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The clown's influence on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's cycle of hatred ongoing. The creature finds easy targets on kids from fractured households — children who often grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few family unit that remains intact, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the sole member who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy finally becomes more aware of the supernatural forces enveloping the community, particularly when It starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan comprises some of the few adults who are aware that things are not right with the municipality, especially the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to the Shining when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's use of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he sees one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to experience terror, combined with the foundation of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only adults in the town who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the group of children at his school being tormented by the clown. All his school friends come from broken homes, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The cause he is being haunted is due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are ultimately strangers in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the household sensing something is off about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the residents who originate in the area, with bonds that have decayed internally.

Historical Context

Based on the original book, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the town bigots of Derry will ignite. In the 2017 film, we see that he has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a configration, with Leroy outliving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that the parents were on substances, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the timid boy, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten environment got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it began long before. Be it via the terror of the entity or through the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature in the end gets the last laugh on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would explain how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he appears resentful and much stricter with his discipline. Since he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his statements hold greater significance since we are aware he's seen the clown's activities and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we observe the boy hesitate to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for delaying and provides an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” he states as he gestures to the sheep. “You dawdle indecisive, and another is going to decide for you. Except you will be unaware it until you feel that bolt in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of prediction, something he wishes he had told his own son. Maybe he desires he had done something in his past, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of Derry.