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“The sea does not like to be restrained.”
Poseidon delivers this line to Percy towards the end of the novel in Chapter Twenty-One, after Percy gives the master bolt to Zeus. Percy has just tried to convince Zeus that Kronos poses a dangerous threat, but Zeus will not listen to him. Percy is frustrated when Poseidon tries to tell him to let his argument go, and Poseidon is amused by Percy’s stubbornness. When Percy agrees that obedience does not come naturally to him, Poseidon responds that this is likely his fault and offers the above quote as an explanation. Here, Poseidon compares the obstinate personality he shares with Percy to the ocean. It is an apt comparison not just because Percy and Poseidon possess a connection to the ocean but because the ocean, like a stubborn person, cannot be controlled or contained. It’s an accurate assessment; throughout the text, Percy consistently and stubbornly stands up for his own beliefs, whether he is going up against a friend, a schoolyard bully, a monster, or a god. Poseidon's comment clearly strikes a chord with Percy because he repeats it to himself in the novel’s final chapter, when he decides to return home to his mom instead of staying at Camp Half-Blood year-round as suggested to him by Chiron. Once again, Percy has chosen to chart his own path instead of letting others make decisions for him. Interestingly, Percy wonders if his father would approve of his choice. Perhaps Poseidon’s spot-on assessment of Percy’s nature, and his assurance that they are the same in this regard, has softened Percy’s hard feelings against his father.
