he cares for. He
makes some friends at Camp Jupiter and, therefore, feels there’s no other
option than to step in and help them in their assigned quest; the decision is
an easy one for him. Finally
reunited with his old friends in Mark of
Athena, he very easily could’ve heeded Annabeth’s advice and simply let her
fall to Tartarus; logically, he could’ve been of more use on the other side of
the Doors of Death. Instead,
knowing he can’t let her suffer alone, he refuses to let go and follows her
journey down to the depths of Tartarus.
This
dedication to his friends and family comes with both positive and negative
consequences. Throughout the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series,
Kronos frequently attempts to exploit this well-known flaw of Jackson’s, in the
hopes that one of the numerous times he places himself on the line to save his
friends, he will die in the process.
Kronos’s plans fall short, however, as Percy never fails to come
through.
Despite
his enemies attempting to use this trait to their advantage, more often than
not, Percy comes out on top in duels.
This success can be attributed to his persistent practice and
corresponding success over the years—through which he has acquired quite a few presents: the Minotaur horn, Medusa’s head and
the Nemean Lion pelt, to name just a few.
This training, combined with his dedication to his friends, and his
natural inclination to take on the role of leader creates a stubborn and
brilliant swordsman. It motivates
him to fight to his very last breath, should the situation call for it, and
frequently in situations where he wasn’t called upon to fight to begin
with. At the age of twelve, he
eagerly stepped in to fight Ares so as to prevent the god from causing any harm
to Grover and Annabeth.
Impressively, pre-teen Jackson was triumphant, despite the
insurmountable odds that come with facing off against a god to begin with.
In
Sea of Monsters, he fights Luke, who
is acknowledged to be one of, if not the best demigod with a sword in
camp. Not only does the underdog
win the fight, he manages to trick Luke into revealing his responsibility for
destroying Thalia’s tree in the process.
He once again places himself in this position in Last Olympian, this time even under steeper circumstances, as Luke
has now been possessed by Kronos.
The fight nearly kills him, but he still can’t help but give it his best
attempt.
In
House of Hades, Percy feels horrible
leaving Bob behind to clean up their mess in Tartarus. The giant has remained loyal to him
throughout his entire journey through Riordan’s version of hell; but,
regardless, Percy was still forced to leave him behind, ann action which feels incredibly
cowardly and treacherous to him.
Despite
his various displays of success, Chiron and Mr. D both attempt to keep Percy
out of the quests issued in Sea of
Monsters and Titan’s Curse. In both situations, he would’ve perhaps
listened, had it not been his friends on the line. In Sea of Monsters,
he seeks to save Grover, believing he is uniquely qualified to do so, due to
the empathetic link the two share.
In Titan’s Curse, he refuses
to allow Annabeth to remain in peril while he simply sits and waits for her
safe return. Eventually, in both
of these situations, the other demigods involved come to realize that Jackson
is an unrivaled asset to be held on a quest and submit to allow him to tag
along.
However, simply being permitted to
join the quest isn’t easy for him.
Percy will always struggle when he is not assigned as the leader of the
quest; taking orders isn’t something he necessarily handles very well. In his youth, he was expelled from
every school his mother attempted to send him to. Therefore, Percy was not only the unending new kid, he was also
always labeled the troublemaker—the rebellious outcast with a perpetual smirk,
painted regularly as an underdog.
As a result, he would often gravitate towards other self-labeled
misfits. In his time at Yancy
Academy in Lightening Thief, he
frequently saves Grover from bullies.
Once he arrives at Camp Half-Blood and joins yet another community with
its own idiosyncrasies, he is temporarily labeled as the jock in comparison to
his previous nerd status; he is, after all, the controversial heir of one of
the big three.
When
Tyson arrives in Sea of Monsters,
Percy is ashamed of his brother.
He looks at the Cyclops and sees nothing but another opportunity to be
ridiculed. He no longer feels like
the cool kid who saved the day in The Lightening
Thief; now he’s the kid who’s dad slept with some strange sea creature to
produce a Cyclops. With Tyson’s
disappearance and apparent death later in the novel, however, Jackson comes to
his senses. The loss of a brother
he hadn’t even realized he had started to rely on hits him hard. As such, his cold distancing from Tyson
at the start of the novel will really be his last callous display of teenage
angst in his pursuit of popularity.
From here on out, not only will Percy naturally gravitate towards
outcasts, he will regularly seek them out and provide the friendship they need,
receiving an equally fervent loyalty in return.
This
leads to some unique and strong friendships throughout the course of both
series. Despite his brief amount
of time spent on her island, Percy feels very distressed that he cannot stay
and give Calypso the company she obviously desperately craves. Quirky artist and activist Rachel
Elizabeth Dare doesn’t scare Percy, despite her radical tendencies and strong
personality. In Son of Neptune, he’s immediately drawn
to the least popular Cohort. He
takes this one step further, as he bonds with Frank and Hazel—two extreme
outcasts in an already existing island of misfits.
However,
for those who serve as the majority or expected leaders of a society, this
rebellious tendency to favor underdogs can be quite chaffing. Frequently, Percy’s acquaintance with
people such as this gets off to, at the very least, a rocky start, resulting in
a turbulence that typically prevails.
Clarisse, Reyna, Zoe and Piper, while eventually growing to respect
Percy for his ability to succeed, still always seem distrustful of him or
perplexed by those who seem so intrigued or fascinated by him. To them, he is a capable fighter and
person, but not necessarily worthy of the recurrent hero-status he
receives.
Even when he and Annabeth first
become acquainted, there was a distinct dislike between the pair. However, with time, Annabeth began to
see his mischievousness and accompanying smirk, not necessarily as dissention
in the ranks, but as a healthy ability to question authority and seek to find
the best possible solution for all involved. Thankfully, for both their sakes, they were able to rise
above their original disagreements and develop one of the healthiest bonds in
young adult literature. They rely
on each other, without requiring the other to “complete” them. Had either one of them fallen to
Tartarus alone, they never would’ve survived; Annabeth may work to keep Percy
grounded and logical, but Percy reassures her that anything and everything is
possible, if only they can work together to live another day.
From Gary King to Nicholas Angel: Is Percy a good role model? Percy’s sense of humor allows him to display an excellent
ability to toe a particularly difficult line; he’s able to show worry and
concern for his friends while simultaneously embracing that there is only so
much he can do to force a situation.
Where Annabeth has a tendency to overanalyze, Percy impulsively sets to a
plan and follows it through. As an
impulsively concocted plan, it may not always be the best option, but he, at
the very least, gets the operation in order. While he may regularly find his way on quests that weren’t
his to begin with, he isn’t afraid to place credit where credit is due. In Sea
of Monsters, he gives Clarisse the fleece, knowing that her ability to fly—by
which I of course mean by plane, not that she has some latent ability to sprout
wings and take to the air—is the quickest resolution to the border problem
at camp. This concession shows an
ability to acknowledge that he doesn’t always need to be the hero that is
certainly commendable. He’s bold
and brash—a trait which isn’t always an exceptional model to set; however,
Percy doesn’t necessarily directly disobey, so much as he forges his own path
and solution. This rebelliousness
and bravery often earns him respect, most notably in the eyes of gods that
aren’t necessarily easy to please—for instance, Hades (who hates humans),
Artemis (who dislikes men), and Mr. D (who hates heroes)—serving to show young
readers that standing out can only be beneficial. Finally, he shows a willingness to risk his well being for
those he cares for and for the sake of a bigger purpose. His selflessness is a commendable
characteristic that all young readers—either male or female—could use to see
more of. Bella Swan sacrifices her
livelihood—and, if you were to ask Edward, her soul—in the name of something as superficial as romantic
infatuation. Percy persistently
places himself on the line to make a better world for his friends and
family. If there’s a better
example to set, I’m not sure what it is.
Role Model Rating:
10/10
From Peter Parker to Spider-Man: Is Percy relatable?
Jackson is an exceptional fighter, which could’ve potentially caused him
to be less relatable to the audience.
However, despite his prowess with a sword, he frequently relies on his
friends to save him—Annabeth, as is most often the case. While he is skilled, he is not god-like
and retains an ability to slip-up in his dueling. Along with the human side of his DNA, he does have several
noted fears. It is acknowledged
that he is claustrophobic, although it never really impedes his ability to win
a fight. After the conflict in Alaska
in Son of Neptune, he also acquires a
fear of suffocation, which plagues him off and on throughout the Heroes of Olympus series. Both of these fears serve to humanize
his character in ways his amazing skills with a sword might have previously
impeded. In addition to his fears,
he, like all other demigods, suffers from ADHD—which is his body’s natural
battle instinct pushing to be address—and dyslexia, which results from his
brain’s original familiarity with Greek.
Due to my disposition of disdain, both in general and in regards to
school, as a child and my previous disregard towards reading, I could certainly
relate to Percy’s ongoing battle with expulsion and external conflict with
teachers such as Mrs. Dodds. In my
time as a teacher, my suspicions that other students would relate to Percy for
these very same reasons were confirmed; I found that a majority of the high
schoolers who proudly proclaimed they hated to read, would also declare that
they had read all of the Percy Jackson
novels to date and simply couldn’t wait for the release of the next one. Finally, Percy, in his temper-driven
and capricious courses of action, often makes mistakes that he can pay for very
dearly. On a superficial level,
early on in the series he struggles with society’s expectations for him to be
popular, resulting in his isolation of Tyson. Eventually, he is able to overcome this mindset and grows to
even embrace his status as a rebel.
However, the best instance of paying for his previous actions is, by
far, the circumstance in which he is forced to suffer the fates he has
inflicted on his various enemies from his past in House of Hades. While
he had previously viewed his past prowess with nothing short of confidence and pride,
the experience sought to humble him greatly as he realized just how much pain
he had inflicted over the years. I
love that, with this realization, Riordan tones down any chance for arrogance
on Percy’s part, and allows the character to realize he may not have always
been the good guy, a fact he had previously been quite settled in.
Relatability Rating:
10/10
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