Violence Quotes in The Lightning Thief

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.