In the first Percy Jackson book, The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson doesn’t have a lot of friends, and by the choices and feelings he has about that topic shows that he doesn’t really want any new friends except Grover. This choice also impacts his other choices leading from it, and not always about friends. For example, after the trip to the museum, Percy’s grades kept sinking and he was “called out into the hallway for almost every class”. I think he could have avoided this by trusting Grover and making more friends. In the article “Why Personal Relationships Are Important”, it says that having healthy relationships can help you live longer, get through school positively, and be healthier. Because Percy only has one true friend and is constantly being bullied by his stepfather and the school bully, Nancy Bobofit, his grades are getting lower and his ADHD is not helping. Percy gets it worse because he has dyslexia and ADHD.

When Percy, Grover, and Percy’s mom was attacked by the Minotaur, an ancient Greek monster, Percy’s mom, Sally Jackson, gets vaporized into golden dust. After Percy saw that his mom was gone, his “fear turned into rage”. In the text, it says that when the monster had just vaporized Percy’s mom into golden dust and it was bearing down on Grover, Percy thinks “ … as if he was going to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too. I couldn’t allow that” and with that, he charged at the Minotaur and somehow killed it with his bare hands when he could have followed his mom’s directions and crossed the borderline where it would be safe. That action proves that he is stronger than he realized and is willing to risk his life for his friend and his mother, though his mother is gone, or so he thinks.

After a few chapters, and after Percy is claimed by his father, Poseidon, Chiron explains to him that something very powerful was stolen and he is suspected. In the book, Zeus “brought this storm to Camp Half-Blood because of me. I was furious.” And then he states that he will “return the stupid thing”. He only had a few weeks of training, and yet he still accepts it and goes to the oracle to get his prophecy and begin his quest. Percy had only a few weeks of training and now he is going to be going on his own with two other people (Grover and Annabeth) to find and return something to a god that wants him dead with several other gods opposing him.

After the threesome left Half-Blood hill, the borderline for Camp Half-Blood, Argus drove them to the nearest bus station and from there, got on a bus to get to their destination. But some trouble just stepped onto the bus. The three Furies, or the Kindly Ones, are hunting them down for their master, Hades. During the fight, Percy took Annabeth’s invisibility cap (with her permission) and hid from the Furies while Annabeth and Grover distracted them, Percy was home free. He could have just stepped off the bus and continued on with his quest, but he didn’t. He saved his friends and gained their trust, making them an effective team, which is really important in the story. This, again, proves that Percy is very loyal to his friends and will do anything for them, even if it means risking his life.

I think these choices so far shapes Percy’s life and affect the people around him and connect them together. Most of his choices in the book so far has been returning for his friends when he could have gone alone, but he didn’t, and so building trust is important, and after he did gain their trust, they became friends and so the article I mentioned, “Why Personal Relationships Are Important”, is coming true! Even though he doesn’t have school anymore, he is still learning, and his friends are helping him get through that. We don’t know whether he will live longer, because being hunted by monsters tend to shorten ones’ life span, but then again, it might. We will just have to wait and see!

n the book, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, I think that Percy’s main character trait is loyal to his friends. In chapter 1, page 3, Percy tries to stand up for his best friend Grover when the school bully, Nancy Bobofit, throws pieces of her peanut butter sandwich into Grover’s hair, and Percy starts to stand up saying “That’s it.” Grover stops him by saying that Percy is already on probation and that he liked peanut butter, so don’t worry, but the fact that Percy was willing to risk his place in the school by standing up for Grover shows that he is very loyal to his friends.

After a few more chapters, on page 57, Percy’s mom got turned into golden dust by a monster that was chasing after him and Grover, and while Grover was unconscious and the monster was bearing down on him, Percy could of a made it to safety, he chose to instead save his only friend and risk his life in this sentence ‘…as if he was going to make Grover dissolve. I couldn’t allow that.’

In the two sentences from the text, both times Percy was willing to stand up for his friend even if he risked his life and a place in his school. Most people wouldn’t, but Percy’s only friend is Grover, so he wouldn’t want to lose him. And while most people would have run screaming from the scene, Percy chose to overcome his fear and save his friend.