It (novel)

It

File:It cover.jpg
Author	Stephen King
Cover artist	Bob Giusti, illustration Amy Hill, lettering
Language	English
Genre	Horror
Publisher	Viking
Publication date	1986
Publication place	USA
Pages	1142
ISBN	ISBN 0670813028

It is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1986. It is one of his longest at over a thousand pages. This book explores the depth of every child's nightmare. The book can seem like a realistic fiction at times, but it does deal much with supernatural events. Considered one of King's most visceral, gory works, It deals with themes which would eventually become King staples: the power of memory, childhood trauma and the ugliness lurking behind a happy, small-town facade.

The novel is the story of seven friends from the fictional town of Derry, Maine, and is told with the narrative alternating between two different time periods.

Plot

In 1958, when they are eleven years old, the seven self-proclaimed "Losers Club" are united in seeking refuge from a gang of bullies led by Henry Bowers. The children each individually discover the existence of a terrifying, child-murdering, shape-changing monster (which they call "'It"). Its appearance (about once every 27 years) always brings with it a gruesome act of violence, among them a racially motivated arson attack, a homophobic murder, and most importantly, the mutilation and killing of George Denbrough, the six-year-old brother of Bill Denbrough, the leader of the Losers.

It appears in many forms, often taking the shape of its prey's worst fear (i.e., vampire, werewolf, or mummy), but usually as a sadistic, malevolent, balloon-wielding clown called Pennywise. The children find Its lair and battle It, wounding it badly but not killing it. They make a pact to return and fight the creature again if It returns. All but one later move away from Derry and completely forget about the events, but one of the children, town librarian Mike Hanlon, remains and calls them in 1985, when the killings begin to happen again. Only five of the other Losers return to Derry to once again confront It and resurrect their harrowing and long-forgotten memories. The sixth, Stanley Uris, is dead, having committed suicide rather than face the ancient terror.

All except Mike have gone on to success and wealth. Stanley was a partner in a large Atlanta accounting firm. Ben Hanscom is a world-famous architect. Richie Tozier is a nationally syndicated disc jockey. Beverley Marsh, the only female in the group, is a renowned fashion designer. Bill Denbrough, now a successful horror fiction writer, has married a British actress who bears a striking resemblance to Bev. Eddie Kaspbrak (a hypochondriac whose asthma is psychosomatic) owns a limousine service catering to the wealthy and famous. The stamp of their unhappy childhoods is evident, however: none of them have children; Bev's husband is an abusive lout just like her father; and Eddie married a morbidly obese, neurotic woman bearing a strong resemblance to his mother. Ben, Richie and Mike have remained single.

Henry Bowers, the crazed bully who tormented them as kids, also emerges from the shadows of their pasts; he was committed to Juniper Hill, an insane asylum, nearly thirty years ago, and is goaded by It into escaping and returning to Derry to kill the remaining six. The book turns to all-out fantasy at the end as the details of Its origins and its sinister ties to Derry, Maine are revealed. An ancient magic ritual involving an enormous battle of wills is used by the Losers to fight and eventually destroy It.

It

It apparently originated in a void containing and surrounding the Universe, a place referred to in the novel as the Macroverse. Its real name (if indeed It has one) is unknown -- although at several points in the novel, It claims its true name to be Robert Gray -- and is christened It by the group of children who later confront it. Its natural enemy is "the Turtle," another ancient Macroverse dweller who, eons ago, vomited up our Universe and possibly others. The Turtle is based on other World Turtle stories, such as the Discworld's Great A'Tuin . (The Turtle is also mentioned in King's own series, The Dark Tower.)

The book suggests that It, along with the Turtle, are themselves creations of a separate, unknowable Creator referred to as "the Other" (although probably intended as a reference to God when first written, this can now be seen to refer to King himself, in light of King's self-referential authorship of the Dark Tower Series.)

In its natural habitat, It is a creature made of orange "deadlights"; coming face to face with these lights drives any living being instantly insane. When It enters our universe, though, Its natural form is that of a massive spider, fifteen feet high. It arrived in our world in a massive, cataclysmic event similar to an asteroid impact. It landed in the place that would, in time, become Derry, Maine.

For millions of years It dwelt under Derry, awaiting the arrival of humans, which It somehow knew would happen. Once people settled over Its resting place, It adopted a cycle of hibernating for long periods and waking approximately every twenty-seven years. Its awakening is always marked by a great act of violence, and another great act of violence ends Its spree and beckons It back into hibernation:

• 1905-1906: It awoke when a lumberjack named Claude Heroux murdered a number of men in a bar with a huge axe. It returned to hibernation when the Kitchener Ironworks exploded, killing many children engaged in an Easter egg hunt.
• 1930-1931: It awoke when a group of Derry citizens gunned down a group of gangsters known as the Bradley Gang. It returned to hibernation when the Maine Legion of White Decency, a Northern counterpart to the Ku Klux Klan, burned down an African-American army nightclub.
• 1957-1958: It awoke and killed George Denbrough. It was forced to return to hibernation when wounded by the young Bill Denbrough in the first Ritual of Chüd.
• 1985: It awoke when three young homophobic bullies beat up a young gay couple, Adrian Mellon and Don Hagerty, throwing Mellon off a bridge. It was finally destroyed in the second Ritual of Chüd by the adult Bill Denbrough.

File:Pennywiseclown.JPG

Pennywise (Tim Curry) from the It TV movie

It is speculated in the novel that these events are actually caused by It, which somehow influences or gains control of the people involved. Mike Hanlon, one of the Losers, and a character who does a great deal of research on It, learns by interviewing eyewitnesses that a clown (Its favorite form) or some unlikely creature, like the giant bird seen by Mike's father Will in 1931, and later by Mike himself at the remains of the Kitchener Ironworks in 1958, was always present at each event.

In the intervening periods between each pair of events, a series of child murders occur, which are never solved. The book's surface explanation as to why these murders are never reported on the national news is that location matters to a news story - a series of murders, no matter how gruesome, don't get reported if they happen in a small town.

An important factor is that the things It does or is responsible for are never noticed or, if they are, acted on by bystanders. Bill Denbrough, another major character, is sure that this is either because It is a part of Derry, or because Derry is part of It. This is exacerbated at the end of the novel, when the town is practically destroyed by a massive flood as It is finally vanquished.

It finally meets Its match in 1958 when, as murders begin happening afresh, a group of children, calling themselves the Losers and led by Bill Denbrough, manage to deduce Its existence. This is mainly because Bill's younger brother, George, was Its first victim of the latest killing cycle, in 1957. They learn that It can take many forms, but it usually assumes the form of whatever the person confronting it fears the most. The kids go after It and wound It severely with silver slingshot slugs in an old abandoned house It frequents.

It attempts to kill them by driving insane a highly unstable schoolyard bully named Henry Bowers. Pursuing the Losers into the sewers, Bowers' two friends are killed by It and Bowers himself flees in terror. He is later committed to a mental hospital. The hospital, Juniper Hill, is also mentioned in the short story "Suffer the Little Children" in the collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and in the novels The Tommyknockers, and Needful Things.

The Losers

The seven Losers are the children who are united by their unhappy lives, their misery at being the victims of bullying by Henry Bowers and their eventual struggle to overcome It. They are clearly in the King tradition of sympathetic, plausible characters who find themselves caught up in an evil they cannot quite comprehend but that they must battle.

Bill Denbrough: Also known as "Stuttering Bill" because of his bad stutter. His brother George was killed by It in 1957. He is the most determined and resourceful of the Losers, and is the one who, both in 1958 and 1985, confronts It in the Ritual of Chüd and eventually destroys It. As with other King characters Jack Torrance, Paul Sheldon and Mike Noonan, in 1985, Bill is a successful writer.

Ben Hanscom: Known as "Haystack," in 1958 Ben has just moved to Derry and because of his weight has become a victim of Henry Bowers. He also develops an intense crush on Beverly Marsh. In later life, becomes a successful architect.

Beverly Marsh: The only female in the group, in 1958, Beverly is from the poorest part of Derry and has an abusive father who beats her regularly. She develops a crush on Bill Denbrough and her skill with a slingshot is a key factor in battling It. As an adult, she becomes a successful fashion designer, but is married to an abusive husband.

Richie Tozier: Known as "Trashmouth," Richie is the Losers' most lighthearted member, always cracking jokes and doing impersonations, which prove very powerful weapons against It. In later life, he is a successful DJ.

Eddie Kaspbrak: Eddie is a frail hypochondriac whose asthma is psychosomatic. He has a worrying, domineering mother and is easily the most physically fragile member of the group. He eventually runs a successful limousine business, but is married to a woman very similar to his mother. He is eventually fatally wounded and killed by It.

Mike Hanlon: Mike is the last to join the Losers, when he is racially persecuted by Henry Bowers. The Losers fight back against Bowers in a massive rock fight. Mike is the only one of the Losers to stay behind in Derry, and he is the town librarian who beckons the others back when the killings begin again in 1985.

Stan Uris: Stan is a skeptical, bookish Jewish member of the group. In 1958, he is the first to encounter It in its natural form. He later becomes a partner in a large Atlanta-based law firm. However, he commits suicide upon receiving Mike's phonecall, rather than return to Derry to face the ancient terror.

Reaction

Publisher's Weekly listed It as the best-selling book in America in 1986, has become a favorite among his fans and has risen in stature with critics over the years.

The book is perhaps one of King's most immediately unsettling, since the titular character is a child-killing, shape-changing monster (King apparently wanted to create a character that was like "all the old monsters from the movies rolled into one.") While unmistakably one of his more overtly horrific books, the end of the story sees it veer into fantasy territory, which King would revisit with his novel The Eyes of the Dragon, as well as his Dark Tower series. However, many readers consider It to be one of King's most fully realized and moving novels.

In addition, the epilogue of the novel flashes back to a scene where teenaged Beverly initiates sex with each of the other Losers in turn in order to calm them all down enough to figure out how to escape the maze-like sewers after defeating Pennywise. This scene was predictably ignored by the television miniseries, along with several references in the beginning of the book to It capitalizing on homophobia in Derry to frame someone for murder.

It was filmed as a TV movie in 1990, featuring Tim Curry as Pennywise.

According to an announcement made by the Sci Fi Channel, it's being remade, again as a 4 hour TV movie.

The American punk band Pennywise took its name and icon from the repulsive, gleefully sadistic clown which is the creature's primary form; metal band The Deadlights took its name from It's true form.

Trivia

Dick Hallorann, the chef from The Shining, makes a brief appearance in the book It.

Ben Hanscom mentions that he lives at Hemingford Home, Nebraska, which is where Mother Abigail, a character from another one of King's novels, The Stand, lives.

Bill Denbrough is one of Joanna Noonan's favorite authors in Bag of Bones.

The movie Back to the Future is playing at the town's movie theater; however, the events in the story take place in May 1985, whereas that movie came out in July of that year.

In Dreamcatcher, the "Losers Club" have dedicated a statue to the town and children of Derry, Maine upon which someone (or something) has spraypainted "Pennywise Lives".

In The Tommyknockers, Tommy Jacklin runs an errand in Derry, and while suffering adverse effects from being away from the air in Haven, sees Pennywise in a manhole 3 years after the events of It took place. "...as he drove up Wentworth Street, he thought he saw a clown grinning up at him from an open sewer manhole -- a clown with shiny silver dollars for eyes and a clenched white glove filled with balloons." It is never clear if this is a hallucination or an actual sighting, but Tommy was 15, so an actual sighting is possible.

In the beginning of the novel, it explains Richie's aversion to deviled eggs, and that he gets them almost every day in his lunch. Arnie in Christine has a similar situation with deviled eggs.

In the beginning of the movie Donnie Darko the mother of the family is seen reading the novel.

The book also makes an appearance in the first of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" comics; one of the men set to guard the imprisoned Sandman can be seen reading it before the Sandman makes his escape. Several issues later, when Rose Walker returns to the cavern where the Sandman was kept, the book is visible on the floor in the background.

External links

• It at IMDb
• "It Book Review"