Friday, February 8, 2013

What are the internal and external conflicts faced by main characters in book The Lightning Thief ?

In The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson faces many external conflicts, primarily from Zeus, who believes that he is involved with the theft of Zeus’s lightning bolt. The other gods who side with Zeus try to hinder him at every step. Medusa, who resents Percy for his father Poseidon’s rejection of her, tries to turn him into stone to become part of her collection. In St. Louis, Percy battles the Chimera in the Arch. Hades accused Percy of stealing his Helm of Darkness. Percy eventually discovers that it is Ares, the god of war, who has the stolen items. These conflicts require Percy’s ingenuity to battle them and retrieve the lightning bolt.


Percy’s inner conflicts stem from his discovery that his father is Poseidon, who had abandoned Percy’s mother soon after Percy was born. He resents Poseidon’s desertion, leaving him to be raised by his mother and his odious step-father. It is his task to come to accept his position as a Half-Blood, even though it means his father will not always be readily available. Percy’s ADD and his dyslexia are caused by his half-god ancestry. These have caused him to have constant trouble in school. By accepting this “handicaps,” Percy learns to use them as his strengths against the outer conflicts that he faces.

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