Me, personally, I did feel a limited sympathy for the character of Henry Bowers. Henry, at first, was just a brutal, sociopathic bully and jerk who was abused by his psychotic, ex-Marine father, Oscar "Butch" Bowers. However, Butch's abuse combined with Its influence turned Henry into a complete madman. Any thoughts on whether or not Henry could have redeemed himself?
shareYeah, maybe. Henry is a product of a rough home life, being poor, and not having a strong positive mentor at school. We all went to school with people like this and they turn into bullies as he did. Later IT was making him even worse and pushed him over the edge. Victor and Belch were not nearly as extreme as Bowers in the book. At least he survived the first IT encounter though it left him partly crazy.
shareI think everybody can redeem themselves but it's not easy. Those who grow up abused fight just to survive and then you must fight to deal with the past and move forward. Even afterwards you deal with the bad memories. So you have to learn healthy ways to deal with it yet some turn to drugs or alcohol.
I've been in a lot of support groups over the years for people who were abused as a kids. One man in one group reminds me of Henry. He was beaten by his dad and abused something awful. He still has scars from cigarette burns and lost hearing in one ear from the abuse. He was bully as a kid and teen. Even as an adult he beat girl friends. He got into therapy and support groups because no matter how much he drank he couldn't forget his own abuse. Last I heard he is a very successful business owner making millions. He's also involved in a few support groups for abused kids, bullies and men who want to over come their past. He uses his own money to help fund support groups.
So yes I believe Henry could over come his past and problems but it's always an up hill battle. Even after you finish therapy and deal with your past the memories can still haunt you.