- After the Flood (1957)
- After the Carnival (1984)
- Six Phone Calls (1985)
- Derry: The First Interlude
- Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall
- Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (I)
- One of the Missing: A Tale From the Summer of '58
- The Dam In the Barrens
- Georgie's Room and the House On Neibolt Street
- Cleaning Up
- Derry: The Second Interlude
- The Reunion
- Walking Tours
- Three Uninvited Guests
- Derry: The Third Interlude
- The Apocalyptic Rockfight
- The Album
- The Smoke-Hole
- Eddie's Bad Break
- Another One of the Missing: The Death of Patrick Hockstetter
- The Bullseye
- Derry: The Fourth Interlude
- In the Watches of the Night
- The Circle Closes
- Under the City
- The Ritual of Chud
- Out
- Derry: The Final Interlude
- Epilogue: Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (II)
Another One of the Missing:
The Death of Patrick Hockstetter
This is easily the single most disturbing chapter in the book. King goes to a very, very dark place to tell this part of the tale and the result is quite unpleasant.
Beverly's flashback is of going to the Barrens the day after Eddie's accident where she walks in on Henry, Belch, Victor, and Patrick lighting their farts on fire. Beverly is shocked, and soon witnesses Patrick giving Henry a handjob, which ends with Henry pushing him away and making homophobic remarks. Beverly then witnesses Patrick head over to an abandoned refrigerator that he uses to keep and abuse animals. However, when he opens it this time, he is ambushed by a strange swarm of flying leeches. They cover his whole body and soon he is dragged away by It. Beverly must fight the parasites off herself, and later shows the scene to the others. Patrick has become "another one of the missing."
It is amazing how much King pushes the envelope here. This sequence isn't horrifying in a conventional manner, but the text does make the reader feel awkward and uncomfortable. The first part of the chapter, with the fart-lighting scene, is partially unnerving. It is reminiscent of several European films (the scene in Novecento where two prepubescent boys examine each others' penises, or the scene in Amarcord where a group of teenage boys masturbate together in a car). The entire thing is darkly-humorous, but also so bizarre. As the narrator tells us, Beverly laughs at this scene more because she is weirded out than because of it being funny. Henry is crazy to the point of playing a game that is not only very juvenile, but very sick. Then there's the fact that Beverly sees their genitalia; our bullies are, in a sense, being humiliated in front of our heroine. Belch is particularly humiliated as King describes that he has "a hairy ass," to Beverly's surprise. It is ironic that the first penis she ever sees belongs to Henry, foreshadowing the fact she will marry an abusive man. Yet King spends some time describing Beverly studying their genitalia and having mild fantasies about Bill's. All in all, King does a fantastic job of just tap dancing on the line of what is acceptable and what is discomforting.
This is then followed by Patrick beginning to jerk off Henry. Now King goes even further, describing the action, the size of their penises, etc, and the entire thing comes off feeling even more perverse because it is being witnessed by a prepubescent girl who only half understands what's going on (King even goes so far as to describe her fantasizing about cupping Bill's scrotum; this may well be King's bravest moment). However, Henry, despite initially enjoying it, eventually pushes Patrick away and makes homophobic remarks. Perhaps this is King's way of telling us that despite this perversion, homosexuality should not be viewed as a symptom of psychotic behavior. Rather, raging hatred is the true evil.
Finally, King reveals Patrick's backstory, and here is where the story goes from softcore to hardcore to the absolute darkest depths of what we find disturbing. The narrator goes very deep into Patrick's psyche, revealing him to be a sociopath, sexual sadist, and, in a surprising display of depth, a solipsist! Patrick is a strange child who, at five years old, discovered the pleasure of sadism when he murdered his baby brother, and then sat watching television the entire time that his mother ran screaming. He also enjoys watching bugs and animals die, similar to how Henry just sat and watched Mike's dog die. King notes interestingly how, had Patrick been born at a later time, he would probably have been noticed by child psychologists, and the autopsy of his brother's body would probably have ended up revealing his crime. Regardless, Patrick is the odd monster he is, and a strange foil to Henry. Henry acts the way he does because he enjoys victimizing others and is driven by rage. Patrick acts the way he does almost without reason, just for the hell of it, driven by silent contemplation. Patrick Hockstetter might be the sickest character in the entire Stephen King canon.
So why does It choose to kill Patrick, when Patrick could have been such a helpful tool against the Losers? Presumably, someone as creatively disturbed as Patrick just makes a damn good meal. It is also symbolic; it's been noted already that Patrick resembles Pennywise, and might even be considered a Junior Pennywise. Now with Patrick out of the way, the Losers are left with the greater challenge of Pennywise himself (or Itself)...but the clown is starting to show signs of fear.
Beverly's flashback is of going to the Barrens the day after Eddie's accident where she walks in on Henry, Belch, Victor, and Patrick lighting their farts on fire. Beverly is shocked, and soon witnesses Patrick giving Henry a handjob, which ends with Henry pushing him away and making homophobic remarks. Beverly then witnesses Patrick head over to an abandoned refrigerator that he uses to keep and abuse animals. However, when he opens it this time, he is ambushed by a strange swarm of flying leeches. They cover his whole body and soon he is dragged away by It. Beverly must fight the parasites off herself, and later shows the scene to the others. Patrick has become "another one of the missing."
It is amazing how much King pushes the envelope here. This sequence isn't horrifying in a conventional manner, but the text does make the reader feel awkward and uncomfortable. The first part of the chapter, with the fart-lighting scene, is partially unnerving. It is reminiscent of several European films (the scene in Novecento where two prepubescent boys examine each others' penises, or the scene in Amarcord where a group of teenage boys masturbate together in a car). The entire thing is darkly-humorous, but also so bizarre. As the narrator tells us, Beverly laughs at this scene more because she is weirded out than because of it being funny. Henry is crazy to the point of playing a game that is not only very juvenile, but very sick. Then there's the fact that Beverly sees their genitalia; our bullies are, in a sense, being humiliated in front of our heroine. Belch is particularly humiliated as King describes that he has "a hairy ass," to Beverly's surprise. It is ironic that the first penis she ever sees belongs to Henry, foreshadowing the fact she will marry an abusive man. Yet King spends some time describing Beverly studying their genitalia and having mild fantasies about Bill's. All in all, King does a fantastic job of just tap dancing on the line of what is acceptable and what is discomforting.
This is then followed by Patrick beginning to jerk off Henry. Now King goes even further, describing the action, the size of their penises, etc, and the entire thing comes off feeling even more perverse because it is being witnessed by a prepubescent girl who only half understands what's going on (King even goes so far as to describe her fantasizing about cupping Bill's scrotum; this may well be King's bravest moment). However, Henry, despite initially enjoying it, eventually pushes Patrick away and makes homophobic remarks. Perhaps this is King's way of telling us that despite this perversion, homosexuality should not be viewed as a symptom of psychotic behavior. Rather, raging hatred is the true evil.
Finally, King reveals Patrick's backstory, and here is where the story goes from softcore to hardcore to the absolute darkest depths of what we find disturbing. The narrator goes very deep into Patrick's psyche, revealing him to be a sociopath, sexual sadist, and, in a surprising display of depth, a solipsist! Patrick is a strange child who, at five years old, discovered the pleasure of sadism when he murdered his baby brother, and then sat watching television the entire time that his mother ran screaming. He also enjoys watching bugs and animals die, similar to how Henry just sat and watched Mike's dog die. King notes interestingly how, had Patrick been born at a later time, he would probably have been noticed by child psychologists, and the autopsy of his brother's body would probably have ended up revealing his crime. Regardless, Patrick is the odd monster he is, and a strange foil to Henry. Henry acts the way he does because he enjoys victimizing others and is driven by rage. Patrick acts the way he does almost without reason, just for the hell of it, driven by silent contemplation. Patrick Hockstetter might be the sickest character in the entire Stephen King canon.
So why does It choose to kill Patrick, when Patrick could have been such a helpful tool against the Losers? Presumably, someone as creatively disturbed as Patrick just makes a damn good meal. It is also symbolic; it's been noted already that Patrick resembles Pennywise, and might even be considered a Junior Pennywise. Now with Patrick out of the way, the Losers are left with the greater challenge of Pennywise himself (or Itself)...but the clown is starting to show signs of fear.