The Canal
The Canal is the concrete corset that contains the Kenduskeag Stream as it passes through downtown Derry, a two-mile-long channel built to control the river's chronic flooding. It runs from the intersection of Main and Canal Streets, where it dives underground for half a mile, to Bassey Park, where it resurfaces. The Canal is not merely a piece of civic infrastructure; it is the primary artery through which the ancient entity known as It moves, hunts, and feeds beneath the town. Its waters, polluted to lethal levels by sewage and industrial waste, are a fitting medium for a creature that dwells in the dark, and its banks and bridges are the stages upon which some of the novel's most pivotal acts of violence occur.
Geography and Function
The Canal was constructed to manage the Kenduskeag, a stream prone to flooding that had, in 1931, caused a disastrous flood costing millions of dollars and nearly two dozen lives. The concrete channel runs for two miles through the business district, with the water passing under Main Street in a cobbled arch before emerging at Bassey Park. The Canal's sides are stained with the varying levels of past floods, a visible record of the town's struggle with the water. The area is also a hub of commerce, with bars and businesses lining Canal Street, though the water itself is so polluted that fish caught in it are inedible mutants. The Canal's underground section, where it flows in darkness beneath the city, is a direct connection to the sewers and drains that form It's domain.
A Site of Murder and Terror
The Canal is the location of two of the novel's most significant murders, which bookend the 27-year cycle of It's activity. In the fall of 1957, six-year-old George Denbrough is killed by Pennywise the Dancing Clown after his paper boat sails into a storm drain that feeds into the Canal's system. The creature, speaking from the drain, lures George close before seizing him and tearing off his arm. Twenty-seven years later, in July 1984, the Canal is the scene of the murder of Adrian Mellon. After being beaten and thrown from the Main Street Bridge by a gang of homophobic teenagers, Mellon falls into the water. Don Hagarty, Mellon's boyfriend, witnesses a clown—Pennywise—dragging Mellon's body under the bridge, where it is later found mutilated. The Canal is thus established as a feeding ground, a place where the boundary between the human world and the monster's subterranean realm is thin.
The Monster's Highway
For the Losers' Club, the Canal and its associated drainage system represent the primary access point to It's lair. The creature uses the sewers and drains that feed into the Canal as a highway to move undetected throughout Derry. The Losers' final confrontation with It in 1958 begins when they are chased into a pumping station in the Barrens, a system that connects to the Canal's underground network. In 1985, the adult Losers again descend into this system, following the trail of It's blood and eggs. The Canal's underground passage is where the final battle takes place, and where Eddie Kaspbrak is killed. The Canal is not just a setting; it is the physical manifestation of the connection between the town's surface life and the ancient evil that lives beneath it.
Symbolism and Thematic Significance
The Canal functions as a powerful symbol of Derry's hidden corruption and the systemic nature of the evil that pervades the town. Its polluted, murky waters represent the secrets and violence that the town's residents collectively ignore. The fact that the Canal is a man-made structure designed to control nature, yet is used by a primordial monster, underscores the theme that human attempts to impose order are futile against the chaotic, ancient forces that lie beneath. The Canal is also a place of transition and liminality, where the boundary between the known world and the unknown, between childhood and adulthood, and between life and death is breached. It is the place where George Denbrough's innocence is destroyed, where Adrian Mellon's life is taken, and where the Losers' Club must confront their deepest fears.
