Significance of Paul.

While actually a person, Paul acts more like a symbol in the few glimpses that we see of him. Paul represents the past that Percy was trying to escape with his abusive stepfather. He hated his former stepfather for the way that he treated his mother. Naturally, he’s overly protective of Sally and initially comes off as very guarded when he realizes that the two of them are together. By the end of the book though, Percy realizes how important family is, and he can see through Annabeth's stepmother that not all step-parents end up being horrible people.