67 pages • 2 hours read
Stephen KingIt
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Beta“Derry: The Last Interlude” - EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Summary: “Derry: The Last Interlude”
Mike writes on June 4th, 1985. Bill visits him and has aged greatly in the four days since killing It. Audra is still unresponsive. Mike suggests taking her to his home nearby for a week, while he finishes him time in the hospital. Bill says that Richie left that morning, and he believes that the way they forgot everything is going to happen again when they each leave Derry.
Beverly has agreed to go back to Nebraska with Ben. Bill says that Beverly doesn’t seem to remember anything that happened with Tom. On June 5th, Beverly and Ben come to say goodbye. Mike says he will stay in touch, but he realizes that now he is forgetting things as well: “It suggests to me more than anything else that this time they really did kill it; there is no need for a watchman to stand and wait for the cycle to begin again” (1136).
Mike calls Richie and begins to leave a message. Richie answers the phone and says he didn’t pick up right away as he heard the message because he didn’t remember who Mike was. They agree that this time it is really over, as there is no other way to account for the forgetting. When Mike talks to Bill, Audra has not changed, and they can’t remember Eddie’s last name.
Mike ends his diary with the words: “I love you guys, you know. I loved you so much” (1142).
Epilogue Summary: “Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (II)”
On the day Bill leaves Mike’s house, he is heartbroken that Audra’s condition has not changed. He decides to take Silver out of the garage and does some basic maintenance on the bike. He leads Audra out and puts her on the bike. He gets on in front of her and she puts her hands around his waist instinctively.
He tells her they are going for a fast ride. Blocks away, he shouts: “Hi-yo Silver, AWAYYYY!” (1148). Audra’s hands tighten around him. Audra suddenly begins to talk, calling Bill by name and asking him where they are. He stops the bike and kisses her. She says she doesn’t remember a thing after getting off a plane in Bangor. He realizes that his stutter is gone forever. She says she loves him, to which he responds: “I love you too. And what else counts?” (1152).
Later, having left Derry, Bill will awaken from a dream with his wife beside him. He thinks that one day he will write about this dream: “It’s nice to think that childhood has its own sweet secrets and confirms mortality, and that mortality defines all courage and love” (1152).
“Derry: The Last Interlude”-Epilogue Analysis
Mike’s final journal entries show that he will also be allowed to forget this time, even if he remains in Derry. He welcomes the forgetfulness but also feels joy in the fact that he kept a record of what happened to them.
The final scene with Bill and Audra ends the novel on an optimistic note. At several points in the story, characters continue to wonder whether It can actually be killed or only driven away. When someone looks into the deadlights, It said that it would drive them insane forever. Audra’s condition was a result of having looked into the deadlights. Her revival as Bill pedals on Silver is a sign that even what appeared to be irreversible damage to her has been undone, which could only have happened if It was truly dead.
Bill’s final thought, in the future, is a poignant end to the story: “It’s nice to think that childhood has its own sweet secrets and confirms mortality, and that mortality defines all courage and love” (1152). The characters in It experience more death and terror than most people ever will. However, it is the presence of fear and death that resulted in the courage and love shown by the members of the Losers’ Club.
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By Stephen King
