Stephen King Fans discussion

So, It is my favorite SK book, and for many years it was my favorite book of all time. I've read it more times than any other book in my life--at least thirty, I'd say; I used to make a ritual out of reading it every summer--and I used to do a party trick where I'd hand someone the book and challenge them to read a single sentence I couldn't place in context. One reason I'm able to read it so often is that I find something new each time, or a new perspective at least, from the way I've grown since I last read it.

I've always known there were glitches and inconsistencies (Richie starts as a Methodist and ends as a Catholic, for example). But about five readings ago, I started to wonder about something that never occurred to me before, which is: was Georgie a sacrifice?

I started thinking about this because of the scene with him becoming entranced by the Turtle Wax in the basement when he goes to get the paraffin for the paper boat. Why should the Turtle connect to Georgie? Mike talks about them all hearing "the Voice of the Turtle" when the time is right. Why does Georgie need to hear it?

Might it be because a set of conditions has finally come along that allows the force counterbalancing It (the force beyond the Turtle) to strike a fatal blow?

The book makes clear that Bill holds the Losers together. Without his determination, they would have chickened out. And what gave him his determination? He wanted to kill the thing that killed Georgie. Without Georgie's death, Bill doesn't become the implacable force that animates the Losers. Their friendship binds them together, but Bill's need for vengeance is the engine that drives them at It.

And is it mere coincidence that just the right spark happened at just the right time, when seven perfectly suited imaginations were waiting to be forged into a weapon? I suppose we could call it coincidence. But there's that damned scene with Georgie and the Turtle Wax. And, for fuck's sake, the Turtle even tells Bill (interrupting him to do it!) that Georgie has his own place in the macroverse. If that's not a tacit admission of guilt, I don't know what is.

I don't mean that the Turtle, or the force beyond the Turtle, wanted Georgie to die, or took any pleasure from it, or prompted It in any way to actually do the deed. But to nudge him into the right position where Its own greedy hunger set Its doom in motion? To dangle him the way a chess player dangles a sacrifice?

In Susan Cooper's book The Grey King, a character says that the Light may be "good," but that its heart is a cold flame, not a warm one. In the pursuit of greater good, the Light will trample individual people. This theme resonates through many of SK's books, too, but especially in It. Bill and the other characters reflect outright (and sometimes bitterly) about the way Fate is using them.

I think it used Georgie, too. I think that moment of hypnosis in the basement (a moment, remember, that went on long enough that Bill had to holler at him) was necessary, and that without the delay, Georgie would have lived a happy life and It would still be feeding to this day.

Agree or disagree?

Matt wrote: "So, It is my favorite SK book, and for many years it was my favorite book of all time. I've read it more times than any other book in my life--at least thirty, I'd say; I used to make..."
I love this perspective-- and it makes a lot of sense! The turtle had to get a way for Bill and the other 6 to be apart of it.

IT also happens to be my all time favourite book, and is up there for my favourite story as well. This is certainly an interesting theory, I must say. I could really see this either way. Obviously the turtle cannot defeat It, or else it would’ve done so, so it would make sense to motivate a mortal into severing It’s connection to Derry. On the other hand, the turtle is mentioned to rarely leave its shell, perhaps being constantly dormant. The turtle wax may simply be a product of the turtle’s similar connection to Derry, rather than having a connection to Georgie’s death. Georgie, I believe, was the first death in the 1957-1958 (1988, 1989 if going by the 2017 film), cycle, perhaps being the thing that ultimately awakens the turtle. Also, George being as young as he was, maybe the turtle could not use or help him against It, whereas Bill and the Losers being much stronger, and united as a group would make a much better weapon against the entity beneath Derry.

I love your theory regarding the turtle and Georgie! Now I will need to reread this book to see how it looks…haven’t reread it in quite a while!

All of Stephen Kings stories have symbolism and are open to interpretation but, given that so many books intertwine with Ka I think your theory is sound and probably correct. Does Roland seek the Tower if Susan Delgado isn’t killed? Very much doubt it.
The fates decide where to place the pieces on the board of life or in this case King who is a character in The Dark Tower. So I have to agree with your theory.