Summary
As punishment for swearing, Ralphie has to sit with a bar of soap in his mouth. He tells his mother he heard the swear word from his friend, Schwartz, even though he actually heard it from his father. Ralphie fantasizes that he goes blind and his parents feel guilty for giving him "soap poisoning."
At school, Ralphie gives his teacher an elaborate gift in hopes that she will support his efforts to get a BB gun.
While listening to his favorite radio show, Ralphie decodes a secret message that the hosts give to the children listening. The message says, "be sure to drink your Ovaltine." Ralphie is disappointed to realize that the code was only an advertisement for Ovaltine.
After dinner, Ralphie hears a loud crash. His father emerges from the basement and discovers that the leg lamp broke while Ralphie's mom was watering her plants. He accuses her of breaking the lamp on purpose.
Ralphie's father attempts to the glue the lamp back together but it falls apart again. Later that night, he buries the lamp next to the garage.
In class, Ralphie receives his assignment back from his teacher and is shocked to find out he received a C+. At the bottom of the paper his teacher wrote, "You'll shoot your eye out!"
After school, Ralphie is bullied by the older boys, but he retaliates and starts fighting back and swearing. When his mother intervenes, Ralphie starts crying.
Analysis
As the father's love for the lamp only grows, so does the mother's hatred for it in the house. When the family leaves the house one evening, for example, the mother turns the lamp off claiming that she does not want to waste electricity. Then, as everyone in the family is distracted, Ralphie's mother can be seen walking into the living room with a watering can before everyone hears a loud crash and it is revealed that the lamp is broken.
The viewer, of course, knows that Ralphie's mother broke the lamp intentionally, achieving a quiet victory over her husband and his obsession with the gauche piece of decor. The film only continues to indulge and mock Ralphie's father's attachment to the lamp by having him glue it back together and ultimately bury it in the backyard as if it were a beloved pet.
The subplot involving the lamp is one of the film's most memorable comedic moments, as it showcases both the contrasting perspectives of the parents while also portraying a relatable middle-class fantasy of owning chic household items.
This portion of the film also focuses on Ralphie's frustration with being misunderstood, ignored, and bullied. While he is convinced that his response to the "What I want for Christmas" assignment will impress his teacher, in reality Mrs. Shields echoes Ralphie's mother's assertion, "you'll shoot your eye out." By having Mrs. Shields repeat these exact words, the film subtly mocks the instinctual reactions that parents and adults have to children's wants and requests.
Furthermore, Mrs. Shields' discouraging response to Ralphie's assignment contributes to the sense of frustration he feels around Christmas as a nine-year-old boy with little control over his own life. When the two bullies approach him and his friends after school, this frustration reaches its peak and Ralphie retaliates, finally exhibiting a sense of strength and autonomy over himself while also protecting his younger brother. The scene suggests that Ralphie's mother understands his frustration when she intervenes in the fight. When Ralphie starts crying, she hugs him rather than scolds him for violence.
