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Sally Jackson is Percy’s mother. Percy adores her; he believes she is the “best person in the world.” Sally has faced quite a lot of adversity in her life. She was orphaned at a young age and taken in by an uncle who “didn’t care much about her.” She once aspired to be a novelist, but she had to put that dream on hold and drop out of school to take care of her uncle when he got sick. Once her uncle died, she was left with no money, family, or diploma. She took night classes to complete her high school degree and worked odd jobs while raising Percy on her own. Despite her difficult life, Sally gave Percy a wonderful childhood. She is also very understanding about Percy’s dyslexia and ADHD and never makes him feel like a burden. Even “Smelly Gabe,” her abusive husband and Percy’s stepfather, cannot break the bond between mother and son. When Sally is taken to the Underworld by Hades, Percy will stop at nothing to save her—going so far as to challenge the gods themselves.
Sally’s defining character traits are her bravery and her devotion to her son. The most obvious example of both is her willingness to sacrifice herself so that the Minotaur will not hurt Percy or Grover. However, Sally also shows her bravery and devotion in less evident ways, as with the subtlety with which she stands up to her husband. For instance, she manipulates him into letting her and Percy go to Montauk alone, and she makes and buys blue food after Gabe once said that there was no such thing. However, the most significant indicator of Sally’s selfless bravery occurs towards the middle of the novel. Grover tells Percy that Sally must have married Gabe because he “smells so repulsively human” that he “mask[s] the presence of any demigod.” This reveal is essential to the reader’s understanding of Sally’s character; it becomes clear she endured years of verbal and physical abuse so that monsters would not be able to find her son. Sally’s decision to sacrifice her own well-being to keep Percy alive underscores a different kind of valor. She may not fight with a sword, or any lethal weapon for that matter (although she does eventually use Medusa’s head on Gabe at the end of the text), but that does not minimize her feats. Through Sally, Riordan reminds his readers that there is more than one way to be a hero.
