Harper Chambers

Ms. Morley
Literature 6-2
27 January 2014

Earth shaker, storm bringer, Father of Horses. Hail Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea
God. Perseus Jackson (Percy) is the Son of Poseidon the main character in Rick Riordins
second book The Sea of Monsters; furthermore, Percy is also the finder of Zeuss bolt and savior
of Olympus. In The Sea of Monsters, half-bloods like Percy and Annabeth Chase can go to a
special camp called Camp Half-Blood to ready themselves for a quest. When Percy and
Annabeth find out that Thalias Tree (the magic border that protects the camp) has been poisoned
they come up with a plan to find the Golden Fleece, which according to legend has the power to
heal all and make any land flourish. When Clarisse is chosen to take the quest instead of Percy,
Annabeth, and Tyson (Percys half-brother and a baby Cyclopes) they follow without permission
to leave camp. While Percy and his friends are on their quest, they soon find that Kronos the
Titan Lord is rising. They attempt to defeat him, but he is to protected and they are not
organized enough to defeat Kronos yet. Even though The Sea of Monsters book and movie have
the same plot line, there are minor and major differences. The book and movie are illustrated
differently in that the Great Prophecy, Circes and Polyphemuss Island, along with Kronoss
character are different.
The Great Prophecy states that a child of either Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades will cause
Olympus to be destroyed or saved from destruction, but are interpreted differently between The
Sea of Monsters book and movie. The movie shows it as the main prophecy, yet in the book an
entirely different one takes place. In The Sea of Monsters book little is known about The Great
Prophecy until Annabeth tells Percy all she knows; meanwhile, in the movie Percy acquires The
Great Prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi, and it starts to unravel. Due to the age difference of
The Sea of Monsters book and movie the age in the prophecy changes too; thus, the book says
the final battle shall happen when a child of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades is sixteen, while the movie
states this will happen when they are twenty.
Circe, a wicked sorcerous, and Polyphemus, an overgrown Cyclops, have different
islands between The Sea of Monsters book and movie. Circe is found on an island with a spa
resort in the book; however, Circe is not in the movie. Polyphemus is located on his own island
in both the book and the movie at the coordinates 30 31 75 12. In the book, the island is covered
in greenery, but the movie shows it as a barren waste land with a rundown amusement park.
Kronos, Lord of Time and Titan Lord, is rising to defeat Olympus, but plans differently
to do so between the book and movie. In The Sea of Monsters book Percy prevents Luke from
getting The Golden Fleece. Differently, in the movie Luke steals the fleece from Percy;
consequently, Luke uses the fleece to raise Kronos. Kronos acts more directly to destroy
Olympus in the movie than how he sends others to do his work in the book.
The Sea of Monsters book and movie are different due to the changes that were made
between the Great Prophecy, Circe and Polyphemuss Island, in addition to Kronoss character.
I believe that these changes were not needed between the book and movie. The prophecies in the
book and movie were changed; therefore, Clarisses prophecy was not in the movie changing the
way Percy decides to let her take the Golden Fleece to camp. I thought this should have been
different and Clarisse should have gotten her own prophecy. Circes Spa Island was not included
in the movie leaving out in my opinion a great scene that could have been. Polyphemuss Island
was also changed in that Circes Island and his were conjoined, so the beautiful greenery among
Polyphemuss Island had vanished. It was disappointing that the greenery was not included
along with Grover tricking Polyphemus. Kronos in my opinion was changed drastically. He was
far more direct leaving out many of his scheming plans, which would be great to see in future
films. He was brought back from the Tartarus in the movie, which was not included in the book.
This will change the upcoming movies for the worse. Even though changes were made between
the book and movie that does not mean it was a wise decision.