Nesto malo

8/18/2019 Nesto malo

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The United States of America is the most powerful and wealthy country in the

world. The varieties of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the

enrichments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous

diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. Even though America

has been formed upon these diversities, its inhabitants- the "average American"-

have a single thing in common a single idea a single goal the American !ream. The !ream consists of a seemingly simple concept success. Americans dream of

a successful marriage, family, successful ob, and own a #ictorian-style home

with a white pic$et fence and an oa$ tree with a swing tire in the front yard. The

accessories add to the pac$age according to the individuality of the American

!ream. And, perhaps along with the "melting pot" includes the entangled

e%tremes of each American&s dream the degree of the !ream is now ambiguous

in terms of boundaries. 'erhaps the American !ream varies for the individual as

the individual varies.

(harles )oster *ane possessed everything the materialistic man could hopefor. *ane had more money than he could count, power, a successful ob, women

at the croo$ of his arm, and e%pensive possessions some men would go to the

e%tremes to have. +et, (harles constantly had a vast void within him. The most

important element *ane lac$ed was the single thing he couldn&t have that was

love

...usan returned to a more subtle, ordinary lifestyle where she could blend withsociety as Susan Ale%ander, not as an aristocrat.

Along with the ingredients of the "melting pot" are the umbled ideas of the

American !ream. s there only one !ream 'erhaps it is simply happiness. o

matter if it&s money, love, security or a palace, a snow sled, or a green light,

whatever it may be that /lls the blan$ space in your heart, the !ream will create

a sense of absolute contentment within yourself. As for some of us, simple,

unconditional things can /ll those blan$s, and for others, possessions may occupy

them, but the unbounded span of the !ream includes the unbounded span of the

individual American.

The Difficulty of Interpreting a Life

The difficulty of interpreting a person’s life once that life has ended is the central theme of

Citizen Kane. After viewing an in-depth, filmed biography of Kane’s life, the producer of the

biography asks his reporters a simple question !ho, really, was "harles #oster Kane$ The

producer recogni%es that a man isn’t necessarily the sum of his achievements, possessions, oractions, but that something deeper must drive him. &is clue that Kane was more than his



public accomplishments is the last word Kane uttered '(osebud.) Kane’s life story unfolds in

layers through the reporter Thompson*s investigation and is told by a succession of people

who were close to him. These various points of view are imbued with people’s particular

pre+udices, and the recollections are ultimately ambiguous and unreliable.

Kane never gets to tell his own life story, and we must wonder how much his telling of itwould differ from the reminiscences of his associates. one of these people ever really knew

what drove Kane to do the things he did. nly Thatcher would have had the chance to fully

understand Kane, but he was too concerned with making money to have any compassion for a

lonely child. &e viewed Kane through a distant, mature lens of acquisition and conservatism.

The differing perspectives on Kane’s life, especially in the absence of Kane’s own point of

view, force us to question what was truly important in the life of "harles #oster Kane as well

as to ponder what constitutes a life in general. udging by Kane*s last word, the most

important pieces of his life were not the things that made him newsworthy, such as his

newspaper successes and political ambitions, nor his friendships and associations. /nstead, as

Kane*s life comes to an end, he grasps at a memory from his childhood. &is defining moment

was the point where his life changed irrevocably for what appears to be the better, from amaterialistic viewpoint, but which actually leaves him vulnerable and alone.

The Myth of the American Dream

Citizen Kane was one of the first movies to depict the American 0ream as anything less than

desirable. As a child, Kane is fully happy as he plays in the snow outside the family’s home,

even though his parents own a boarding house and are quite poor. &e has no playmates but is

content to be alone because peace and security are +ust inside the house’s walls. !hen

Thatcher removes Kane from this place, he’s given what seems like the American dream1

financial affluence and material lu2ury. &owever, Kane finds that those things don’t make

him happy, and the e2change of emotional security for financial security is ultimatelyunfulfilling. The American dream is hollow for Kane. As an adult, Kane uses his money and

power not to build his own happiness but to either buy love or make others as miserable as he

is. Kane*s wealth isolates him from others throughout the years, and his life ends in loneliness

at 3anadu. &e dies surrounded only by his possessions, poor substitutions for true

companions.

The Unreliability of Memory

!e learn the story of "harles #oster Kane from his acquaintances* recollections, not from the

memories of the protagonist himself. 4ernstein, one of the most unreliable narrators, gives the

first significant reference to memories when he tells the reporter, Thompson, that it’s

surprising what a man remembers. 4ernstein*s memories of Kane are colored by his

unwavering admiration for him, which endured even as Kane became increasingly corrupt and

withdrawn. 4ernstein also tells Thompson about a girl he saw once and never forgot, an

ideali%ed, almost fictionali%ed fantasy that resembles Kane’s idealistic memories of his

childhood. Thompson later meets with 5eland, who is obviously suffering from the effects of

old age. At one point he claims he can’t remember the name of Kane’s estate 63anadu7. This

lapse in memory may be pretense, but it nonetheless casts a shadow of doubt on the reliability

of 5eland’s memories. 8usan Ale2ander recounts her life with Kane through an alcoholic

ha%e, which negatively affects the accuracy of her memories as well. These ha%y recollections

and ideali%ations are all that remain of Kane, a man who was once so powerful and larger-than-life. o matter how monumental his achievements, even a man like Kane will eventually

be forgotten.



Motifs

Isolation

"harles #oster Kane repeatedly finds himself isolated from the world around him, whether he

is young or old, happy or unhappy, alone or surrounded by others, which suggests that hisfinal isolation is inevitable. The camerawork in Citizen Kane emphasi%es this isolation. #or

e2ample, we see Kane as a happy child playing alone in the snow, and a short time later, the

camera isolates him between his mother and 9r. Thatcher as they plan to separate Kane from

his home. &e is still alone, but no longer happy. !e ne2t see Kane seated by himself in the

center of a room ringed with dark-suited men, who watch him as he opens a gift from

Thatcher. Kane’s isolation follows him into adulthood, where we see him sitting on his own in

his newspaper office amid a celebration in his honor. The camera locates Kane in a triangular

shot between 4ernstein and 5eland as the two men discuss Kane’s increasingly depraved

tactics. The three men may be in physical pro2imity, but the nature of 4ernstein and 5eland*s

discussion and the way the shot frames Kane mark him as an outsider. :ventually 5eland

leaves Kane, and Kane barricades himself in his fortress with 8usan. 4ut 8usan too leavesKane, and in the end he dies alone, never having formed a lasting bond with anyone.

Old Age

4ecause the story of "harles #oster Kane is told by his associates after his death, the primary

storytellers are men who are far past their prime, and their degeneracy lends another layer of

sadness and loneliness to the film. All of these men were once vital, active, and important.

ow they’re bored, and society has shunted them aside. 4ernstein, as chairman of the board,

notes that he has nothing at all to do. 5eland is in an old age home, stiff and somewhat senile.

Thatcher, whose story comprises a significant source of material on Kane*s life, is already

dead by the time Thompson consults his memoirs. :ven Kane himself, as he ages throughoutthe film, becomes devitali%ed and mechanical in his movements. &is aging, ravaged state is

painfully apparent in the scene where 8usan leaves him and he tears up her room in anger. &e

moves stiffly and has difficulty venting his anger as violently as he wants to, which increases

his frustration and isolates him even from his own feelings. ld age in Citizen Kane does not

come with grace, but with defeat.

Materialism

"harles #oster Kane is a rapacious collector. At one point, in a newspaper office so filled with

statues that the employees can barely move around, 4ernstein notes that they have multiple,

duplicate statues of ;enus 6the goddess of physical beauty7. Kane obsessively fills his estatewith possessions, and at the end of the movie the camera pans across massive rooms filled

with crates to show that he never even unpacked many of his purchases. Kane’s collecting is

not that of a discriminating connoisseur1he buys art ob+ects so fervently that his behavior

more closely resembles the ravenous actions of a predator. After his disappointments in the

political arena and with 8usan’s opera career, Kane builds his estate, 3anadu, to isolate

himself and 8usan from those who spurned his attempts at manipulation, and he fills the castle

with inanimate ob+ects. &e wields complete control over the world he’s created, and nothing

can challenge his authority in this realm. Through his materialism Kane attempts to

ameliorate the insults of the real world, where he couldn’t control his mother’s abandonment,

8usan’s failed attempt at opera, the failure of his political career, and the souring opinions of

his friends. &e ends up at 3anadu alone, with his possessions as his only companions. 4y

purchasing so many e2travagant goods, Kane attempts to fill a void created by all the people



who left him throughout his life. <et the only two possessions that carry meaning for Kane on

his deathbed are a simple snow globe and (osebud, the sled he remembers from his youth.

Symbols

Sleds

Two sleds appear in Citizen Kane. (osebud, the sled Kane loves as a child, appears at the

beginning, during one of Kane’s happiest moments, and at the end, being burned with the rest

of Kane’s possessions after Kane dies. '(osebud) is the last word Kane utters, which not only

emphasi%es how alone Kane is but also suggests Kane’s inability to relate to people on an

adult level. (osebud is the most potent emblem of Kane’s childhood, and the comfort and

importance it represents for him are rooted in the fact that it was the last item he touched

before being taken from his home. !hen Kane meets Thatcher, who has come to take him

from his mother, Kane uses his sled to resist Thatcher by shoving it into Thatcher’s body. /n

this sense, the sled serves as a barrier between his carefree youth and the responsibilities of

adulthood and marks a turning point in the development of his character. After Thatcher*sappearance, Kane*s life is never again the same. 5ater, Thatcher gives Kane another sled, this

one named "rusader1aptly named, since Kane will spend his early adulthood on a vengeful

crusade against Thatcher. #or the second time, Kane uses a sled 6or in this case, the idea it

represents7 as a weapon against the man he sees as an oppressive force, but unlike (osebud,

"rusader carries no suggestion of innocence.

(eportedly, the idea of using the plot device of (osebud came from writer &erman

9ankiewic%. The story goes that he had a bicycle he adored as a child, and he never really

recovered when it was stolen. !elles always thought it was a rather cheap idea, but he went

along with it because it was an easy way to simplify the plot line.

Snow Globe

The snow globe that falls from Kane’s hand when he dies links the end of his life to his

childhood. The scene inside the snow globe is simple, peaceful, and orderly, much like Kane’s

life with his parents before Thatcher comes along. The snow globe also associates these

qualities with 8usan. Kane sees the snow globe for the first time when he meets 8usan. n

that same night, he’s thinking about his mother, and he even speaks of her, one of only two

times he mentions her throughout the film. /n his mind, 8usan and his mother become linked.

8usan, like Kane’s mother, is a simple woman, and Kane en+oys their quiet times in her small

apartment where he’s free from the demands of his comple2 life. 8usan eventually leaves him,

+ust as his mother did, and her departure likewise devastates him. As Kane trashes 8usan’s

room in anger, he finds the snow globe, and the already-thin wall between his childhood and

adulthood dissolves. ust as his mother abandoned him once, 8usan has abandoned him now,

and Kane is powerless to bring back either one.

Statues

Kane repeatedly fails in his attempts to control the people in his life, which perhaps e2plains

his obsession with collecting statues and the appearance of statues throughout the film, since

statues can be easily manipulated. Thatcher, threatening and oppressive when alive, is

harmless as a large, imposing statue outside the bank where his memoirs are housed. !hen

Kane travels to :urope, he collects so many statues that he begins to acquire duplicates, even

though 4ernstein has begged him not to buy any more. Kane’s office and home overflow with



statues, which he acquires without +oy or discrimination. Kane has always aspired to control

people, not +ust the world’s fine art, but puts his energy into collecting statues as his power

over people swiftly and fully dissolves. #or Kane, statues are nothing more than images of

people, easily controlled1he can place them where he wants and even ignore them if he

chooses. ver his statues, Kane has power to acquire, to own, and to control. 8tatues

eventually replace living people in Kane’s life, and he dies surrounded by these figures.

(harles )oster *ane

Kane*s mother sends him away when he is only eight years old, and this abrupt separation

keeps him from growing past the petulant, needy, aggressive behaviors of a pre-adolescent.

Kane never develops a positive emotional attachment to his guardian, Thatcher, and he re+ects

Thatcher*s attempts at discipline and guidance. As an adult, Kane has a great deal of wealth

and power but no emotional security, and this absence of security arrests his development and

fuels his resentment of authority. 4ecause of his wealth, Kane has no motivation or incentive

to sub+ect himself to social norms. &e has no reason to move beyond his resentment and hissense of himself as the center of the universe, and he never takes his place as a virtuous,

productive member of society. Kane seems idealistic when he first begins to run his

newspaper, but his primary reason for becoming a newspaperman is to manipulate his

political and social environment in order to gain total control over it. Kane’s quest for power

makes him charismatic, but he eventually drives away the women and friends he attracts. As

those close to him mature in a way that he cannot, they must move away from him to preserve

their own selves.

Kane is not a likeable man, but !elles presents his life in a way that ultimately shrouds Kane

in pathos and pity. Kane is dead when the film begins, and we learn about him only through

the accounts given by his old friends and lovers. :ach person has a different perception of

Kane, and his or her memories are not fully reliable. A fragmented picture, not a fully fleshed-

out man, is all we get. &owever, we know enough about Kane to know he deserves sympathy.

Kane’s obsessive spending and collecting reveal that he is trying to fill an empty space inside

himself with ob+ects instead of people. &e buys things for the sake of having them, not

because they give him any particular +oy. Kane is fundamentally lonely, and, intentionally or

unintentionally, he drives away everyone who cares for him. &is attempts to control those he

loves always fail. !hen his second wife 8usan prepares to leave him, he says angrily that she

can’t do that to him. 8he firmly responds, '<es, / can,) and then walks out the door.

"ritics generally accept that !elles based the character of Kane on publishing magnate

!illiam (andolph &earst and other powerful men of his time, but !elles certainly based the

character on himself as well. &e, like Kane, was around eight years old when he lost his

mother, though !elles’s mother died and Kane’s mother leaves by choice. !elles’s mother

gave him an inflated sense of his own importance that was encouraged by his school

administration and his guardian after her death. As an actor, !elles naturally imbued "harles

#oster Kane with some of his own e2periences and characteristics. The parallels between

Kane and !elles helped !elles give a remarkable performance. !elles didn’t +ust act the part

of Kane in many ways, !elles was Kane.

Nesto malo

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