Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Literary Elements

Young-adult, fantasy

Modern day United States. The story starts off in New York City, moves to Long Island, where Camp Half-Blood is, and eventually towards the Bermuda Triangle as Percy goes off on his quest to Polyphemus’s Island.

The story is narrated from the first-person's point of view of Percy Jackson, the protagonist of the story.

Suspenseful with a sense of urgency as Percy races against time to save his friend, Grover, and Camp Half-Blood. A humorous tone can also be observed at times as the author adds jokes to lighten the mood. For example, “I felt like I just had a Heimlich maneuver from a gorilla” in Chapter 2 as Percy comically describes his pain after being hit by a dodgeball thrown by a monster.

Percy Jackson is the protagonist who strives to save his friend, Grover, from Polyphemus and retrieve the Golden Fleece. The major antagonist in the novel is Luke Castellan, the demigod son of Hermes, who turned his back against Camp Half-Blood to pledge allegiance to Kronos, the evil Titan. But Polyphemus, the cyclops who kidnapped Grover, can be seen as an antagonist as well.

Thalia’s pine tree, which formed the protective border of Camp Half-Blood, is poisoned, leaving the camp vulnerable to monster attacks. On top of that, Percy’s satyr friend, Grover, is kidnapped by Polyphemus to be his “bride.” As such, Percy must set out on a quest for the magical Golden Fleece to save Thalia’s tree and rescue Grover at the same time.

The climax of the story is reached when Percy and Annabeth arrive on Polyphemus’s island. They are forced to fight Polyphemus in order to rescue Grover and retrieve the Golden Fleece.

The novel opens with Percy’s nightmare, where he dreams about Grover in danger. The account ends with Percy saying that “the dream couldn’t have been real,” which creates an air of suspense and foreshadows the adventures to come. Following this, Percy noting that “as usual, I didn’t have a clue how wrong I was” as he remembers that it was the last day of school foreshadows his upcoming encounter with the Laistrygonians in school.

In Chapter 3, the Grey Sisters from the Chariot of Damnation foreshadow Percy’s upcoming adventure by saying that they know “the location [Percy] seek[s]” and ultimately giving him a coordinate which proves to be useful for his quest later on.

The novel alludes to Greek mythology, including the various mythical creatures such as Laistrygonians, satyrs, centaurs, Cyclopses, Hydra, and more. Some characters are also derived directly from existing characters of Greek mythology—for example, the antagonist Polyphemus and the other Olympian Gods. Stories from Greek mythology are mentioned throughout the novel, as seen in the myth of Agrius and Oreius (the bear twins) and the myth about Circe.

The detailed descriptions of Percy’s surroundings and the characters that he encountered throughout the novel help readers to vividly imagine the world of the book.

An important instance of Imagery is the description of Percy’s dream at the beginning of the novel. “Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street…” These descriptions allow readers to picture what Percy was seeing in his dream and generate a suspenseful tone for the upcoming events.

Another example of imagery is in the description of the character Circe. “Her long dark hair was braided with threads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress…”. These descriptions of Circe create a goddess-like aura surrounding her character, foreshadowing her abilities as a sorceress.

The story draws a parallel between Percy Jackson and famous Greek Heroes, including Perseus from whom he had gotten his name, highlighting his traits as a hero through similarities such as being selfless and brave.

Non-human creatures, including horses, are given dialogues, as seen in Chapter 6, where Percy has a conversation with his horses, trying to convince them to let Tyson, Percy's Cyclops half-brother, harness them.

Inanimate objects are also given human traits to enrich descriptions of the natural world. For example, "trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds" in Chapter 6.