The falling action of the film, A Christmas Story, takes place after the climactic scene on Christmas morning. Ralphie received the gift he had been wishing for all Christmas season-- a Red Ryder BB Gun. He promptly takes the model air rifle outside, and upon firing his first shot, the pellet ricochets off of a metal sign and hits him in the face. This scene mirrors something he has been warned of all throughout the film-- "You'll shoot your eye out!" Though Ralphie's glasses protect his eyes, it is certainly a frightening moment for the characters and viewers of the film.
After Ralphie's incident with "shooting his eye out," the tension and expectation in the film begins to drop, but it is by no means less eventful! Having ruined his glasses and caused minor injury to his face, Ralphie pretends that the cause was an icicle falling on him. This wins the sympathy of his mother, who takes him to the upstairs bathroom to console him and tend to the small wound left by the pellet. Unknowingly, they have left the downstairs door open and the neighbors' many dogs are sneaking in! They ravage the Christmas dinner Ralphie's mother has been working so hard to prepare, and the family is devastated.
This leads us to the resolution of the film. Ralphie and his family go out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner because it is the only place open on Christmas. Though their day has been disastrous, their relationships to one another are reaffirmed.
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