Im bored so here is an analysis of how G*be Uglyano affected the way Percy would feel, behave, think, and basically live forever.
TRIGGER WARNING!!!!!!!!! abuse, mention of sa, g*be uglyano, suicidal ideation, etc.
First up, financial abuse:
In the first book, G*be says something along the lines of “this is coming out of your clothing money” when Percy and Sally are leaving for Montauk. This is an example of financial or economic abuse, where one partner in an intimate relationship has control over the other’s finances and economic resources, causing the victim to lose their capacity to support themselves and forcing them to rely solely on the partner.
G*be also steals Percy’s money, which is also another form of financial abuse, although not intimate. This most likely affected Percy’s view of his own money, and how to share his money with others later in his relationship (i.e. whether or not to have joint checking accounts with annabeth, buying a house with annabeth, etc.) It also could affect how he views the money he has in general. He often does not feel like it’s actually HIS money, or feels like he is supposed to give his money to somebody. The way G*be took over Percy’s room with his stuff also affected the way Percy would view his own place and things. He feels almost possessive of his stuff, he feels like the things he owns aren’t really his.
Next, mental/emotional abuse:
G*be makes fun of or humiliates Percy at least 3 times in the books, but based on the knowledge we have and me having basic media literacy skills, it happened a lot more than those few instances (Percy and G*be don’t exactly interact very often in the books.
This is emotional or psychological abuse.
Emotional and psychological abuse can include purposely humiliating, trying to scare, isolating, neglecting, or debilitating a child (we see Gabe humiliate, neglect, and debilitate Percy.) Emotional abuse can also include constant criticism, rejection, dismissing a child’s feelings, calling the child names (which Gabe does), yelling or swearing very often, threats, and allowing the child to witness domestic violence and abuse.
While any child can be a victim of child abuse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognize that children living in poverty (which Percy was) are at greater risk.
Signs of emotional abuse in children include watchful demeanor, aggression or anger, overly passive or compliant behavior, nervousness around certain people, a tendency to avoid being around certain people, withdrawn or unresponsive demeanor, and low self esteem. All of these can apply to Percy. Children in dysfunctional environments such as Percy’s can believe that everything is normal because that is all they have ever known
Emotional abuse can also lead to cognitive abilities such as trouble focusing, learning, and remembering; academic issues; mental health conditions such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and low self esteem; emotional difficulties such as interpreting, communicating, processing, and regulating emotions; substance use such as nicotine, drugs, and alcohol abuse starting at a young age; and behavioral issues such as acting out, behaving weirdly, and trying extremely hard to please others.
Changes in weight (such as eating disorders, nutrition deficiencies, and malnourishment), sleep issues (such as insomnia, night terrors, or nightmares), physical aches and pains (they don’t have any other discernible cause and don’t seem to get better with treatment), career issues (as a result of lower educational attainment, limited employment opportunities, and an increased risk of delinquency), and relationship issues due to mostly unhealthy dynamics being modeled.
Children with abusive role models are more likely to seek out others who are abusive because it is the dynamic they are used to seeing, or they become abusive themselves. (This is known as the intergenerational cycle of violence.)
All this being said, most of these behaviors and effects can be applied to Percy and we can see the effects of Gabe’s abuse in Percy’s actions and thoughts later in the book.
Percy and Annabeth (while they have an awesome relationship and they REALLY love each other) do not have the healthiest dynamic. Annabeth can often neglect some of Percy’s needs. I AM NOT ACCUSING ANNABETH OF BEING ABUSIVE OR CALLING HER A BAD GIRLFRIEND, HER ACTIONS ARE ALL BECAUSE OF HER OWN TRAUMA. And Percy can sometimes get a little overprotective (caused from having to protect his mom from Gabe) and put himself down (from Gabe constantly criticizing him and putting him down.)
Percy also has trouble trusting and being extremely intimate with Annabeth (as does she with him), reflecting his attachment issues. His emotions and feeling were neglected when he was a child, so he now cannot express or communicate them healthily (or at all) as an adult.
Percy also often puts himself down before others get the chance, because he automatically assumes everyone will. This happens both in a joking manner to others and in his own thoughts, and reflects his low self esteem. It also affects his sense of identity and who he is as a person, leading to him questioning whether or not he is a good person (as we see his do on multiple occasions.)
These effects can result in negative coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse or self-harming. This ties into my stress smoking and smoking in general headcanon that i have for Percy (because we all know that he would not touch a drink after Gabe.)
In the first book, there is a quote of Percy saying that if he told his mom about Gabe’s financial abuse, Gabe would punch his lights out. Now, anybody with any media literacy skills at all can tell that this is referring to physical abuse. (Sorry, that was a bit intense and offensive.)
Okay, so Percy was physically abused by someone who was supposed to be a trusted parental figure (even though g*be definitely wasn’t trusted.) This, just like with most children, DEEPLY affected Percy. He has trouble maintaining relationships, he doesn’t trust or respect authority figures, and he doesn’t feel good about himself or see himself as worthy.
These are just a few of the effects the physical abuse he suffered gave him (most overlap with emotional abuse.) Many physical child abuse victims become aggressive themselves and “act out.” Personally, i don’t think this applies to Percy because he didn’t exactly “act out,” the trouble usually just found him. Others will become numb and withdrawn, they don’t seem to care anymore whether they are hurt; they lose the ability to process danger. They also may stop trying to socialize or succeed at school. I feel like this one applies to Percy the most, as well as children becoming more fearful and anxious.
The unpredictability of the abuser can result in a child constantly being in flight or fight mode, which i think we all know Percy lives in. But the constant survival state that he is in didn’t start after the war or after his first quest, we saw traces of that before he even found out who his father is. This can be tied back to Gabe.
This unpredictability and lack of control can also lead the victim to look for control in other places, such as controlling their food intake (developing eating disorders where the person restricts their intake as a way to feel more control), sleep patterns, and can lead the victim to substance abuse. (I reflect most of these in my headcanon videos.)
One of the biggest signs of Percy’s childhood abuse is his low self esteem. I talk about this all the time but Percy absolutely HATES himself. He believes that he is a terrible person and is not worthy of anything. He does not believe he is smart, good looking, or an above average warrior (all of which he is.)
This all stems from so many people telling him that he’s annoying, or not a good person. He was ignored and bullied as a kid from both his peers and G*be (that bullying didn’t stop once he came to camp.) This low self esteem is shown in his thoughts and actions.
He has significantly less regard for himself or his health than he does for anybody else. He has what i would call passive suicidal ideation. He is not actively trying to kill or hurt himself, and he doesn’t have any intention of making a plan, but many of his thoughts surround the idea of him being better off dead, or his family and friends being better off with him gone.
While Percy experienced lots of trauma from G*be, he also experiences trauma from witnessing Sally get trauma from G*be (if that makes sense.) Children who grow up experiencing domestic violence or abuse are often impacted. A few of these short-term impacts are anxiety, PTSD, and frequent headaches and stomachaches. (That can tie into my hc of Percy getting super bad migraines.)
Long-term effects include depression and health problems such as a poor diet. Trauma can also be misdiagnosed for ADHD (not saying Percy isn’t ADHD cs he totally is, a few of his ‘symptoms’ might js actually be his trauma.)
This is an extremely sensitive topic so i’m not going to dive too deep into it, but with many abusers that are mentally, physically, and financially abusive, the abusive often extends to sexual abuse, as well. The book says that “He [G*be] called it our ‘guy secret.” The idea of keeping a secret from one’s parents can usually be tied to something sexual, although in this case it was literally referring to financial abuse.
Again, this is an EXTREMELY SENSITIVE AND REAL TOPIC (not saying that the other ones i have talked about aren’t, i js have more evidence for those. this is more far fetched) AND I AM NOT OFFICIALLY HEADCANONING THIS OR ANYTHING. I am simply saying that there may be some hints.
this thing is super long so i hope this makes sense lol
G*be sucks. Percy’s traumatized and it affects his actions, thoughts, and relationships (romantic, familial, and platonic.)
