Citizen Kane - Summary
---Citizen Kane
Charles Foster Kane was born of humble origins. There was a mine given to his family which eventually happened to be rich in gold, and he became the owner at age twenty five. To give a better future for Charles Foster Kane, his parents legally gave him over to Thatcher, who raised him in luxury until he became an adult. But Kane immensely hated Thatcher for taking him away from his family. He attended a lot of colleges, which all expelled him, including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Cornell. Kane faces an internal conflict with him-self in his nonstop search for the happiness that he lost as a child, however, Thatcher is the one he blames for the loss of love. Kane only bought the newspaper to hurt Thatcher any way he could. He also has an external battle with Jim Gettys, his so called corrupt opponent for political office. If he loses his conflict with Gettys, Kane will not only lose the race to the office of Mayor, but will also lose his first wife Emily, for cheating on her with Susan. Despite the fact that Kane is a man of incredible success and power, he still has a strong lack of joy. He attempts to fill the void within himself by gaining more power (which is why he runs for mayor) and by obtaining more possessions. Despite his attempts, he is still broken in his endless journey for self-fulfillment. If Kane does not succeed in regaining his happiness, he knows that he will die as a lonely man. It seems that the resolution to the main conflict “what is rosebud” actually resolves the entire conflict cluster. Just by answering that he was a sad lonely man searching for the love of a mother that he never thought he had. The main conflict is the cause for all of the other conflicts, but all can be resolved by one answer.
“Rosebud” is the last word Kane utters, which not only emphasizes how alone Kane is but also suggests Kane’s inability to relate to people on an adult level, because the only true happiness he’s ever had was as a child.
Charles Foster Kane was born of humble origins. There was a mine given to his family which eventually happened to be rich in gold, and he became the owner at age twenty five. To give a better future for Charles Foster Kane, his parents legally gave him over to Thatcher, who raised him in luxury until he became an adult. But Kane immensely hated Thatcher for taking him away from his family. He attended a lot of colleges, which all expelled him, including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Cornell. Kane faces an internal conflict with him-self in his nonstop search for the happiness that he lost as a child, however, Thatcher is the one he blames for the loss of love. Kane only bought the newspaper to hurt Thatcher any way he could. He also has an external battle with Jim Gettys, his so called corrupt opponent for political office. If he loses his conflict with Gettys, Kane will not only lose the race to the office of Mayor, but will also lose his first wife Emily, for cheating on her with Susan. Despite the fact that Kane is a man of incredible success and power, he still has a strong lack of joy. He attempts to fill the void within himself by gaining more power (which is why he runs for mayor) and by obtaining more possessions. Despite his attempts, he is still broken in his endless journey for self-fulfillment. If Kane does not succeed in regaining his happiness, he knows that he will die as a lonely man. It seems that the resolution to the main conflict “what is rosebud” actually resolves the entire conflict cluster. Just by answering that he was a sad lonely man searching for the love of a mother that he never thought he had. The main conflict is the cause for all of the other conflicts, but all can be resolved by one answer.
“Rosebud” is the last word Kane utters, which not only emphasizes how alone Kane is but also suggests Kane’s inability to relate to people on an adult level, because the only true happiness he’s ever had was as a child.