Citizen Kane Worksheet

1. In the movie Citizen Kane, there are so many important facts to remember such as, when Charles Kane was eight years old, his own mother signed custody of him over to a banker named, Walter Thatcher. Because his mother signed custody over, Kane did not have a normal childhood and he built up a sense of animosity towards Mr. Thatcher and as a result everything Charles did was an attempt to antagonize Mr. Thatcher. At a young age Charles Became extremely wealthy; when he was twenty-five years old he was set to inherit a fortune; none the less, he only wanted the struggling New York Daily Inquirer because he thought it would be fun to run a newspaper. Charles never truly cared for his wealth and in one scene said that the purpose of money is

to purchase things. Charles Kane’s searched his entire life for love; He wanted to be loved by everyone. He married and divorced twice; his first wife Emily Norton was the niece of the President of The United States which was why Kane went into politics.

Together, Emily and Charles had one child who dies in a tragic car accident. Kane’s alleged affair with “singer” Susan Alexander led to the divorce of Kane and Emily however, one could only speculate whether or not Kane truly loved Emily or even if Emily really loved Kane. After their divorce Kane married Susan Alexander; Susan was the closest Kane ever got to loving someone or being loved. Kane built a forty-nine thousand acre palisade in Florida called Xanadu for Susan after her attempted suicide. Xanadu was a pleasure ground that included a golf course, manmade mountains, and a zoo. Susan accuses Kane of trying to buy love which infuriates Kane to the point that he slaps. The slap leads to Susan walking out on their marriage. In a violent rage, Kane tears apart their bedroom; he halts the destruction when he sees the snow-globe. In his final living moment he uttered “Rosebud” while dropping a snow globe. The last scene of the movie is the most important because it ties everything together; this scene tells you want “Rosebud” was and what the snow globe

resembles.

2. Charles Kane has many conflicts. Kane has conflicts with a multitude of other people such as his parents, Mr. Thatcher, his ex-wives, and other peers. He endures conflicts with money where he treats money as an object to buy love. However, the biggest conflict Kane holds is interpersonal. Kane seeks out love throughout his entire life; Charles has a void in his life in which he tries to fill with expensive objects, like all of the sculptures and art he purchased as well as collected. He has never truly felt loved by anyone and it seems that he is carrying around these feeling of being unloved and lonely throughout all his other relationships.

3.

There are really no true resolutions for the conflicts Kane endured. Kane never got over his mother signing over custody of him to Mr. Thatcher. He carried the feeling of being unloved throughout his life and let it destroy all his personal relationships. With Mr. Thatcher, Kane enjoyed antagonizing every aspect of his life, he wanted to be everything Mr. Thatcher hated. With Kane’s wives, he found ways to destroy their relationships. One example of this is a scene very close to the end of the movie when Susan is walking out of their home on Xanadu, and Kane is begging her not to go and that things will change, then he shifts the argument back to being all about him and says “you can’t do this to

me”.

4. On his death bed Kane muttered “Rosebud” simultaneously dropping the snow globe to the ground while taking his last breath. Some reporters automatically assumed that “Rosebud” was the name of the globe. “Rosebud” was a symbol of Charles childhood or lack thereof. The word “Rosebud” was imprinted on the sled that he was playing with when he was eight years old, the day Mr. Thatcher came to collect him; the snow-globe reminded Charles of that terrible day. Throughout the movie and without any luck reporters attempted to find out who and/or what “rosebud” was.

5. Kane’s childhood sled “Rosebud” and the snow-globe were the most important objects in the movie. Both items play vital roles in Kane’s life. “Rosebud” was the item he was playing with at his home before being ripped away from everything he has known. The snow-globe was given to him by his second wife, Susan. Kane cared deeply about both his mother and Susan and these two items represented them to Kane. Although the snow-globe was a representation of Susan, it held a deeper meaning and reminded Kane of his childhood, the safe haven that he once obtained.