Theme and Summary: The Lost Hero

The theme of The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan is that teamwork will get the job done no matter how difficult it is. At the beginning of The Lost Hero, Jason wakes up in a trance with his memory wiped. His friends, Piper and Leo try to find out what is wrong with him when the 3 find out they are all the offspring of Greek gods and mortals. When they first find out they are "demigods," they are psyched about their abilities. However, early in the text, Piper's dad is kidnapped and they decide to set out and rescue him to wash away Piper's worries. Jason and crew then face a harsh journey encountering cyclops and hydras along their route to save Piper's dad. In the climax of the novel, Piper sprains her ankle and Jason is seriously injured, and just when you think they are about to give up hope, Leo convinces them otherwise. He encourages the two to continue fighting so they learn to work more as a team rather than as individuals. Therefore, this portion of the text was a major turning point for both the theme and the plot, because it started the falling action and introduced the theme to the reader. Once the group starts relying on one another, they become practically invincible, and easily find where Piper's dad was. However, standing in their way of reaching Piper's dad was a giant who was brutally strong and hard to kill, but thanks to their teamwork, they rescue Piper's dad and the story ends with a clear statement of theme. The end of the story greatly affects the message of theme because at first teamwork was just a mere idea, but after their fierce encounter, it enforces the idea of teamwork and shows just what teamwork can accomplish. I think the author notices that in society today that many people are independent, which is a good thing. However, I think his purpose in writing is to spread the idea that two is better than one and teams can accomplish more than just one individual. Judging by this, I think the author did a great job at trying to convey the message he did through the theme.

A good example of teamwork, I thought this was neat.

Teamwork Article

http://www.success.com/articles/277-the-miracle-of-teamwork