The clown's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the town's pattern of animosity ongoing. It finds easy targets on children from fractured households — children who frequently grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few households that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, persists as the sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.
The Hanlon Family's Unique Resilience
In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes more aware of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when It begins tormenting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, especially the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's use of it in episode 3. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. This gift, coupled with his inability to feel fear, combined with the foundation of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?
The boy is a member of the group of children at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. His classmates hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The cause he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the town, combined with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. This family are ultimately outsiders in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the beginning. They also have a good foundation that remains unbroken, in contrast to the residents who come from the area, with bonds that have decayed internally.
Backstory Connections
Based on the It novel, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a fire that the town bigots of Derry will ignite. In the recent film, we see that Will has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy outliving his own son and taking his grandson in. The official story in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on substances, but now that we see him in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the timid boy, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the corrupt town got to him initially, with the KKK eventually completing the task it started long before. Be it via the fear of the entity or through the cruelty of the town, instigated by Pennywise, It in the end gets the last laugh on Will.
Leroy's Transformation
These occurrences would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so radically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he seems resentful and much harsher with his parenting. Because he survived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. However, his statements hold greater significance since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his child. In the opening scene of the movie, we observe the boy pause to use a bolt gun on a sheep at the family property. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and provides an analogy that leads to a kill-or-be-killed scenario.
“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time indecisive, and someone is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt in your head.”
In hindsight, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, something he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.
