Luke Castellan

Luke Castellan

When there is good, there is also evil. Like yin and yang, the world strive for balance. Yet, the world is not entirely black and white. Rather, it is gray—evil and good could coexist together, it’s just the matter of which trait dominates the most. To make a good story, an author have to mirror the world and make his/her story as realistic as it could be without forgetting to entertain the reader. That is why villain is one of the important element of a story, and also, without conflict between the protagonist and antagonist, it would not be a complete story.

I will analyze a villain from my favourite book, Luke Castellan of Percy Jackson and The Olympians. Percy Jackson and The Olympians itself is a children book about a demigod, a child of a god from the Greek Pantheon—like Zeus the god of the sky, Poseidon the god of the sea, etc. Percy Jackson, the main character is prophesied to save the Olympus from Kronos, an evil titan who wants to overthrow the gods. To achieve that ambition, Kronos, which is a Titan, needs to have demigod accomplice—or rather, an army of it. Luke Castellan happened to be the leader of that army and the right hand of Kronos throughout the story.

The reason I chose Luke as my favourite villain is because I think he has a complex motif of why he did what he did. I also didn’t particularly think of him as a very evil person, just a good person who was lost and had been misled by misguided ambition. My belief is further supported by the fact that he was a good person not just in the beginning of the story, but also at the end of the story. However, he was just a villain who strives to destroy Olympus in between. It makes me realize that even a good person could do bad things if the situation motivates him, when the world had done too much to hurt him that he finally snapped.

At first, in the story, he was introduced as a good guy. He was a senior camper in Camp Half-Blood along with Annabeth, the girl who was soon to be Percy’s best friend and love interest. He helped Percy to find his way to the Camp, and Percy acknowledged him as mentor in all things half blood. Luke and Annabeth went way back; they had run away from their respective home together along with another friend of theirs, Thalia, who had been turned into a Pine Tree by the gods by the time Percy got into the camp. In addition, Annabeth had a crush on Luke. That’s why no one saw it coming when Luke betrayed Percy, and in turn Olympus, by trying to kill Percy after he was prophesied to be the ‘Savior of Olympus’. It turned out, Luke had been influenced by Kronos to be his ally.

Throughout the story, it was soon found out that his motif was mainly because he felt the gods were unjust and he felt wronged. He was a son of Hermes, who was the god of roads and travelers. There was a rule for Olympians that they could not directly give help or have too much contact with their children, because it would come off as favoritism. It would be difficult for the child to think that his parent did not have time to care about him. But, it would be mor difficult for a child of Hermes, because Hermes had lots of children from mortals. In addition, there was Thalia, his best friend. When he, Annabeth, and Thalia first came to the camp, they were chased by monsters. Thalia sacrificed her life to protect Annabeth and Luke, and only then, Zeus—who is her father—took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree. Luke felt abandoned by his father and felt betrayed by the gods. That is why his resentment against the gods festered for years.

Now that I think about it, I believe that Luke had a point. I don’t agree about what he did, but I do understand why he did it. The gods were selfish, and full of agendas. The gods almost seemed like they didn’t care about their children, and how did turning Thalia into a tree even helps the situation? Zeus could have helped Thalia, considering she was his daughter. He could have done more. I bet that was what’s going on Luke’s mind when he decided to join Kronos’ Army. Maybe he thought that things would be better off if the gods were no more. But, even if it is all true about the gods, the gods still strived to make the world a better place and to create balance, unlike Kronos who strived to make chaos of the world. The gods were not completely good—they had speck of evil in them, just like all of us—but, compared to Kronos, the gods were way better. Gradually, Luke realized that because in the end he chose to sacrifice himself to save his friends and the Olympus. He finally realized that it’s the right thing to do.

But, if the situations were different, I think he would not be the way he was. If the gods were kinder and care more, I think he wouldn’t do what he did. If he had stronger principle, he would not do what he did. By analyzing this villain, I understand that sometimes, the situation could force us to do bad thing. That is why we have to have strong principle. Even if we think it is for a good cause, it could still be a bad thing. I also understand that even a good person could do bad things, but that does not necessarily make them an evil person. It is just the sad truth of life that I learned from this children book.