It: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Back in 1985, Bill Denbrough is aboard the Concorde and feels that he is “space-travelling.” The airplane is narrow and he is annoyed by his seatmate who is “fat and not particularly clean.” The man’s left elbow keeps poking Bill. He can almost feel Derry rushing at him. It feels as though he has been sitting in a darkened theater for years, waiting for something to happen. All of the stories he has written over the years, he understands, are about Derry. Bill sinks deeply into his seatmate’s side for a moment, prompting the man to tell him to watch himself. Bill says that he will stop “whapping” the man with his elbow if the man watches where he places his own. Bill gazes at the man until he turns away, muttering. Bill looks out the window and imagines that he and the others are “beating the devil.”

Bill remembers the bike he rode in 1958: Silver. He names it after the horse on The Lone Ranger. He buys it for twenty-four dollars after seeing it in the window of a shop and saving up money from Christmas, birthdays, and mowing lawns. By spring, he gets better control over the bike, which is much too big for him. Bill’s only real friend, Eddie Kaspbrak, helps him get Silver into better shape for riding. Eddie suggests that Bill paint it, but Bill likes it the way it is. The bike does not appear impressive, but it rides like the wind and Bill thinks that it would “beat the devil.” Furthermore, in the fourth week of June 1958, Silver saves the lives of both Bill and Richie Tozier. Bill cannot remember what has happened to Silver and realizes that he has not ridden a bike in nearly seventeen years.

Bill flashes back to a memory of speeding down Kansas Street on Silver. As for Henry Bowers, “Belch” Huggins, and Victor Criss, Bill has only minor problems with them. He knows better, unlike Richie, than to antagonize them. The trick is to stay out of the bullies’ way. If one cannot do that, then make every effort to make oneself invisible. Eddie forgets that rule and faces consequences. Worse, Eddie’s aspirator runs out of medicine. Bill knows that he cannot leave Eddie alone, so when he sees Ben Hanscom, tattered and bloody from his own fight with Bowers, he calls him over for help.

Ben stays with Eddie while Bill speeds away on Silver. He dangerously passes a bus, causing the driver to shake his fist at Bill. He goes to Center Street Drug Store and goes inside. Mr. Keene, the pharmacist, greets him. To avoid stuttering during such a trying moment, Bill turns over a folder advertising vitamins and writes how Eddie is having a bad asthma attack and needs his aspirator, which he misspells as “asspirador.” Mr. Keene tells Bill that it’s no problem, for Sonia Kaspbrak, Eddie’s mother, has an account at the pharmacy. Indeed, he would add the medicine to Sonia’s bill, though the woman balks at how cheap the medicine is. Keene knows that it is nothing but water with camphor oil. If he wanted to, he could “soak” Sonia for her son’s HydrOx Mist, but Keene has no desire to be a party to Sonia Kaspbrak’s foolishness.

On the way back to the Barrens, Bill thinks about the recent murders and how some people believe that George Denbrough’s murder is unrelated to them. Bill, however, believes that everyone has been killed by the same person—or thing. He believes that anything can happen in Derry and this worries him, but when he returns to Ben and Eddie, he appears cool. He hands Eddie his aspirator. Eddie sticks the aspirator into his mouth and figures that his mother will take one look at his bloodied shirt and want to send him to the emergency room. Ben asks why Eddie doesn’t simply tell his mother “no” and explain that he feels fine, but Eddie doesn’t respond.

Eddie then asks Ben why Henry Bowers, Victor Criss, and “Belch” Huggins were chasing him. Ben explains how Bowers wanted to copy off of Ben during a test, but Ben would not let him. Bill says that Ben looks like they killed him and Ben explains how he slid down the hill from Kansas Street. This results in Bill doing an imitation of Henry that causes Eddie and Ben to collapse into laughter. Ben asks if they play often in the Barrens. Bill explains that they do because no one bothers them down there. He then invites Ben to return tomorrow when they intend to build a dam. Ben then rather expertly explains how they can do it, using boards, rocks, and a strut. They plan to meet again at 8:30 the next morning.

On the way home, Ben has the idea of buying chocolate milk and spilling it down Eddie’s shirt. The milk is similar in appearance to blood, so he figures that Eddie can explain the stains as spilt milk. Ben is pleased to have met “cool” new friends. As he walks three blocks up the street, he sees Henry Bowers, Victor Criss, and “Belch” Huggins boarding a bus. Ben ducks behind a hedge and waits until the bus is out of sight before heading home.

At Bill’s house, his parents Zack and Sharon are sitting on opposite ends of the couch watching TV. The house is eerily silent. Bill offers to tell a joke, but Zack says the punchline before Bill can and his mother barely notices his presence at all. Bill flees the living room and goes to cry into his pillow. George’s room has remained the same since the day he died. Once, Zack tries to remove some of the boy’s toys to donate them to goodwill, but Sharon spots him and stops him. Zack flinches at her shriek and returns the items to George’s room. One day, Bill sees his father kneeling beside George’s bed and crying. He wants to comfort his father, but Zack tells Bill to go away.

On the first night of summer vacation, Bill goes into George’s room. He, too, misses George—his voice, his laughter. On this night after meeting Ben Hanscom, he opens George’s closet and reaches for his brother’s photo album. The album is filled with pictures of family. George was fascinated by photography and begged anyone he could to give him photos. The final picture in the album is George’s school picture. Suddenly, George’s eyes roll in the picture and look up at Bill. The right eye closes in a wink. Bill hears the image in the photo say that it will see Bill soon in the closet, perhaps tonight. Bill throws the album across the room, then blood flows from the picture. Bill flees from George’s room and closes the door behind him.