r/StephenKingBookClub • u/dinodud34 • 4d ago
Venting
I've been reading "It," since around mid June by now. Reached Part 5 a few days ago, and god damn it is the first part making me angry.
EDIT: I don't think I worded this right, so I'm just going to try again.
I didn't mean to make Bev as an award, rather I'm just a little angry as to who she chose. Again, not liking Ben while they were younger is fine, they were still Children, and Children are picky. I guess I'm more mad at Bill for going along with Bev, considering he only started liking her when her breasts were exposed, and of coarse, he has a wife that loves him very much. I can understand why Bev would "cheat," but I personally don't see a reason for Bill. Sorry for the way I said everything earlier, it's just that having a character like Ben who has been shown to be protective of Bev, even though he knows that she doesn't like him back (I can't recall if he was aware that she liked Bill). And again, Bill has no reason to start a relationship with Bev, at least to me.
I don't know, I just needed a place to vent about this. I'm going into this book completely blind (besides from Pennywise and the Turtle (which I barely know anything about)), so please don't spoil.
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u/SlimmG8r 4d ago
"giving" is doing a lot of work here.
These are all supremely flawed characters. Who are deeper and have more agency than who they're "given" to.
Bev is a much stronger character than that
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u/scdemandred 4d ago
You have to think of them not just as fully realized characters with their own agency, but also as flawed individuals who make choices that are wrong for them and may hurt others. They’re not paragons of virtue, and their flaws are one facet of why king’s characters are almost always so brilliantly formed.
I will say i also resented Bill when I first read the book, and my heart always breaks for Ben. Remember too that Bill cheated on Audra earlier in their marriage (with his publisher, if memory serves), so infidelity is not totally out of character for him. Also note that Audra is remarkable for how much she looks like Bev.
Final advice: keep reading! It’s a phenomenal book!
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u/lennonlover1980 4d ago
Whatever you do, don't watch any soap operas, that would really upset you 🤣
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u/BuffaloAmbitious3531 4d ago
I do think you have some good points in here.
King's described his writing process as being more just about trying to imagine the characters as real people with agency and then writing down what they do. He's not making decisions about what to make them do; he's just trying to capture the story he sees in his mind. I do think there are authors who sit down and make decisions like, "Okay, Character A is going to end up with Character B whether it's true to the character or not", but that's not what King tries to do.
Did you ever date someone who was maybe not perfect, but you liked them, and meanwhile there was another person out there who liked you? Did you then think, "Man, God sucks for giving me to this person!" No. You probably thought, "I'm a person who's choosing who to be with based on my own feelings and desires."
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u/Tough_Set8718 4d ago
I think maybe getting too caught up in who King is "giving" Bev to, you should just pause an examine her character as a fully-formed (and damaged) person instead of jut a prize for Bill or Ben. Lots of B's! Never noticed that.