The Lightning Thief Book Summary

The Lightening Thief – A Battle for Justice

Brief Summary: 

“The Lightening Thief” represents the fantasy side of the Greek Mythology in a unique way. It is marvellously written by Rick Riordan, which highlights a tussle between Percy Jackson (main character) with the Olympians (Greek Lords). The fight is over realizing the rested powers and proving that the “alleged thief” is not the real one. Besides this, the story is about authorizing Percy’s position among the Greek mythological fraternity. Through the novel, the author has tried to depict the flaws and rule-breaking ideologies prevalent among Greek Gods too. 

Analyzing the Storyline:

Highlighting the Characters:

The exotic story of “The Lightening Thief” highlights the character of Percy Jackson, who is set to fight the Olympians and realize his innate powers. He is attacked by one of the Chaperons named Mrs. Dodds who turned into a Fury or Erinyes (Goddess of Vengeance). Later, Percy gets saved by his favorite teacher called Mr. Brunner who turn out to be a Chiron (Superlative Centaur) and gives a magical sword-pen to him for fighting away Dodds. After the school year ends, Percy is taken to Long islands by his mother (Sally). Besides this, Percy is warned by his friend Grover warns him of an approaching danger and reveals to be a Satyr (Nature Spirit). In the island, Percy’s mother is attacked by a Minotaur and he kills him with one of his own horns. There, he realises his powers and understand that he is a Demi-God and the son of Poseidon (God of Sea and Earthquakes). He is set on a mission to find the Lord Zeus’s Lightening Bolt. But, he is thought to be a thief by Hades who has hidden the lightening bolt and his realm of darkness. Actually, the thief turns out to be Luke (Demid God). 

Meeting the Father and Other Greek Gods:

When Percy is sent on a mission to find the lightening bolt of Lord Zeus, he tends to come across Medusa (Gorgon), Echidna (Half Woman-Half Snake), and Chimera (Monster with Different Animal Parts). After defeating them, he and his companions pray to Ares (God of War and Courage) who gives them a backpack of supplies and weapons. Then, he meets Hades whose Helm of Darkness is stolen. But, Hades (God of Death) thinks him to be the thief which is not true. Suddenly, Percy finds the Lightning Bolt in the backpack given by Ares. This makes them realise that they have been manipulated by the War God. 

When Percy meets Ares on the beach, they had a big tussle and Percy wins. After the fight, Ares returns the Helm of Darkness which gets handed back to Hades. As Hades gets his Helm back, he releases Percy mother and she returns home. However, Percy continues his journey to Mount Olympus to return the Lightening Bolt to Zeus. There, he meets his father Poseidon. After returning the Bolt and meeting his father, Percy heads back to the summer camp in Long Islands.

Revelation of the Real Thief:

On returning back, Percy is considered as the Hero in the camp. On the last day, Luke reveals to him that he is the real thief who stole Hade’s Realm and Zeus’s Bolt. He was, actually, following the orders of Kronos (Leader of the Titans). It was Kronos who lured Ares into the whole scheme because he was power-hungry. Later on, Luke offers Percy to join the Titans as Green gods are irresponsible in his view. To this, Percy refuses and Luke attacks him with a scorpion. He gets stung and faints for a while. On waking up, he is given a choice to stay in the Half-Blood Camp or go back to home and finish the school. Percy opts for going home, finishing his school, and spending time with his mother.