Summary
Ralphie's mom tells him to lie down in his room after beating up Scut Farkus. Ralphie is terrified of his father coming home, and Randy is worried that their father is going to kill Ralphie for what he did.
At dinner, Ralphie's mom downplays the fight and distracts his father so he forgets about what he heard. Ralphie realizes that "things were different" between him and his mother.
Ralphie decides to ask Santa for the BB gun instead of his parents. At the mall, Ralphie and Randy wait in a long line to see Santa.
When they finally get to the front of the line, Santa's helpers are rude. Randy screams when he sits on Santa's lap.
Ralphie is disoriented when he gets to Santa and cannot remember what he wants for Christmas.
Just as he is about to leave, he remembers what he wants and tells Santa, who responds, "You'll shoot your eye out kid."
On Christmas Eve, the family sets up their Christmas tree. The boys rush to go to sleep so that Santa will not skip their house.
Analysis
Ralphie's retaliation against the bully Scut Farkus signifies a change in his character's storyline that is significant for the remainder of the film. No longer a victim, Ralphie's bout of violence signifies his attempt to gain a sense of personal autonomy as he transitions from childhood to adolescence. Ralphie's mother's reaction to the fight suggests that she understands that this change was both inevitable and necessary; instead of punishing Ralphie she tells him to lie down, knowing that he is likely still reeling from what happened.
Then, as both Ralphie and Randy agonize over what their father will do to Ralphie, Ralphie's mother spares him the punishment by distracting his father from the news. This moment stands out even for Ralphie as a sign that not only has he changed, but his relationship with his mother has also changed: she has begun to no longer treat him like a child, and instead shows him a certain amount of respect and privacy for his choices.
This section of the film also features a disorienting and parodic portrayal of the figure of the "mall Santa," a disgruntled worker in a poorly made Santa costume who refuses to work past 9 PM. When Ralphie encounters this version of Santa – whom he has decided will be his only hope for receiving the BB gun for Christmas – the cinematography becomes nightmarish and anxious, with a number of haunting close-ups of the rude "elves" that dramatize Ralphie's perspective.
This scene is juxtaposed with the previous scene in which Ralphie's demonstrated control over his life; here, however, the adults playing Santa and the elves are mean and rude to the children, and the film emphasizes not Ralphie's strength but his smallness in the face of these intimidating characters. At the very end of the scene, when Ralphie climbs back up the "exit" slide and remembers to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas, the camera shows Ralphie's perspective and the mall Santa's enormous boot coming down to push him back down the slide. This moment reflects Ralphie's helplessness in the moment, while also parodying the tradition of bringing children to meet (at times unsavory) strangers dressed as their favorite Christmas characters.
