and the rest of the gods at Olympus.

The real change to Percy’s life, however, is about how learns he sees himself. At the start of the story, Percy sees himself as a bad student, constantly getting expelled from schools, never doing well in classes, always disliked by his teachers, and never popular with other kids his age. He thinks he will amount to nothing, though he is determined never to sink to as low a level as his lousy, abusive stepfather, Smelly Gabe. He holds bitterness toward his birth father for leaving himself and his mother before he was born, believing that somehow his father, too, knew Percy would be a disappointment one day.

Once he learns he is a demigod, everything changes. Percy learns that struggling in school is a universal experience for demigods and that it simply means he’s meant for a different destiny than the ordinary mortals who have been his peers. He learns how to use a sword, and his mentor, Chiron, gives him Riptide, a sword which feels perfectly balanced in his hands, signaling that he has finally found a destiny that truly “fits” him. At his quest’s close, he has finally proven to himself that he is capable of defying the odds and coming out on top—even saving the world. Finally, he meets his father and sees himself in him despite the fact that Poseidon is an immortal god. It is then, when he is praised by his absent father, that Percy truly comes to see the value in himself that was there all along. Even though Percy returns home and goes back to school at the story’s end, much like he did in the beginning, his character is forever altered, and his life is drastically different from how it was at the story’s start.

When we first meet Percy Jackson at the beginning of The Lightning Thief, his life is far from easy. He grapples with dyslexia and ADHD, attends a school where he feels out of place, and deals with his beloved mother's disrespectful husband, Gabe. As we know, everything changes when he finds out who he truly is: the son of the Greek god Poseidon.

Percy evolves in several ways. First, he gains a new appreciation for what he had always considered his disabilities. It turns out his dyslexia allows his mind to decipher mysterious Ancient Greek phrases and lettering, and his ADHD means he is always moving, essential for battle. He was once ashamed of his differences, but he becomes confident in himself and proud of who he is.

Percy also learns what it truly means to be a hero. He started the story as a shy, awkward boy, essentially going it alone. When he learns about who he truly is, he must also learn how to defend himself against the monsters of the gods' world, and he learns what it means to have true friends. He not only becomes more confident in himself, fully accepting and embracing his true heritage, he understands that the love and support of friends (like Annabeth and Grover) play a huge part in success.