SSLA Assignments - Book Review (Diversity Studies)

One of the more engaging assignments that I've been given in my time at SSLA is a Book Review for diversity studies. I decided to do the review on Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, granted, this is a childrens book, but one would be surprised at the amount of diversity that is present in a book like this. There is discrimination, there is family pressure and there is the huge fact that there is this merging of the modern age with the spectacular culture of the Ancient Greek Parthenon.

Diversity Studies: Book Review

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

It is often said that childhood is a beautiful thing, primarily, because of the absolute innocence of children. They do not hate, they do not discriminate against anyone with regards to gender, religion or parents. The sad thing is that discrimination is pushed onto them by adults who are so afraid of the very idea of their child accepting people of different religions and family backgrounds.

It is also said, that the best medium of education is a novel, not a textbook, or a journal, but a story. The story allows people, especially children, to connect to characters, to experience concepts like discrimination and hate that they might not necessarily be exposed to in the real world.

It is with this understanding, that I have chosen ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ as the book for my Diversity Studies book review.

‘The Lightning Thief’ is Rick Riordan’s first novel in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the premise of the series, if one was to put it in one line would be something along the lines of:

“What if the old gods of Greek mythology never died, but continued adapting and changing as man progressed?”

This one question pretty much encompasses the whole universe that the author manages to create in the series.

The protagonist in this book is a twelve year old boy named Percy Jackson, and like most books in this genre, Percy is the underdog. He is fatherless, he comes from a lower-middle class family even though he studies at a prestigious school and he’s been diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia and of course, he is perpetually labelled as the ‘mischievous kid’. So immediately the author sets the stage for him to be treated differently due to his social, economic, and medical problems.

Along with Percy, we find that there is a thriving Demigod population present in America, demigods from the entire spectrum of gods exist and work together whenever they feel like it. The camp in which they live in, ‘Camp Halfblood’ is an interesting melting pot of social stigmas and power dynamics as it can often become a question of numbers vs. powers in instances like the capture the flag games, which are prominent in the entire series.

There are more themes that influence the protagonists and the story on a whole, ranging from Greek Mythology to sensationalistic TV news.

The book has, as I mentioned earlier, created a universe in which the ancient gods of Greece have lived on in modern society. These gods have adapted their culture as far as their ‘job descriptions’ and their influence on mankind is concerned, growing more reserved and relying on mankind’s imagination to fill in the blanks.

With this setting, it is interesting to see aspects like adultery, polygamy and they whole concept of Demigods in a modern setting.

Mythologically, Greek Gods like Zeus were well known for sharing multiple beds and siring several dozens of children in order to ensure that these Demigods could maintain some sort of balance in the human world. In some cases, like the in the lineage of Hercules, Zeus was his father, but at the same time, Zeus was also Hercules’ Great-Great-Great Grandfather. It is interesting to see how topics like these are related to modern society.

The author has really managed to do well, as Percy is confronted by Water Spirits like Naiads and Gods like Ares who are referred to as ‘cousins’ due to Percy’s father being Poseidon, one of the older gods and brother of Zeus.

Then, there are more modern questions that are raised, regarding life in Camp Halfblood, as Percy is getting shown around the Camp, one of the campers mentions a couple, and there is an awkward moment when Percy asks whether this bothers anyone, since two demigods who are dating, are theoretically dating their cousins. Percy is told rather quickly, that since Gods don’t have DNA, you can date other Demigods, but never someone who shares the same godly parent as you, because, face it, that’s really toeing the line on incest.

The situation is interesting as it demonstrates a shift in the cultural acceptability of such relations. In India, less than a hundred years ago, it was not socially unacceptable to marry your cousin; in fact, it was encouraged, as it meant keeping the family name, etc. Even in Europe, around 300 years ago during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Nobles and Royals would end up marrying their cousins in order to keep the Royal blood in.

The whole relation between the Gods and the Heroes (Demigods/Halfbloods) again is a strong theme that I was able to connect to and find many other instances that enhanced my opinion on it. In the society of Camp Halfblood, unlike the real work, it is not unacceptable to not know who your parents, forget godly parents are. After all, with monsters and demons coming and attacking a child from the age of ten, the whole concept of parents becomes redundant, especially when you read the book and find that most of the children have to protect their mortal parents or in some cases, leave them because they don’t want them to fall into harm’s way.

Percy is also fatherless for the first few chapters of the book, and it this that makes him acceptable for the first time in the Camp, granted, there are other reasons why he is accepted, but this is the most prominent as he is placed in the most crowded cabin which has the Children of Hermes and any other Demigod who has been unclaimed.

While in this cabin, Percy makes friends and for a change feels comfortable with the society he is in, but then he is claimed. Percy is claimed by his father, Poseidon and instantly, he is moved to a different cabin, where he is the sole occupant, he is told to sit at a different table alone, he has to do his chores alone. By being claimed by his father, something that most children would strongly desire, he was ostracised by almost the entire camp!

This also affects Percy’s friend, Annabeth – a child of Athena, according to the mythos of the book, Athena and Poseidon are not the best of friends, and while they do not actively hate one another, there is a norm that Athena and Poseidon and their creations will not work together. This causes Annabeth considerable conflict as she is forced to debate whether she should abide by the social norm, or whether she should act for herself.

“Remind me again-why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

She folded her cap of invisibility. “Look … we’re just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals.”

I related this to the Caste system in India, as the system doesn’t allow people to redeem themselves, nor does it explain why we should discriminate against them. Here as well, a friendship is put to the test when it comes up against sociological norms that have been around for ‘millennia’.

There are many other aspects of Percy Jackson that refer to diversity; there is diversity when you look at the economic aspect of it. In the real world, Percy is of a lower economic class but he’s gone to school with children from higher economic class, this is subtly referred to time and time again as the story continues with Percy referring to his small home, his mother who works two jobs and his ideal vacation being a car-ride to a small ocean-side cabin. The author build a very good stage to reflect more upon Percy’s economic  situation and how it changes his interactions with others, but he chooses not to – instead focusing much more on the social interaction that Percy has with others.

In conclusion, the diversity of this book is not limited to the aspects that I’ve mentioned in this review, granted, Percy’s interaction with people before being known as the Son of Poseidon and after is considerable, he is met with hostility and violence simply because he is ‘Old Seaweeds’ son.

This to me is something that every person, every child goes through, the internal struggle to push aside social stigma and the tag that ‘I am this person’s Son/Daughter’ is a common one. It is interesting to see how Rick Riodran has managed to wrap this into a young adult’s novel, but when I think about it, it’s simply a modern day attempt at doing what Jonathan Swift did in his great novel, Gulliver’s Travels.

 Have your own opinion? think it could have been better, let me know in the comments below!