In the book Percy
Jackson #1: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan I noticed that the book has
a theme of Power into it. I noticed that some people have to work hard to
achieve power, while others are just born with the given right to rule.
In this book
in particular Percy has to face many challenges because he is not royally given
right. Percy is challenged for one reason… because Zeus who is the king of the
gods “THINKS” Percy stole his lightning bolt. Zeus blackmails Percy by saying
that his home and family will be separated if he refuses to return the
lightning bolt. Although, Percy did not
steal the lightning bolt he had to rush through the world to find out who took
Zeus’ lightning bolt.
This book
shows power because it represents the dangers and problems that “Power” can
create. When people have power they seem to be full of themselves. They just
have too much Pride to maintain. As you can see when people DO NOT have power
they have to put all their effort to climb their way to the top.
I also
noticed that there is also a different kind of power. There is Good power. Good
power is when a person uses his leadership not for personal gain, but benefits
for their people in general. One example of this is Poseidon. Poseidon is
maintaining the worlds balance with his soothing water abilities. He is also a
ruler so he is using his “Power” to direct Zeus towards the right path.
Therefore,
Power can be expressed in many ways throughout a book. Power can be good. Power
can be bad. Power is actually a very strong word and it relates on the
characteristics of a person. People who use power to torture people to do their
own bidding are using bad kind of power. Such as Zeus who is telling Percy to
go get his Lightning Bolt.
