Ralph "Ralphie" Parker is the protagonist of the novel In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd, and as such, is the main character of its various film adaptations, including A Christmas Story and its two sequels. He is a self-centered, materialistic, but innocent kid who wants a rifle BB gun for Christmas, despite everyone telling him "You'll shoot your eye out!" The original book is told from the perspective of the grown-up Ralphie, working as a writer in New York. The story follows him when he returns to his old hometown of Hohman, Indiana to write a magazine article about it, and reminisces on his childhood experiences there during the Great Depression. However, while the film retains the adult Ralphie's narration (voiced by Jean Shepherd himself), the film itself focuses entirely on his exploits as a nine-year-old kid. A Christmas Story 2, set five years later, follows his life as a 14-year-old teenager. As he grows up, he becomes a lot more well-meaning and nice, but he still has his childish daydreams as he did as a 9-year-old boy. A Christmas Story Christmas, which takes place 33 years after the original film, focuses on Ralphie's adult life as he deals with Christmas as a father, and also comes to terms with his own father having passed away.
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
In A Christmas Story, Ralphie is introduced when he was looking at the Christmas toys through a window of a store with Randy Parker, Schwartz, and Flick. Ralphie notices the Red Ryder Carbine-action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle and thinks of how great it would be to have it. However, every time he tells this to someone, they tell him, "you'll shoot your eye out!" When he does get the BB gun on Christmas morning, he goes out to test it. When he shoots it, he hits a metal sign and it bounces back and hits his cheek. Although he is ultimately unharmed, he ends up breaking his glasses. When his mother asks about that, he claims that he got hit by an icicle.
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