Home Alone Summary

Justin Willis
English 1013
28 November 2011
Home Alone
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of the year. Christmas is about coming together and showing love with family, traditions, and gifts. Every family has their own traditions whether it is putting up Christmas lights as a family, or something simple like watching a movie together. After the excitement of Thanksgiving Day, my family sits down that night and watches the Christmas classic, Home Alone. This movie is not only hysterical and shows the importance of family, but brings my family together and prepares us for the Christmas season as it is revered as an all-time favorite and looked forward to every year. The movie begins with the gathering of the whole family including the aunt, uncle, and cousins of Kevin McCallister, the star of the movie, at the McCallister household the night before a Christmas vacation to France. All the excitement leaves Kevin angry because no attention has been shown to him. Angry, Kevin makes a wish that his family would “disappear” as he makes his way to the attic where he is forced to sleep for the night because of bad behavior. Many of us experience similar feelings of jealousy around the Christmas season due to the fact that sometimes we view it as a time of receiving while others are in the spirit of giving. Quickly, we realize that everything is not about us and jealousy strikes. In the morning, the family wakes up in a panic because a power outage has caused their alarm clocks to be disabled so they frantically gather their luggage and count heads in order to make their flight. In their panic and rush, Kevin is forgotten. Kevin awakens to no one in the house which at first leaves him worried that his jealous wish came true, but this worry soon turns into happiness because of freedom from his family. As he parties because his wish has come true, two villains plan to rob the entire neighborhood while everyone is away for the holidays and their particular focus is on the McCallister house. While on the plane, Kevin’s mother realizes they have forgotten him and as soon as they land, they begin begging to be taken back home. This scene in the movie reveals that despite their belittling attitude towards Kevin at the beginning of the movie because of his size, age, and attitude, they truly care for him because he is a member of their family and are willing to do anything they can to get home to make sure he is safe. This proves the importance of the bond between the members of not only the nuclear family but extended members as well. The holidays are a busy time for travel and no seats were available on any plan. The mother sacrifices herself and allows the rest of the family to go to their residence in France while she stays at the airport and eventually bargains with an elderly couple to allow her to fly back to the states in their seats. Once again proving the sacrifice associated with love. When she finally makes it back to the states, no more flights are available to get her home so after causing a scene she gets the attention of a traveling polka band who offer her a ride in their rent-a-van. Many people allow the Christmas spirit to inspire them to give in any way possible. While a home, Kevin goes about day to day habits, proving that he isn’t the small, incompetent child his family accused him of being. He becomes aware of the robbers plan to hit his house one evening and he quickly devises a childish plan to defend his house by setting up numerous traps and gadgets to terrorize the villains. After completely humiliating and hurting the robbers, Kevin makes his way to the neighbor’s house where he has instructed the police to go and the villains are arrested. Here he was helped by the old man who is his neighbor that most assumed to be cruel and vicious. During the movie, he was able to overcome his fear and talk with the old man who simply missed his son and his family but couldn’t overcome his fear to call them. Each of these characters helps one another to conquer their struggles, developing a theme that revealed that not everyone should be judged by their outward appearance. Kevin’s family soon makes it home and he is welcomed with open arms full of excitement and amazement at his capabilities, a complete change from the family presented at the beginning of the movie. For me, the Christmas season represents the closeness of family and their ability to sacrifice for one another in order to assure the happiness and well-being of others. My family’s tradition of watching Home Alone every year serves as a reminder of this definition of Christmas. The importance of family is clearly evident in this movie, and as my family and I sit down and spend this quality time together, I am reminded of the importance of each of my family members and the love we have that is shown during each Christmas season.