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ANALYSIS OF PERCY JACKSON AND THE
OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF
MOVIE (2010) USING FIVE CODES OF
ROLAND BARTHES’ STRUCTURALISM
Heny Wahyuti
English Department, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta
JL. Citarum Atas No. 3D, Jakarta Pusat, Telepon: +6287780160399
Email: 1
Abstract
The research will analyze Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie
directed by Chris Columbus based on Roland Barthes’ five codes. The research method used
in the library research which qualitative research. In this paper, the main theory is the five
codes in structuralism by Roland Barthes, but there are also characters and
characterization, plot, and theme that will be interesting to analyze. The result shows that
Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is rich with the five codes which are
the proairetic code, hermeneutic code, cultural code, semic code, and symbolic code of
Roland Barthes. Hopefully the readers will understand the meaning of the story, the
characters, and the theory all about and also the readers become more interested in
analyzing using structuralism theory of the five codes by Roland Barthes. (HW)
Keywords: Barthes five codes, Characters & Characterization,Plot, and Theme.
Abstrak
Penelitian ini menjelaskan tentang film yang berjudul Percy Jackson and The Olympians:
The Lightning Thief yang di sutradari oleh Chris Clumbus berdasarkan dengan teori lima
kode dari Roland Barthes. Metode penelitian ini menggunakan buku dari perpustakaan atau
penelitian secara kualitatif. Teori utama dalam penelitian ini adalah lima kode dalam
strukturalisme dari Roland Barthes tetapi terdapat karakter dan karakterisasi, alur cerita,
dan tema yang menarik untuk di analisa. Hasil dari penelitian menunjukan bahwa di film
tersebut terdapat banyak lima kode diantaranya the proairetic code, hermeneutic code,
cultural code, semic code, dan symbolic code. Semoga para pembaca akan memahami isi
dari cerita, karakter, dan teori. Pembaca juga menjadi lebih tertarik untuk menganalisa
karya sastra dengan menggunakan teorI strukturalisme lima kode dari Roland Barthes.
(HW)
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Kata kunci: Lima Kode dari Roland Barthes, Karakter dan Karakterisasi, Alur
cerita, dan Tema
INTRODUCTION
Literature is the term used to describe written or spoken material. Literature is most
commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama,
fiction, nonfiction, novel and movie. This thesis is going to analyze a movie entitled Analysis of Percy
Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief Movie (2010) Using Five Codes Of Roland
Barthes’ Structuralism. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) is the film
directed by Chris Joseph Columbus. He is an American famous film director, producer, and
screenwriter. In Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief, the writer is interested in a
character in this movie, there is boy who fourteen years old, his name is Percy Jackson. He is a son of
Poseidon, god of the seas but he never knows about his real father. One day, when he goes to museum
of metropolitan of art, his teacher changes become a monster and asking to Percy gives the lightning
bolt. He does not know anything and he gets confused why that monster asked him to give the
lightning bolt? His best friend Grover said that he is a demigod and that he is his protector. His teacher
Mr. Brunner gives him a pen and telling him that it is a powerful weapon. After he heard at all, surely
he did not believe in what happened with himself. Percy and his mother have to go because it is very
dangerous for Percy if they still stay. They go to the Camp half blood, the exactly place for human
who has a half human and god blood or demigod like Percy. In the camp, Percy befriends the
gorgeous Annabeth she is a daughter of Athena. Percy discovers that his mother is in the Underworld
with Hades. Percy decides to travel on a dangerous quest to retrieve the lightning bolt and save his
mother. His friends, Grover and Annabeth join him to help Percy to find the lightning and bring back
his mother.
In Percy Jackson movie, there are have two film series; the first film is Percy Jackson and
the Olympians: the lightning thief and the second film is Percy Jackson: Sea of monster. Those films
are also based on the book series that written by Rick Riordan which are Percy Jackson and the
Olympians: the lightning thief movie. Percy Jackson: the sea of monster, Percy Jackson: the Titan’s
curse, Percy Jackson: the Battle of the labyrinth, and Percy Jackson: the last Olympians. Those
stories have taken based on the Greek Mythology. In the movie, they also tell about the three of Gods
which are Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades so in the first film; Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the
lightning thief movie is one of the beginning story, in the film tells about who is the character’s Percy
Jackson and his close friends Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood and what the relationship
between Percy and the three of god? So the writer chose the first Percy Jackson film to more detail
explanation than the second. Thus, the writer uses Structuralism theory, specifically five codes S/Z of
Barthes, to analyze that character in this movie, like what the writer have explained above. Barry
(1995: p.51) he clarifies the five codes by Roland Barthes are proairetic code (provides indication of
actions), hermeneutic code (creates the question for the reader in their mind), cultural code (the
common knowledge about the cultural society), semic code (it is called the connotative code or
symbols that makes the story more interesting), and symbolic code (bring out contrast and pairings).
To get the pattern of research, there are two previous researches that have been explored. The
first research is about Five Codes of Roland Barthes in Tennesse Williams’ the Glass Menagerie: A
Structuralism Analysis by Dwi Purwanti (2013). This research discuss about structuralism using the
theory of the five codes by Roland Barthes. The problem formulation in this research is about How are
the five codes by Roland Barthes applied to the Tennesse Williams’ the Glass Menagerie. The
research is done qualitatively by utilizing library research. There are several books that are used as
references in writing this paper. The play is chosen because it is rich of symbols, connotation
meaning, culture, and binary opposition that may be open or unraveled in a lot of different ways in the
story. Another reason this play is chosen because it presents how the American family struggle to face
the Great Depression. The second research is about Structural Analysis of Up Movie by Pete Docter
and Bob Peterson by Widyanto Gunadi (2014). This research discusses about the transformation
stages of Up movie using the structuralism theory. The problem formulations in this research are How
the transformation of the main character is analyzed through the structuralism theory, What messages
are conveyed in the movie and how they are seen with the structuralism theory, How the main
character transformation stages and the messages portrayed the condition of the society.
The research is done qualitatively by utilizing library research. There are several books that
are used as references in writing this journal. The movie is chosen because Up movie has several great
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moral values or messages for the audience. The main character of the movie also depicts stages of
transformation that maybe all of us have gone through in our life. The scope and limitation in this
research is the researcher will use the literary criticism theory called the structuralism theory. The
object of the research is the movie Up from pixar. The goal of the research is to see that the
transformation of the character is something that is structural and cannot be understood in isolation as
well as what moral values that that the movie tries to convey to the audience. And function in this
research is the thesis will focus more on the transformation stages of the main character’s
characteristics. The research also focus on finding out the messages of the movie analyzed using the
structuralism theory mainly from Roland Barthes and Saussure.
Based on two previous researches, a new research entitled “Analysis of Percy Jackson and
The Olympians: The Lightning Thief Movie (2010) Using Five Codes Of Roland Barthes’
Structuralism” is developed. The significance of this research will be focus on the plot of Roland
Barthes’ five codes that are included in structuralism theory, which are the proairetic code, the
hermeneutic code, the cultural code, the semic code, and the symbolic (binary) code. The method that
would be taken is library research and qualitative method. To make accurate data, the research uses
the theories from books, internet, article, journal, and the other resources related to the topic.
RESEARCH METHODS
In this chapter, the research will explain how to get the data and how to analyze collected
data for this research. In analyzing literary work, there are a lot of media that can be used as the main
source. The media can be in form of novels, drama, songs, poems, and film. This paper is The Percy
Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie in this paper is going to be analyzed based on
Roland Barthes’ five codes that are included in structuralism theories. Moreover, the analysis will be
focused on the plot, characters and characterization, theme and also the structuralism approach of the
movie. In this case, there are several books and journal or articles that are used in this paper to support
the analysis which are Beginning theory: An introduction to Literary and cultural theory and Perrine’s
Literature: Structure, sound, and sense, Literature reading fiction, poetry, and some other books. Not
only books, but the writer will also use journals, articles, and the internet research to ease in finding
the references and the best theory that suitable with this research. There are several steps that are
needed to be done in collecting the data. The first steps, the research find a topic that want to be
analyzed. For instance, in this research has the topic Analysis of Percy Jackson and The Olympians:
The Lightning Thief Movie (2010) Using Five Codes Of Roland Barthes’ Structuralism. Then the
second steps, after the previous research already done, there are use for several media that related to
the topic and finally chooses Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The lightening thief movie as the
medium to analyzed. The third step, watches this movie five times to understand the storyline well.
The fourth steps, there is also emphasizes the analysis on the character & characterizations, plot and
theme. After that, there will conducts library research to find out the theories of characters &
characterization, plot and theme. The fifth steps, there are also looks for a literary criticism theory that
matches with this movie. Then, the structuralism theory using the five codes by Barthes’ in S/Z is
chosen to be the main theory analysis part. Sixth steps, downloads the subtitles that can be used as the
samples. And the last steps, there is also does screen shoots from film that match to the theory.
ANALYSIS
This chapter is going to discuss four elements of fiction and structuralism by Roland Barthes.
This paper will analyze character and characterization to get the role of the character in Percy Jackson
and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. In the movie, he is a handsome young boy, has a good
personality, strong, brave, honest, friendly, and he really loves his mom; Sally Jackson. Percy Jackson
is the young boy, he is fourteen years old and he is the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea so he is
called half god and half human or is known as demigod. Since he was a kid until teenager, he never
knew that he is a demigod who significantly has strong power actually in the water so he can survive
under water without breathing for a long time, he thinks that there is one place that he can think. He
also has dyslexia ADHD who can read the Greek ancient. His power is not like a normal human being
but he never realized about everything what has happened to him. He was treated by his mother and
his stepfather. He only lives with his mom, and her name is Sally Jackson who always takes care of
him but his step father, whose name is Gabe Ugliano who is always rude to him and his mother so he
never like his step father and he feels curious why his mom can live with him and waste her whole life
with him. Besides, he does not give up easily to face the dangerous challenge in the movie. The
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second character is Poseidon, he has good character; he is a God of the sea. He is known as a more
powerful God than the other Gods. He has wife from normal human being namely Sally Jackson and
they have a son; namely Percy Jackson. He is very strong and he has a power from the sea. He also
has two brothers such as; Zeus and Hades. He also obey the rules that Zeus made, one of the rules is
all gods including Poseidon. They are forbidden to see their kids for any reason. Therefore, he never
meets Percy Jackson because he is always keeping his promise and he never want to break his brother,
Zeus’ rules. The third character is Annabet Chase, she is a pretty girl, not only does she have beautiful
face, but she also has beautiful eyes, she also has good personality, she is a brave, good fighter, smart,
and she is never scared of anything. Next character is Grover Underwood, he is a half goat and a half
human. He has the upper body of a human and the legs and horns of a goat and he uses fake feet when
he wants to look like a human being. Grover is not only his best friend but he is also the protector for
Percy Jackson in Camp Half-Blood. Next character is Hades, he has bad characteristics; he is cruel,
selfish, and a vengeful. He also uses his power to commit revenge to his brothers; Zeus and Poseidon
and he wants to destroy the Olympus if he gets Zeus’ Lightning bolt. Next, Zeus Zeus is the god of the
lightning. He has a super power than the other gods. His power is the lightning bolt and he is also the
King of the Gods. her character is a strong woman because she raises her son without a father and she
was married to a god of the sea, Poseidon. Next, Chiron He has good personality and his character is
calm and he is always protecting Percy because he is Poseidon’s friend. Last character is Luke
Castellen, he has a good personality and he is also good leader for the blue soldiers’ team but in the in
the end of story, he changes into bad person even he actually steal the lightning bolt belonging to Zeus
not Percy Jackson so in the movie, he is an antagonist character.
Plot of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief are divided into five parts
which are exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. First, the exposition of the
film is Percy Jackson who is is the son of Poseidon and his mother; Sally Jackson is the second
character and she is just a normal human being. Percy lives with his mother and stepfather. Second,
rising action when Percy and his friend go to the museum, he can read the Greek Ancient because he
has dyslexia ADHD. At the museum Mrs. Dodds as his teacher change to becomes a monster and ask
to Percy to give the lightning bolt. Third, climax is Percy assumed that his mother is gone, but Hades
said his mother was still alive and she was sent to the Minotaur, she was here with me in underworld.
After he knew that, he decided to go to the underworld to bring back his mother. But he was not alone,
he with his best friend, Annabeth and Grover. Fourth, falling action is Percy and friends already
complete three pearls to go in and out to the Underworld so they as soon as go to the Hollywood to
see the Hades and bring back his mother. When Hades asked him to give the lightning bolt, Percy
Jackson tried to tell him the truth that he did not have that things and he never knew about it. When
Hades becomes angry because he did not bring back the lightning bolt and Percy met with his mother
suddenly he saw it in the Percy’s shield. The last, Resolution is he gave it to Zeus soon and he
explains that he is not the lightning thief but Luke, Son of Hermes. As a result, Percy succeed to get
the lightning bolt and immediately bring it to Zeus before midnight, when he meet Zeus and he also
meet with his father Poseidon.
After analyzed the character and characterization and also plot, the research also discuss
about the main theory which is the five codes of Roland Barthes’ Structuralism. The first proairetic
code is when Mrs. Dodds as Percy’s lecture asks him to follow her into the empty room. Percy does
not suspect his lecture; he just thinks that he makes the problem again. Suddenly, Mrs. Dodds
becomes a Fury and attack Percy or the monster attacks Percy Jackson and asks him to give the
lightning bolt. In this case, he should move to Camp half blood because the monsters have already
found the son of Poseidon as known as the lightning thief of Zeus; the God of Thunder. The second
proairetic code is Percy Jackson thinks that his mother has gone but Hades gives the hint that his
mother is still alive. Percy who really loves her so he wants to safe and brings his mother back.
In the film there are also have some scenes that categorize as the hermeneutic code. First
hermeneutic code is When Percy asks his stepfather to give some respect to his mother and asks to his
mom why she still wants to live with him? Sally Jackson only answers Percy’s question “he has been
good to us, he also take good care to you”. Her answer really creates the question, it is not only Percy
as the main character of the movie but also the audiences who watch this movie wonder why does she
thinks that Gabe (his stepfather) is a good person. The main reason is Sally Jackson as Percy’s mother
wants to keep and care of Percy Jackson from the fury who hunts him so his mother wants to live with
Gabe whose his body smelled of alcohol so that it makes the fury cannot smell the blood of Percy
Jackson. The next hermeneutic code is does Percy Jackson will be able to save his mother namely
Sally Jackson? and the next question is does Hades will become a King of the gods in the Olympus?.
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There are some scenes that categorize to the cultural code, The first Cultural code is the God of
Zeus. In this section, this research will compare and pairing between Zeus based on the Greek Myths
and Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning Thief movie even though Zeus is not told clearly
in this movie but the audience will know a little about the appearance and character of the god of
thunder; Zeus. His appearance in this film is also having the similarity; he is strong and has a curly
hair. In the Greek Mythology the symbols of Zeus were the scepter, the throne and the thunderbolt,
which was as a gift from the Cyclopes because he liberated them. Zeus' tree was the oak tree and his
sacred animal was the eagle. In the Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning Thief movie,
Zeus’ symbol is just a thunderbolt that becomes the main conflict of the story. Second is Poseidon, in
this film Poseidon will become the main an important role, especially his power. The personality of
Poseidon was considered to be the bad-tempered, moody and greedy god among the Olympians. Next
is Hades. In the Greek Mythology Hades was the Greek god of the Dead, the appearances of Hades
are cruel, evil, selfish, it is the same with the Greek mythology history about Hades appearance. His
personality has the same with the Greek Mythology history, in this movie, he is also has beard and
dark hair falling over his brow but there is no Helmet which always worn by him based on the Greek
Mythology history. Last, Athena is the goddess of wisdom. The Greek Mythology told that Athena
never married and had no children but in the film Athena has a daughter namely Annabeth Chase. She
also has a beautiful face and her eyes like her mother; Athena. She has beautiful face, blue eyes, and
her body is slim, she wearing long dress and crown in her head.
In Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning Thief movie, there are meaningful symbols
that refer to the semic code. First, the Lighting bolt is the main symbol of the film because it makes
the main problem that Percy should face the monster Fury, Minotaur, and Hades to save his Mother
and find out the lightning bolt even he does not steal it. Zeus’ lightning bolt becomes the main
problem in this movie because the lightning bolt actually the symbol of the God of thunder, Zeus. It is
powerful so that it will give the power and will harm anyone who got it therefore Zeus tries hard to get
it back in order to endangering others. Second, water is one of the symbols that very important in the
movie. Water is the symbol of the God of the seas, Poseidon beside that water is a symbol of life. All
living things such as human being, plants, and animals need food besides also need water for their
needs in survival. As the film Percy Jackson as a demigod also needs water for heals his injured and it
also gives him the power. Third, they will start their adventure besides, they are collecting the pearls
are not easy, they should face some obstacle, they should defeat them then they can get one by one
pearls but they are only have seven days to get the pearls. It shows that the pearls are the important
symbols in the movie because they should cooperate with each other to be able to face the obstacles in
order to get the pearls even thought they are demigod who have a super power like their parents but
they are still need help from the other. Fourth, the sword given by Mr. Brunner is very useful and
helpful for Percy to defeat the monster is hunting him. It also become the important symbol in this
movie because Percy Jackson is always using the sword to fight monster that hunts him to get the
lightning bolt. It shows that the sword is a common symbol that refers to the King or Hero to give
them a power and bravery to fight their enemies. Fifth, shield is the symbol that related to sword and
has the similar function to protect him to the monster even though he is son of the God there are
known as the stronger but he still need something to protect himself. The last, the map is also
important symbol of this movie because it is very helpful for Percy and friends to get the pearls and
get to the Underworld. The symbol shows that the map is directions to get to the destination quickly
without waste of time. Besides, the map is become the best part of the film because they start to the
adventure to get the pearls and they only have a limited time for finishing their adventure. The
outside, they should be ready to face and fight to the other monster. It is very dangerous for them if
they cannot be able to work together. Therefore they need bravery and cooperate with each other to
get successful to collect the pearls.
There are some scenes that are categorized into symbolic code in Percy Jackson and the
Olympians: The lightning Thief movie. Symbolic code is the last code in the research. The first
symbolic code is boy (Percy Jackson) and girl (Annabeth Chase), she is a beautiful girl who has boy
characteristic such as strong, good fighter, smart, brave and she never feel afraid to fight the boys, she
is always thinking that she is always win. In this film, she has an important role for Percy Jackson
because it is not only her bravery but also her smartness that is very helpful for Percy Jackson to face
the challenges to go to the Underworld to meet Hades and bring his Mother back. Annabeth and Percy
were meeting each other for the first time. Annabeth was serious to do the fight practice and she even
wants to kill Percy Jackson. Second symbolic code is god and demigod In the Olympus, Percy and
Annabeth also meet with their parents that they never met before. When Annabeth met with her
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Mother Athena, both of them look happy and her mother so proud of what she has done. Besides,
Percy Jackson also met with his Father Poseidon but is not like Annabeth who feels happy to see her
mother for the first time in her life. Percy looks unhappy and feels disappointed to him (his father)
because he never came to see him (Percy Jackson). Moreover, based on the dialogue, Percy Jackson
asks Zeus to bring Grover back from the underworld because they only got three pearls so that Grover
should stay in the Underworld. Zeus is kind to grant Percy’s request to bring Grover back from the
Underworld. It shows that, Zeus, the god of thunder has super power to make everything is easier.
Last symbolic codes is good and evil, In the story of the film, the Camp Half Blood is the
special place for special people, a half human and a half God or is known as demigod. Percy Jackson
is a new comer in Camp Half Blood that hunted by monster and fury because he accused as the
lightning thief belonging to Zeus therefore he brings to this place to protect himself from the monster.
In this place, all demigods got practiced to fight and they learn to set strategy to defeat the enemy and
also train their courage and their ability to fight. In the scene when Percy Jackson fights for the first
time, he helped by Luke and he also gives the opportunity to Percy to get the flag. In this scene, it
shows that Luke has good characteristic or protagonist character who will be a good friend with Percy
Jackson. Other scene that shows Luke has good personality when Percy, Annabeth, and Grover
decided to go to the Underworld to bring Percy’s mother back. Luke gives them his own stuffs such as
flying shoes, maps, sword, and shield that are very useful for them and he also gives the information
how the way to get in and out to the underworld. In case, the audience trusts that the character of Luke
is very kindly to Percy Jackson. Compare to Luke Castellen who has bad characteristic in the other
scene, In the scene, Percy, Annabeth and his mother have managed to get out the Underworld because
they use the pearls that have collected before. After they found the lightning bolt from Luke’s shield
and they immediately go to the Olympus before midnight but suddenly Luke appears as the antagonist
side, he wears the flying shoes, he prevent them to go to the Olympus and he want to grab the bolt of
Percy Jackson. In the first scene, he looks like a good boy because he always helps Percy and gives all
the stuffs to Percy to face the dangerous out there but actually it is all just his strategy to bring the
lightning bolt that in the shield to Hades. In fact, Luke helps Hades to destroy Olympus because they
(Luke and Hades) have the similar reason. Hades want to get the bolt so that he can destroy the
Olympus because he felt betrayed by his older brother Zeus and Poseidon since he had banished to
live in the Underworld and he also envied his brothers who has super power and they always fortunate
than him whereas Luke is mad at his father because he never come to see his son Luke and never
know how his parents look.
There is the one of the important in the elements of fiction which is theme. It related to the five
codes of Roland Barthes’ structuralism especially in the semic code. In Percy Jackson and the
Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie there are some symbols that have a connotation meaning but
there is also related to theme. The theme of the film is as the descendent of God, it does not mean that
they have a super power like their parents. Besides, they are still young and have a long life so they
have to learn how to get the super power like their parents. They also should face other dangerous
obstacles to test their bravery, mental, and also their physic. Moreover, they also learn how to arrange
the strategy to face and become a winner in every battle. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The
Lightning Thief movie, there some scenes to shows that they are the descendent of God or is known as
demigod, they need each other like normal human being. In the semic codes which are lightning bolt,
water, pearls, sword, shield, and map have one theme of the film. As the demigod, they should be
brave and cooperation with each other to face the dangerous obstacle, they have to trust one another
and they should arrange the strategies and also share many ideas how the way to get the resolve of
problem.
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the characters and plot of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning
Thief based on the five codes of Barthes’ structuralism, which are the proairetic code; the
hermeneutic code; the cultural code; the semic code; and the symbolic code, there are several things
that can be concluded. The conclusion is going to be explained in this chapter.
The first code which is the proiretic code is the actions that connected to other action. This
section, there are two scenes related to the proiretic code. First scene, Percy Jackson and his close
friend namely Grover Underwood go to the museum to observe about the history of the Gods
suddenly his lecture named Mrs. Dodds brings Percy to the empty room then she changes become a
furry or a monster who attack Percy and asks him about give the lightning bolt. Percy looks frightened
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and confused what has been done. In case Percy Jackson should move to the Camp Half Blood is
place for a special person who have a special blood like Percy is known as Demigod, a half human
and a half God. Second scene, Percy’s mother Sally Jackson was arrested by Hades in the Underworld
and he threatens Percy Jackson. If he does not give the bolt, Hades will kill his mother therefore Percy
will do anything to safe and bring her mother back.
The second code which is the hermeneutic code is the actions that make the audience wonder
about the action. There are three scenes related to the hermeneutic code. First scene, when Percy and
his mother talked about his dyslexia suddenly his stepfather namely Gabe Ugliano come and asks his
mother to take the beer to him. Percy who does not like with his attitude towards his mother, it makes
Percy wonder why his mother still wanted to stay with him? it is not only Percy but the audience also
feel wonder and want to watch the next story of the movie to find the reason about why Sally Jackson
still wants to stay with a man who always treated her harsly?. The second scene, when Hades came to
the Camp Half Blood and threat Percy about his mother then he decided to go to the Underworld with
his close friends, Annabeth and Grover to safe his mother. In case, the audience wonder will Percy
success to save and bring his mother back even though he does not have the lightning bolt?. The third
scene, when Hades finally got the lightning bolt in Percy’s shield. This scene makes the audience
curious will Hades become the King in the Olympus and will there be wars between the Gods?.
The third code is the cultural code which is related to the common knowledge of culture
society. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning Thief movie there is reference to the
Greek Mythology. Greek myths always refer to the twelve Gods of Mount Olympus the twelve chief
gods, usually called the Olympians, were Zeus, Hera, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares,
Aphrodite, Hestia, Hermes, Demeter, and Poseidon. There is only focusing on the big brothers; Zeus,
Hades, and Poseidon were the most important gods of all. Zeus was the strongest and wisest of the
three and ruled over the earth. Hades ruled the Underworld, the world of the dead. Poseidon ruled the
seas. He was also the god of earthquakes and horses. Moreover, this movie also tells about Hermes as
the messenger God and the Goddess’ Athena as a Goddess of wisdom.
The first God is Zeus he is the god of Thunder. Based on the Greek Mythology, the
characteristics of Zeus were carefree and loved to laugh out loud. He possessed the perfect knowledge
and was just, merciful and wise. His appearance was strong and imposing, with long, oftentimes curly
hair. The symbols of Zeus are the scepter, the throne, and the thunderbolt. It is similar to movie, his
character is unpredictable, he is strong and he has curly hair but the symbols part is different, in the
movie Zeus’ symbol is just the lightning bolt. The second God is Poseidon he is the god of the seas.
Poseidon was the Greek god responsible for natural and supernatural mainly the ones associated to the
sea world and was the savior of ships. The personality of Poseidon was considered to be the badtempered, moody and greedy god among the Olympians. The third God is Hades he is the God of Fire
or Underworld. He had a dog with three heads which was named Cerberus. Appearance of Hades was
he had gloomy features. He had a beard and dark hair falling over his brow. The Last God is Athena
she is the Goddess of wisdom. Athena was the goddess who taught mankind various skills such as
weaving and sewing to the women and agriculture and metallurgy to men. The appearances of Athena
were tall, slim woman with bluish-green eyes trickling light, wearing a suit of amour and a golden
helmet.
The fourth code is the semic code. There are six symbols in the movie which can be
categorized into semic code. First symbol is Lightning bolt it is become the main problem in the
movie because it is actually the symbol of the God of thunder, Zeus. It has powerful so that it will give
the power and will harm anyone who got it therefore Zeus tries hard to get it back in order to
endangering others. Second symbol is the water it is the symbol of the God of the seas, Poseidon
beside that water is a symbol of life. All living things such as human being, plants, and animals need
food besides also need water for their needs in survival. Third symbol is the pearls it shows that they
must cooperate to face the monsters in order to get the pearls in limited days. Forth symbol is sword it
shows that the sword is a common symbol that refers to the King or Hero to give them a power and
bravery to fight their enemies. Shield is related to sword and has the similar function to protect him to
the monster .The last symbol is map it shows that is directions to get to the destination quickly without
waste of time and the adventure.
The fifth code is the symbolic or binary code which is about the binary polarities. There are
four binary codes which are boy and girl (Percy Jackson as Son of Poseidon and Annabeth as
Daughter of the Goddess Athena, God (Zeus, Posedion, Hades, and Athena) and demigod (Percy
Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Luke Castellen), good and evil (Luke Castellen).
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Theme is the one of the important in the elements of fiction. It related to the five codes of
Roland Barthes’ structuralism especially in the semic code. The theme of the film is as the descendent
of God, it does not mean that they have a super power like their parents. Besides, they are still young
and have a long life so they have to learn how to get the super power like their parents. They also
should face other dangerous obstacles to test their bravery, mental, and also their physic. Moreover,
they also learn how to arrange the strategy to face and become a winner in every battle. In Percy
Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie, there some scenes to shows that they are the
descendent of God or is known as demigod, they need each other like normal human being. In the
semic codes which are lightning bolt, water, pearls, sword, shield, and map have one theme of the
film. As the demigod, they should be brave and cooperation with each other to face the dangerous
obstacle, they have to trust one another and they should arrange the strategies and also share many
ideas how the way to get the resolve of problem.
The analysis is finally to answer how to find out the elements of fiction and to find out the
five codes of structuralism by Roland Barthes applied in Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The
Lightning Thief movie. Hopefully, this research can give a clear explanation about Roland Barthes
theory so that the readers are also become interesting to analyzing this movie using the other theory.
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