The clown's impact on the young residents of the Derry series molds them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the community's cycle of animosity alive. The creature finds easy targets on children from broken households — youngsters who often mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in Derry, remains the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.
Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience
In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows more aware of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when It begins tormenting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, notably the father, who was revealed to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his residence. This gift, alongside his failure to feel fear, combined with the base of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only individuals in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?
Will is a member of the collective of children at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. All his school friends hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason Will is being haunted is due to the viciousness of the community, paired with his likely receptiveness to shine, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally outsiders in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the onset. They also have a solid base that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who originate in the area, with bonds that have decayed internally.
Historical Context
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 local KKK members of the community will ignite. In the 2017 movie, we observe that he has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a configration, with his father outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but given our current view of Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the shy youth, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten town affected him first, with the KKK eventually completing the task it started long before. Be it via the terror of the entity or through the cruelty of the town, instigated by It, It eventually gets the last laugh on him.
The Father's Evolution
This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, Leroy appears resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words hold greater significance now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of It, we see Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for hesitating and provides an metaphor that leads to a kill-or-be-killed scenario.
“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy says as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and someone is going to decide for you. But you will be unaware it until you feel that bolt in your head.”
Looking back, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.
