Teddy DuChamp is the psycho and dramatic kid, played by Corey Feldman. Teddy’s father is a shell-shocked World War II veteran who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. After deliberately burning Teddy’s ears on a stove in the middle of a psychotic episode, Teddy’s father was sent to a mental hospital. As a result of the damage to his ears, Teddy has hearing loss and wears a hearing aid. Also, despite poor eyesight, Teddy is prone to taking “dares” and exhibits dangerous and reckless behavior (he tries to dodge a train at one point in the movie).
He idolizes his father and wants to join the army after high school.
Teddy and his friends have a very close relationship. They joke and fool around like most kids their age, but when things become serious, they grow up fast. The relationship between Teddy and Chris Chamber I think is extra close. There are two scenes in the movie I base this off of. The first example is when Teddy decides he wants to play chicken with an oncoming train. Pretending to be in Normandy like his father, Teddy stands in front of the train on the tracks pretending to shoot the train with his sleeping bag, imagining it is a rifle. Chris yells and shouts for him to get off, but Teddy does not move. When the train becomes closer, Chris runs to Teddy and wrestles him off the tracks just in time for the train to pass. This enraged Teddy and became very angry that Chris ruined his fun. But Chris, being the good friend he is, apologizes to Teddy but explains to him he did not want to see him killed, and they make the sacred hand shake and all is well. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to your friends to do what is right, even if they do not agree with you.
The Homework on The Fire in My Father’s Hands
When I was a kid, about 5 to 8 years old, my hands would always get cold whenever the surrounding air is chilly. My dad would always tell me to rub them together, like you would in order to make fire. And so I did it. I rubbed and rubbed and rubbed. My fingers grind against each other from the tips of my little fingers to the base of my palm, but none of this worked. My hands still are cold, stone ...
Another instance between Teddy and his friends is at Milo Pressman’s junkyard. After narrowly escaping Milo and his dog Chopper, the boys and Milo exchange some nasty words. In the midst of anger, Milo begins calling Teddy a loony son and calls his father a loony. This enrages Teddy again and he begins to try to climb the fence to fight Milo, but his friends pull him down to run away and move on. Walking their path, Teddy starts crying about how Milo rated his father as a loony. This hurts Teddy’s feeling a lot because he loves his father regardless of what has happened between then in the past. Chris, Gordie, and Vern begin comforting Teddy by telling him Milo is nothing but fat and worthless. Milo did not storm the beaches at Normandy, and he is no better than a pile of dog crap. They also comfort Teddy by saying nothing can take away that from his father. The war ruined him, but he fought for our nation to save millions of people persecuted by the Nazi regime. Teddy begins to stop crying and apologizes for crying and ruining everyone’s fun and they continue their journey.
