More thoughts about IT

[Reactor]

I re-read the book for the gzillionth time. When the Losers first arrive to the marked door, it is written white and black that Henry arrives to the door, later, and he sees the moon in that glyph. You can check your copy as well - it is there. The Losers also can continuously hear his voice even after the encounter with the Eye and the Bird. But when the Losers confronted IT and wounded her, Henry didn't show up after this, when they were evacuating from IT's cavern, searching for the exit.

Later, the book states that Henry got lost in the sewers for hours, and eventually found a pipe which flushed him out to the Kenduskeag. So what's happened really? Henry split up into two distinctive Henrys or what?

Burning down Neibolt street 29 would actually be useful, as IT killed John Feury in 1985 at that place. So with the assault on the house, the Losers never really accomplished anything, even if the book states they did so, and the house is "back to normal".

Getting heavy weapons was actually a plausible way for the Losers. IT certainly has quick regeneration ability, as she redeemed pretty quickly after Bill shot her in the head (I assume IT evaded the other two shots in the cellar, or Bill could not aim perfectly because of the dark), however, when the Bird attacked Mike at the ruins of the steelworks, Mike could make IT retreat by simply tossing broken tiles on her, hitting her in the eye and on the feet (and even in the mouth). This regeneration ability seems to work when it feels like, or I don't know. It was quite hard for me to believe that a few pieces of junk accomplished what a 9mm handgun couldn't. So I suggest, it was only a matter of damage amount. In Doom, you can't kill a Hell Knight with one shotgun blast, but 10-20 shotgun blasts can make even that hellspawn biting the dust. I strongly believe that if Bill had more bullets, and a flashlight, he could just riddle IT with bullets until she gave up, and retreats.
I'm sure it was not easy to acquire heavy weapons at that time - but it was far from being impossible. Bill could steal his father's pistol again. Richie also thinks about they have a shotgun in the garage - it was not even locked away! They could even have machetes, daggers, spears, or they could create Molotov-cocktails as well. Getting hold of gasoline is pretty easy, even for a kid, I assume. And, to further prove my point, I just bought a flamethrower a week ago. You can easily torch any human-sized being with this puppy, I can assure you. I bet the Losers would not have too much difficulty finding and purchasing one from a local tools shop (and since they handled Zack's tools when creating the silver balls, you can't say they couldn't handle a portable, hand-held incinerator).

I wouldn't even mention getting heavy weapons when they are grown-ups. With some connections, you can easily purchase even a rocket launcher from the black market. Money was not a problem for them. In the novel and the movie, Richie actually expresses his desire of having a weapon against IT.

Entering IT's funhouse at the Neibolt street with two silver slugs was a pretty ill-founded idea. If you would have such a being wreaking havoc in your city, and you could pinpoint its lair, would ANY of you venture there with a slingshot and two silver slugs? I strongly doubt it. And neither would I. Pack up some equipment, flashlight, hand weapons, the Walther, an incinerator, and THEN approach IT's lair. Now we're talkin'! I would still be trembling like hell, but at least, I've got a chance against IT's primary shapes - clown, leper, werewolf. If Beverly would find a huge swarm of those winged leeches in the kitchen cupboard, not just a rat, the book would have abruptly ended. Incinerator, however, would work much more effectively even against these life entities. The leper hardly posed any real threat, being almost immobile. The clown's clothes and the werewolf's fur are also quite flammable. It is clear to me that if IT would have use her mind-reading ability on the Losers, she would know Beverly wasted the second silver slug, and IT could final all of the Losers. Most of the battles with IT were entirely based on luck, which is, of course, isn't a good thing.

[Robert Gray]

I don't see the problem. I've also read the book enough times to be able to answer most questions without looking. Henry did run from It when it killed his two pals. Half insane, completely lost, and driven by It at that point as well it followed the Losers in his wanderings. He did see the door but didn't like what he saw on it and left off his wandering, driven pursuit until he was flushed out of the sewer to become the convenient scapegoat for the many crimes. I suspect that while It clearly intended to kill Bowers with his pals it changed its mind and improvised during the event. When Bowers didn't go through the door it would have had to split concentration and send part of itself after him. The Losers were inside with Bill engaging the monster in psychic combat. I don't think It was capable, while engaged with Bill, in sending other parts of itself off to work mischief.

This leads me to believe that Bowers and his pals were expendable once the Losers were in the sewer. It moved to kill them immediately. Belch sacrificed his life and Bowers ran taking advantage. It didn't have the time and energy to chase him down and do the Losers "right" as It intend, so it let him go. It could, after all, kill him later. Bowers also provided a convenient scapegoat (as I mentioned earlier) so It simply placed the required things where they would need to be. It is possible that the monster intended to let Bowers go from the start, but I don't get that impression. It was more than capable of improvising.