The Derry Chronicles Could Have Solved a Longstanding Pennywise Enigma
The clown's impact on the children of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the town's pattern of animosity ongoing. It finds easy targets on children from broken households — youngsters who often mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.
Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resistance
In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces enveloping the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises some of the few adults who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, especially Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, he spots one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, coupled with his failure to feel fear, along with the base of his family, may be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?
The boy is part of the group of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by Pennywise. All his school friends come from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The cause he is being haunted is because of the viciousness of the town, paired with his likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally outsiders in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who come from the town, with relationships that have deteriorated internally.
Backstory Connections
Drawing from the It novel, we know the young Will Hanlon will end up at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the recent film, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the shy youth, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten town got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately completing the task it began years ago. Whether through the terror of Pennywise or through the malice of the community, seeded by Pennywise, It eventually achieves the final victory on him.
The Father's Evolution
These occurrences would clarify how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, Leroy appears bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Since he survived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words hold greater significance now that we know he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for hesitating and provides an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest situation.
“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time indecisive, and someone is going to decide for you. But you won't know it until you feel that bolt between your eyes.”
Looking back, this could represent a bit of prediction, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Maybe he wishes he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of Derry.
