“It” tells the story of a group of seven eleven-year-olds, the Losers Club, who face an ancient evil entity they call IT(Pennywise). Along with their daily social and family problems, the Losers defeat IT and send him to sleep. Twenty-seven years later, IT awakens, and the group, now adults, faces the monster in one last attempt to kill him for good.
A Remarkable Story of Sacrifice
“It” tells a captivating story that portrays the sorrow and sacrifice of the Losers Club and their enemies. The novel puts into perspective every child’s problems in the story and shows how their awful background led to them becoming terrible people. For the members of the Bowers Gang, the story showed how constant neglect and abuse led to them becoming bullies both in childhood and adulthood. Even characters like Tom Rogan had their upbringing shown to explain their terrible actions.
“It” also evoked dread and thrill throughout its pages. The book’s excellent pacing and flow ensured there were no bumps in the emotions portrayed; this made every action and scene intense.
Themes of Maturity
The primary goal of “It’s” thematic structuring was to show how situations reshape young minds. The Losers Club went through an unspeakable trauma, and even though they defeated the monster that haunted them, the experience twisted their views of the world.
The Loss of Childhood Innocence
In my view, many parts of Stephen King’s “It” showed the transcendence of each member of the Losers Club as they left childhood into adulthood. Many attest the orgy the Losers Club engaged in marked their loss of innocence. However, other events showed each member losing specific aspects of their childhood; this included each member having a different fear as an adult and some of them using people to achieve their goals, like Bill, who felt that using his friends to get revenge was something only adults did.
The Triumph of Good Over Evil
Another prominent theme of “It” is the triumph of good over evil. One may think the Losers Club’s primary problems were IT and the Bowers Gang, but the novel subtly showed that the Losers Club faced family and personal problems on the same level as the monster that haunted them.
Throughout the story, each member of the Losers Club faces untold personal hardship. Bill watched his parents become a shadow of themselves after they lost George; Beverly faced constant abuse from her father and husband; Ben faced mockery for his shy attitude and weight; Eddie had a controlling mother, who didn’t want him to interact with anyone, and Stan and Mike faced antagonization for their race. However, through all their problems, the Losers Club triumphed over evil.
Characters
“It” is an impressive story that dives into the intricate minds of its characters. The novel shows how everyone, from the primary to minor characters, is affected by IT’s terror. The story also shows how each character’s decisions affect the overall story. For example, if the teens who attacked Adrian were not hateful, he could have survived being devoured by IT.
Another aspect of “It’s” characterization is its bare expressionism. Each character exists rawly, showing true essence. Every person featured in the book has a part of this bareness that makes them feel like real people, not fictional characters.
Writing Style
Stephen King employed a remarkable writing style for “It.” The novel uses epistolary writing, which combines multiple reports, quotes, and letters to formulate a 360-degree view of the events occurring. Stephen’s mastery of scenes portrayed the intricate relationship between the Losers Club, their motivations, personal problems, Bullies, and IT. Stephen’s exceptional third-person perspective fleshes out every aspect of the story and adds an undisputable level of realism and dread to the plot.
Structure and Pacing
Though a lengthy novel, “It” has a solid figurative and thematic structure and pacing. Every chapter has value, and there are barely any fillers. Stephen King made the novel long to give a detailed backdrop of the events that led to the Losers Club meeting, fighting, and defeating IT. Though this can be a chore to many people, one quickly forgets the length when they dive into the world of “It.”
Setting
Derry was crucial to “It’s” success. The town was the perfect stage for the Losers Club and IT fight. As King acknowledged, it was an expansion of the bridge from “Three Billy-Goats Gruff.” Stephen made Derry with a monster to show how rottenness is hidden deep in the fabric of many societies. He wanted to portray how the most subtle signs are, most times, warnings people ignore till it is too late.
Main Pros and Cons
There are numerous pros and a few cons to Stephen King’s masterpiece.
The first pro is “It’s” intricate story, setting, and action. On reading the novel, a reader’s mind teleports to Derry, and they feel the intensity behind the story. King’s excellent storytelling and epistolary writing make the book feel more like a historical event than a fictional one; this adds an incredible layer of realism that gives stakes to the characters and their motivations.
Another exceptional aspect of the novel is the fluid alternation of storylines. Because “It” takes place in the 1950s and 1980s, people may think the story would fail at tracking events. However, the opposite is the case. Stephen King alternated the story by jumping fluidly between the past and present; this made the plot easy to follow and heightened the stakes, as readers cannot discern if IT is dead.
Besides great storytelling and alternation of events, “It” uses impeccable sentence structuring and dialogues to push the plot. The story features incredible conversations that advance every action without spoon-feeding readers.
As for its cons, “It” is a long novel that could discourage new readers who may be scared to dive into a story with over 1000 pages. However, the idea of completing such a massive novel could be a source of motivation for people who are willing to challenge themselves.
Another downside of “It” is the brutal and explicit sexual scenes. The novel contains graphic details of child abuse, sexual assault, suicide, and death; this is unsuitable for younger readers, particularly children and people who are sensitive to such subjects.
“It” is also a horror novel and would not be suitable for people scared of dreadful stories involving evil monsters and people. As there are no viewer discretion warnings, some terrible and gory events occur sporadically, which may deeply upset some people.
Lasting Impact on the Reader
“It” is a book that heavily impacts its reader. It shows a town in a post-WWII era where bleakness and death reign. The horror of Derry is synonymous with the problems of society today. Christopher Lehman-Haupt of The New York Times said:
It concerns the evil that has haunted America from time to time in the forms of crime, racial and religious bigotry, economic hardship, labor strife, and industrial pollution.
Though “It” is a lengthy book with over a thousand pages, every page ignites thrill and curiosity as Stephen skews the plot to make readers unable to determine what happens next. King’s innate detailed writing and expression engrossed readers in the action, teleporting them into the characters’ minds, where they can feel their fears.
“It” is an excellent book worth the time.
It: A Horror to be Imagined
Book Title: It
Book Description: 'It' tells the story of triumph over evil in the face of overwhelming odds.
Book Author: Stephen King
Book Edition: First Edition
Book Format: Hardcover
Publisher - Organization: Viking Press
Date published: September 15, 1986
ISBN: 0-670-81130-X
Number Of Pages: 1176
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Story
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Characters
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Setting
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Dialogue
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Conclusion
It Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Predator
‘It’ is a book that sticks to your mind as a reader. Readers will find themselves entangled in the fictional world Stephen King created, and one will experience the emanating horror from a personal perspective. In all honest opinion, though the book is lengthy, reading It is worth all the pages.
Pros
- Intricate story, setting, and action details.
- Fluid alternating storyline.
- Excellent sentence structure and dialogues.
Cons
- Not for young aged teens and children.
- Book is lengthy.
