Synopsis
Set in the fictional city of Hohman (based on real-life city of Hammond, Indiana), 9-year-old Ralph "Ralphie" Parker wants only one thing for Christmas: "an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time." Between run-ins with his younger brother Randy and having to handle school bully Scut Farkus, and his sidekick Grover Dill, Ralphie does not know how he will ever survive long enough to get the BB gun for Christmas. The plot revolves around Ralphie's overcoming a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to his owning the precious Red Ryder BB gun: the fear that he will shoot his eye out (the classic BB gun mother's block, "You'll shoot your eye out.") In each of the film's three acts, Ralphie makes his case to another individual; each time he is met by the same retort. When Ralphie asks his mother for a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, she says, "No, you'll shoot your eye out." Next, when Ralphie writes a theme about wanting the BB gun for Mrs. Shields, his teacher at Warren G. Harding Elementary School, Ralphie gets a C+, and Mrs. Shields writes "P.S. You'll shoot your eye out" on it. Finally, when Ralphie asks an obnoxious department store Santa Claus for a Red Ryder BB gun, he responds, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid. Merry Christmas! Ho, ho, ho!", before pushing Ralphie down a long slide with his boot.
On the day he gets the C+ on his composition, Ralphie is struck in the face with a snowball thrown at him by the bully Scut Farkus, who then begins to tease and taunt Ralphie. Having had enough of Scut along with Grover Dill bullying him, Randy, and his friends Flick and Schwartz, Ralphie angrily charges at Farkus, tackling him to the ground. After knocking down Grover Dill (who tries to intervene for his pal), Ralphie proceeds to beat Scut's face, giving him a bloody nose. During the fight, Ralphie begins to swear non-stop as he lands blow after blow to the squealing Farkus the kids behind the fence are shocked by the swearing. Randy runs to get their mom, who shows up and pulls her son off the bully, and takes him and Randy home. This part of the film occurs shortly after a scene where Ralphie gets into trouble for swearing while helping his dad ,The Old Man", as he is referred to throughout the movie fix a flat tire. Ralphie is worried about the swearing and is sure he will be in big trouble when his father gets home from work; Randy is also worried and hides under the sink. Instead, Ralphie's mother tells his father about the fight casually at the dinner table. She then changes the subject of the conversation to an upcoming Chicago Bears game, distracting his father and getting Ralphie off the hook in the process.
On Christmas morning, Ralphie looks frantically for a box that would hold the BB gun to no avail. He and his brother have quite a few presents, but he is disappointed because he did not get the gun. His disappointment turns to joy as his father points out one last half-hidden present, ostensibly from Santa. As Ralphie unwraps the BB gun, Mr. Parker explains the purchase to his none-too-thrilled wife, stating that he had one himself when he was eight years old.
Ralphie goes out to test his new gun, shooting at a paper target perched on top of a metal sign, and predictably gets a ricochet from the metal sign. This ricochet ends up hitting just below his eye, which causes him to flinch and lose his glasses. While searching for the glasses, Ralphie ends up stepping on them, breaking them. However, he concocts a story to his mom about an icicle falling on him and breaking his glasses, which she believes. She takes him upstairs to the bathroom to clean him up, and accidentally forgets to close the door. This allows a horde of the Bumpuses' (the Parkers' hillbilly neighbors) dogs, who frequently torment Ralphie's dad, to enter the house and eat the Christmas turkey that is cooling on the kitchen table. Making a last-minute decision, Mr. Parker takes the family out to a Chinese restaurant where they have a hilarious time dining on Peking duck, which adult Ralphie calls "Chinese turkey".
At the end of the story, Ralphie is lying in bed on Christmas Day night with his gun by his side. Randy is holding the toy zeppelin he received. The voiceover states that this was the best present he received or would ever receive.