5 Percy Jackson Quotes You Can Use on Your Next Argumentative Essay about Pretty Privilege

I’m wildly unoriginal so I’m stealing Bismaad’s idea for a blog… thankssssssss

I present to you, “5 Percy Jackson Quotes You Can Use on Your Next Argumentative Essay about Pretty Privilege” 

1. “Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."

"He's the sun god," I said.

"That's not what I meant.” ― Rick Riordan, The Titan’s Curse

You could say something about how Apollo is only viewed as someone pretty and not something outside of his looks. He's nothing more than his pretty face to Thalia regardless of the fact he is helping her to win a war. Due to the existence of pretty privilege, valuable skills people have may be overlooked.

2. “Dreams like a podcast, 

Downloading truth in my ears.

They tell me cool stuff."

"Apollo?" I guess, because I figured nobody else could make a haiku that bad.

He put his finger to his lips. "I'm incognito. Call me Fred."

"A god named Fred?”― Rick Riordan

You might consider using this in your counter-claim. Regardless of Apollos's beauty and ability to fit

beauty standards, he is unable to write a good haiku. Furthermore, he is the god of poetry... Clearly,

beauty and job titles do not qualify you for a job. I did some rough calculations and only .00120%

of New York is named Fred. Considering he is undercover at this point in the book, "Fred" is a terrible

name to choose. Pretty privilege may be real but it is definitely not helpful.

3. "That's us," he said. "Those five nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" I asked.

"The little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

"Oh, shut up.” ― Rick Riordan, The Titan’s Curse

Percy is constantly described as handsome. Even though he has many skills that keep both him and

his friends alive (for the most part… I’m not over Jason…) Zoe makes fun of him throughout the

book for being incompetent even after he proves himself. She chooses to see him as a “pretty boy”

writing him off multiple times. In this case, pretty privilege is working against him. Making it harder

for him to keep his friends alive. 

4. “I nodded, looking at Rachel with respect. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye

             with a blue plastic hairbrush.” ― Rick Riordan

Up until this point of the book, Rachel is considered superficial and incapable as a daughter of Aphrodite

the goddess of beauty and love. Her crush on Percy and general beauty stop her from being taken

seriously in battles. However, she proves them all wrong by distracting the Titian by throwing a symbol

of her beauty at the Titian. Ultimately without her, they all would have lost and the world would have

fallen into the Titian's control

5. “Very slowly using two fingers, Annabeth drew her dagger. Instead of dropping it, she tossed it as far as she could into the water.

Octavian made a squeaking sound. "What was that for? I didn't say toss it! That could've been evidence. Or spoils of war!"

Annabeth tried for a dumb-blonde smile, like: Oh, silly me. Nobody who knew her would have been fooled. But Octavian seemed to buy it.

He huffed in exasperation.” ― Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena

In this case, the assumption that Annabeth is a "dumb blond" saves her. Later in this scene, Annabeth

is able to retrieve her dagger because it was thrown into the water (turns out that having a fist for

a friend helps in that department). The quote also tells us that "nobody who knew her would have

been fooled," showing that there is much more to her character than her blond hair and good proportions.

In some cases, pretty privilege can help to keep people safe.

I hope you found this informational and will consider using these wonderful quotes in your next essay!