Welcome to Derry May Have Unraveled a Lingering Pennywise Enigma
The clown's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them long into adulthood, twisting them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the town's cycle of animosity ongoing. The creature preys most easily on kids from broken households — youngsters who frequently grow up to repeat the same patterns as their parents. But, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few family unit that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, persists as the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.
The Hanlon Family's Unique Resistance
In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces surrounding the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of a small number of adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in the third episode. Later, he sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his house. This gift, alongside his failure to feel fear, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is hereditary, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is among the few individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?
Will is a member of the group of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. All his school friends come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are ultimately outsiders in the town during 1962, which contributes towards the household feeling something is off about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who originate in the area, with bonds that have deteriorated internally.
Backstory Connections
Drawing from the original book, we know the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will rescue him from a fire that the local KKK members of Derry will ignite. In the 2017 film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with Leroy outliving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the motion picture is that the parents were on substances, but given our current view of him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy youth, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten environment affected him initially, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it started years ago. Be it via the terror of the entity or via the malice of the town, instigated by Pennywise, the creature in the end achieves the final victory on Will.
The Father's Evolution
This chain of events would clarify how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we see in the first film and the prequel. In his later years, Leroy seems bitter and much stricter with his discipline. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. However, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at the family property. Leroy chastises him for delaying and offers an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.
“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and someone is going to make that choice. But you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile in your head.”
In hindsight, this could be a bit of prediction, something he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of Derry.
