Doing IT
If you couldn't tell by the title, this post contains a discussion about sex in the novel It. Weaker brothers and sisters take heed.
Rachel recently read Stephen King's It (I flatter myself that it was on my recommendation), and we had a brief discussion of a scene we both find troubling. If you haven't read it (get it?), the plot follows a group of children who fight an evil force as a child and must fight it again as adults.
The scene in question takes place after the children (ages 12-14, I believe) have (so far as they know) defeated the creature, but they're still lost in the sewers in which the creature lived. Before finding their way out, all of the guys have sex with the one girl. You're freaked out now, right? Everyone who reads it is. But after reflecting on the book and King's work as a whole, I think I understand the significance.
As forces of good opposed to evil, the children forge a mystical bond that allows them to work perfectly together to overcome the creature. But after defeating the creature, the bond is broken, with the children still lost in the sewer. Realizing that they must reforge the bond, Beverly, the girl, offers herself to the group. The children know that sex unites people in a mystical way, a fact that eludes many adults.
One of the themes in the novel is the need for the adults to become children again in order to confront the evil force. What is less obvious (except in this scene and a handful of others) is how the children are forced to become adults. King often writes about children who are more mature, responsible, and loving that the adult characters, and here his characters reveal the power of sex in an unsettling way. I think we can agree that our society's views of sexuality could stand to be unsettled.
Rachel recently read Stephen King's It (I flatter myself that it was on my recommendation), and we had a brief discussion of a scene we both find troubling. If you haven't read it (get it?), the plot follows a group of children who fight an evil force as a child and must fight it again as adults.
The scene in question takes place after the children (ages 12-14, I believe) have (so far as they know) defeated the creature, but they're still lost in the sewers in which the creature lived. Before finding their way out, all of the guys have sex with the one girl. You're freaked out now, right? Everyone who reads it is. But after reflecting on the book and King's work as a whole, I think I understand the significance.
As forces of good opposed to evil, the children forge a mystical bond that allows them to work perfectly together to overcome the creature. But after defeating the creature, the bond is broken, with the children still lost in the sewer. Realizing that they must reforge the bond, Beverly, the girl, offers herself to the group. The children know that sex unites people in a mystical way, a fact that eludes many adults.
One of the themes in the novel is the need for the adults to become children again in order to confront the evil force. What is less obvious (except in this scene and a handful of others) is how the children are forced to become adults. King often writes about children who are more mature, responsible, and loving that the adult characters, and here his characters reveal the power of sex in an unsettling way. I think we can agree that our society's views of sexuality could stand to be unsettled.
posted by Unknown @ 11/07/2005 04:28:00 PM
4 Comments:
At Wednesday, November 09, 2005 10:31:00 PM,
Unknown said…
And since Rachel refuses to join the conversation, I look like a perv who likes to post about prepubescent sex.
At Thursday, November 10, 2005 4:58:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Okay, okay, here I am. I was going to re-read that part in It before replying, but I'll just wing it.
I do agree with what you say to a certain intent, it makes sense. The difference between childhood and adulthood is central to the novel; there's a reason the adults can't see It and Its elements (i.e. the blood) while the children can.
The realization of what they must do hits Bev first; she starts undressing in the dark. If I remember correctly, something her father had said triggered the idea. After he found out that she was playing with boys he insisted on checking that she was still "intact." For some reason that came to her mind in the sewers, and she knew what she had to do. I'll have to go back and review that part and maybe it will clarify that a bit.
The part that confuses me is why the bond was broken. Did facing It force them to become too adult-like? Something in the battle seemed to trigger a change.
Well, it was three in the morning when I read that part, and I could stand to go and review the final battle...both of them. Maybe then I can work through my thoughts.
By the way, I finished 'Salem's Lot, and I don't think any book has ever scared me so much.
At Thursday, November 10, 2005 5:01:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Okay, just read your post on my blog. Seeing how 'Salem's Lot was only his second book, perhaps he saw more potential in the plot and decided to do it better in the Tommyknockers. I don't know, I've never read the latter. All I know is that 'Salem's Lot scared the #$%^ out of me and I swear I hear tapping on my window every night now. Damn vampires.
At Saturday, November 12, 2005 5:45:00 PM,
Unknown said…
The bond was broken because the evil was defeated.
Beverly took something her father thought was dirty and redeemed it.
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