How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. (1.120)
Good old Mrs. Dobbs, the Fury. There isn't much talk of good vs. evil in this story, but Percy doesn't hesitate to use the word "evil" every once in awhile. What does being evil mean? Is Mrs. Dobbs the Fury really evil in your opinion? Is anyone evil in this story?
Quote #2
The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. (2.8)
The weather is frequently violent in this story. Storm after storm rolls through the sky. Zeus, lord of the skies, is mad and is expressing his anger through this thunder. To a human, it might seem like nature is revolting or rebelling. But we know that Zeus is controlling it all. Nature is a controlled thing in this story, and it is used almost like a weapon.
Quote #3
He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out. (3.20)
Smelly Gabe is smelly and mean. We learn later on that he occasionally hits Percy's mom. He reminds us of Mr. D or of Ares or of a number of gods who seem to love being violent. Maybe humans aren't so different from the gods after all.
Quote #4
I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons. (3.33)
Percy often has this feeling that someone is watching and waiting for him. Maybe because things are watching him from afar. Are the gods all-powerful? Can they see everything? Do they know everything? If they do, why doesn't Zeus know where his master bolt is? And how could someone like Luke steal the master bolt without the gods knowing? How powerful are these Olympians?
Quote #5
But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air. (4. 112)
Percy witnesses a lot of terrifying things as a twelve-year-old. How do these experiences affect him? How does watching his mother "die" change him? Does it?
Quote #6
I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me with high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—snap! (4.133).
We learn that Percy gains strength and power when he's near water – he draws his strength from water. However, in this moment, there's not a drop of water in sight. It's simply Percy's rage and anger that fuels him.
Quote #7
I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a straitjacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life. (5.152)
The gods are hardcore, and they can be pretty dark. Mr. D is the god of wine – how lovely! Wine means good times, celebration, festivities, right? Well, apparently, there are other sides to wine-drinking that are downright awful, and Mr. D shows Percy these scenes through his eyes. The gods seem to rule everything good and bad about their power or element.
Quote #8
"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight." (9.102)
This is what we've got to look forward to if Percy doesn't complete his quest. No pressure, Jackson. When the gods fight, the humans fight. The two worlds are interconnected. And given how much power the gods have, the results of war will be far more dangerous and gruesome than we humans can ever imagine.
Quote #9
A new set of ropes leaped out from the top and bottom of the beds, wrapping around Grover and Annabeth's ankles, then around their armpits. The ropes started tightening, pulling my friends from both ends. (17.150)
Man, the monsters don't stop coming do they? Here, Crusty is about to stretch Grover and Annabeth to death, just for the sake of fun. These monsters sure are creative – no measly swordfights for them. They kill demi-gods through stretching, turning them to statues, sicking their Chimera on them, and wielding fire-tipped whips.
Quote #10
Up close, I saw the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times—an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas-mask wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls—but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true. (19.73)
If these etchings really are old and ancient, then the gods knew that these horrible events would happen way in advance. Do the gods have any control over Fate? They must have been able to see that World War II (a war between Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and Hades on the other) would happen to a certain extent. We wonder if they tried to prevent it from taking place? How much power do the gods have? This passage seems to tell us that horrible events in the mortal world are directly tied to the immortal world.