🔗 Share this article

The clown's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, twisting them into the very adults who keep the community's pattern of hatred ongoing. The creature preys most easily on children from broken homes — youngsters who often mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the only Loser who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the community, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the town, especially Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to feel fear, combined with the base of his family, could be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few individuals in Derry who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is a member of the group of kids at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates come from broken homes, with parents who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The reason Will is being haunted is due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally outsiders in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the family sensing something is off about the town from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with bonds that have deteriorated internally.

Historical Context

Drawing from the original book, we know the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the recent movie, we observe that Will has a boy named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a configration, with his father surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the shy youth, once he grew up, turned to drink to rid himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town affected him first, with the hate group ultimately completing the task it started years ago. Be it via the fear of the entity or through the malice of the community, instigated by It, It in the end gets the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon transforms so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, he seems resentful and much harsher with his parenting. Because he survived his own son, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we see the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and offers an analogy that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy says as he gestures to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and someone is going to make that choice. But you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt in your head.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Maybe he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of the town.