62 pages • 2 hours read
Rick RiordanThe Last Olympian
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
The Hero’s Journey
Riordan draws heavily upon the trope of the hero’s journey, and it becomes a central theme of the novel. The hero’s journey is a common trope in literature and often appears in Greek mythology. In narratology, Joseph Campbell examines the hero’s journey as a prototypical path the hero undertakes throughout a story. Although Campbell describes 17 individual stages, the hero generally goes on an adventure, wins a victory in a decisive crisis, and returns transformed.
Much of Percy’s character trajectory mimics this journey. At the beginning of the book is the call to adventure, when the Oracle reveals the Great Prophecy that Percy and everyone else assume applies to him. It ends with the promise: “A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve” (55). Next there is the refusal of the call, in which Percy debates whether or not he wants to take on the duties of the Prophecy. Following that is the meeting with the mentor, and for Percy this is Chiron. His mentor gives him advice and guidance that will help him on his way.
Percy enters the next stage when he embarks on his adventure and is on the road of trials. He must contend with Hades and fight his way out of imprisonment. After that, there is the meeting with the goddess, in this case, Hestia. Here, Percy gains insight that will help him, such as his insight into Luke’s past. She also touches on what will occur at the crux of the battle: “Sometimes the hardest power to master is that power of yielding” (102).
The next stage is where Riordan problematizes the typical journey. As Percy continues on his mission, he is supposed to reach the ultimate boon, which is the goal of the quest. For Percy, this is Kronos’s defeat. Although Kronos does lose the battle, it is not Percy who defeats him but Luke. Percy is still a hero, but not in the traditional sense. In this way, Riordan’s use of the hero’s journey ties the novel strongly to ancient Greek myth. However, his own take and alteration of the journey speaks to his theme of the importance of choice.
Predestination Versus Free Will
In the space of the novel, Riordan sets up a dichotomy of predestination versus free will. The former seems to reign supreme in the world of the gods and demigods. This is a landscape in which the Oracle proclaims prophecies that must come to pass, the most prominent of which is the Great Prophecy. Percy has lived his whole life believing that he must fulfill what is written for him. So, he duly takes up his burden and does his best to carry out his mission. Rachel, a mortal, also places importance on predestination. She says, “Seeing the future isn’t easy, but it’s my destiny” (369). Here, she suggests that she must take the path that was given to her. Hermes notes of Luke: “If I had warned him what was to come, or tried to influence his choices, I would’ve made things even worse” (357). Here, Hermes suggests that individuals must not interfere with destiny.
However, the characters in the novel also push against the idea of predestination, and free will comes into play. Even in regards to the Great Prophecy, Annabeth says, “You know prophecies always have double meanings” (56). Here, she suggests something that is supposedly certain could actually move in a different way than expected. In this way, she questions the very nature of what a prophecy is. It becomes something more mutable. When the novel reaches a crisis, the Prophecy seems to morph. It is not Percy who will defeat Kronos, but Luke. By allowing the Prophecy to unfold in this manner, Riordan problematizes the idea of predestination.
Percy’s choices at the end of the novel also challenge the idea of predestination. He makes the gods promise to change—instead of abandoning their children, they must claim them and nurture them. In this way, he is asking them to go against their godlike nature. Percy also make the choice to reject immortality. Instead of accepting it like a true hero, he instead listens to his own instincts and remains a demigod. Ending on this note, the novel underlines the importance and power of choice.
Otherness Versus Interconnectivity
Riordan continues his exploration of dichotomies through that of Otherness versus interconnectivity. Demigods exemplify the idea of Other or outsider—they are neither god nor human. Rather, they rest somewhere in between. They are not fully at home with the gods nor with humans. In fact, many feel isolated from their human families. For example, when Annabeth is only 7, she runs away and says, “My family hates me […] They don’t want me. I ran away” (150). Because of her feelings of Otherness, Annabeth is forced to separate herself from her family. When Percy begins a relationship with Rachel, her family does not accept him since he is unlike them. Thus, it is very difficult for demigods to relate and maintain positive relationships with mortals.
Similarly, demigods face disconnect from the gods: “We all have tough things to deal with. All demigods do. Our parents are hardly ever around” (231). In Chapter 1, Percy admits that he has only met his father four or five times. It is normal for gods to hardly ever see their children or else not claim their children as they own. Luke does not even meet his father Hermes until he is a teenager, which fills him with resentment. The author suggests that this disconnect is a serious problem, and Percy notes:“Kronos couldn’t have risen if it hadn’t been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents” (353). This sense of disconnection breeds chaos and destruction.
On the other hand, this sense of Otherness opens the door for deep interconnectivity among demigods. Where demigods feel out of place in their families, they form new chosen families with each other. After Annabeth runs away, she forms a new family with Thalia and Luke who understand her predicament. This bond has psychic implications. When Percy fights Kronos/Luke in battle, Annabeth is able to connect to Luke’s spirit and force it to come to the surface. Because of their deep bond, they are still able to connect. Similarly, Percy has an “empathy link” (110) with Grover. The two are able to communicate telepathically, and Percy wakes Grover from the deep sleep Morpheus puts him in. By this token, the demigods’ feelings of Otherness and isolation brings them closer together.
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