Why did George saw picture of the turtle?

[burnburn]

I've just finished IT yesterday. And I've noticed that, in the first chapter, when Georgie went into the cellar to get some stuff for Bill, he saw a picture of the turtle (on the wax can, I think) that looks so familiar to him without any stated reason. And it hadn't been explained or mentioned again throughout the book. What does it mean to the story?

[Robert Gray]

George sees and is momentarily fascinated by a picture of a turtle on a can. It is somewhat explained in the book by context. There is a "Turtle" out there in the macroverse which offers advice even if it won't directly intervene. One suspects that the Turtle (and the Other too) are watching and perhaps nudging certain things to create the situation by which the Losers will battle and defeat It. There are larger, hard ethical questions this raises, but we can address those at another time. It suffices, to answer your question, that Georgie's reaction to the image of the turtle is because of spiritual events at which he and his brother are already being sucked into.

[GNTLGNT]

As the esteemed Mr. Gray stated above...plus it was yet another sly way King worked in a cultural reference...Turtle Wax...

http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009/04/d1387turtle-wax-posters.jpg

[burnburn]

So you mean,
as George was sucked into this spiritual event which The Turtle had somehow intervened indirectly, seeing a picture of a turtle resulted in a kind of deja vu to him, huh ?
That sounds very interesting.

[Robert Gray]

So you mean,
as George was sucked into this spiritual event which The Turtle had somehow intervened indirectly, seeing a picture of a turtle resulted in a kind of deja vu to him, huh ?
That sounds very interesting.

This is possible. It is likewise possible that his odd feeling and pause was accomplished by the Turtle or the Other on purpose to make sure Georgie arrived in the right place at the right time. This is the harder thing to consider. Georgie's death was probably necessary to forge Big Bill's drive and thus the Losers around him. If Georgie had gone just a few moment sooner or later he might not have ended up in Pennywise's clutches. This is a less comfortable notion, but still quite possible.

[bobledrew]

In the DT series, there's a famous poem about the Turtle. An excerpt:

He sees the truth but mayn't aid.
He loves the land and loves the sea,
And even loves a child like me.

I interpret the Turtle's appearance as an early note to readers that the Turtle is here. Also, the Turtle makes a later appearance in the macroverse, explaining some cosmology. Essentially a literary headsup.

[SharonC]

I just saw this as just another Dark Tower connection.

[Alexandra19]

Totally agree with you, Robert Gray.
To link it with Insomnia, I guess the Turtle has to play the Purpose part in It.