Rosebud
Rosebud is perhaps the most famous symbol in movie history. What is the significance of the name "rosebud?" What is the significance of the sled? Is it the key to understanding Kane's life or just one missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle that does not explain much at all? A meaningful symbol or a MacGuffin? Are there other symbols in the film that are more meaningful or complement you reading of the sled (such as statues, jigsaw puzzles, Xanadu, etc)?
At face value, the word Rosebud doesn’t seem to have much symbol to it, for Rosebud is the name of the sled Kane owned and was playing with when his parents gave him away to Thatcher. However, in examining the movie, the symbol is imperative to Kane’s story because of how his childhood and privacy has defined his personality and public life. For example, every time he says rosebud to himself, he calms down because the nostalgia evokes him. The example is when he is destroying his room after Susan leaves him, he sees the snow globe, and it reminds him of his sled. Because of the sled, he immediately calms down because he wants to be in that part of his childhood again. Not only is Kane’s attachment to Rosebud about the want for his youth back, but also how Rosebud has inadvertently defined his adulthood and death. Kane’s life is characterized by this symbol because his life had been full of ups and downs. For example, while he was very successful in the journalism industry and grew very rich, he also had many downfalls, especially when his political career failed and his romantic affair with Susan interfered with his opera house. Because of the overall demise of Kane’s life, he had many insecurities when it came down to business and romance. To contrast the story of Kane, Rosebud symbolizes the sense of security that Kane longs for and hasn’t felt since his childhood. The sled also acts as a microcosm for the simplicity of his childhood since he didn’t have much growing up. However, he lost that sense of simplicity when Thatcher took him away because of how Kane was exposed to business and riches from that day on. Moreover, the sled also tells a lot about how Kane wanted to be perceived in the public eye because of how much he had concealed about his private life. Kane’s sled being found in the basement after the journalist concludes that Rosebud has no meaning shows significance to the parts of his life that Kane concealed. Even post-mortem, Rosebud gets incinerated because of how Kane succeeded in keeping much of his life out of the public eye. The sled’s incineration reminds the audience that the journalist and the public in turn, will never know parts of his life because it’s being destroyed.
ReplyDeleteRosebud is a symbol of Kane’s ruined childhood. Childhood is a crucial point in developmental stages. The brain is influenced the most during this stage. Kane was a normal child with two parents until the day his mom made an agreement with the banker to give Kane to him “for the better”. His face after his mom said he was going with the banker was sad and confused. His eyes got wide as he looked from the banker to his mom. No kid would like to leave their parents, and clearly leaving his parents affected Kane. They just want their parents to love them. During this moment when his mom gave him the news, his sled Rosebud was with him. A rosebud could represent Kane at this point in his life. He is small and still growing (mentally and physically) like a rosebud. A rosebud also needs to be loved and cared for just like Kane needed. Kane ended up not getting as much love and care from his parents as he would have needed, which is shown when the sled is on the fire at the end and “dying”. The Rosebud sled dying was Kane’s childhood that was ruined. His childhood was shown to be ruined because he did not treat others (for example his wives) lovingly in his later years. The lack of love in his early life was released to others later in life when he copied the lack of love to others because he never received it himself. The lack of love and the Rosebud sled growing up inherently followed Kane throughout his life and died when Kane did.
ReplyDeleteThe name “Rosebud” refers to Kane’s sled. Both hold significant symbols of childhood: a rosebud being a young rose before it blooms, and a sled being a typical kid’s winter toy. After custody of Kane is transferred to the banker, Rosebud is replaced with the “Crusader” sled, a symbol of how Kane’s childhood had been ripped away in an instant and in that time, he managed to harden a little. Kane was no longer just a kid, as it’s explained to him, he would grow up to become the richest man in the world. But to become so successful, he would have to fight for it, similar to a crusader. No one symbol in Citizen Kane is the key to understanding his life as every detail fits together in a jigsaw. Only when all of these pieces are assembled do we get an understanding of who he is. Rosebud is a symbol of his lost childhood which he so desperately wants back (this is implied in the form of a dying man’s last words). The statues are symbols of his loneliness, yet at the same time, they are also symbols of his inability to become close with others (whether this is because of trust issues due to his mother abandoning him or real intimacy issues (multiple failed relationships) we don’t know. It might just as easily be a combination of the two). And Xanadu symbolizes his feelings of being trapped. Kane has built up a wonderfully successful world, filled with riches and objects, and yet he feels like he’s stuck inside a cage, always chasing the next big thing in hopes of escaping (being elected as governor or the person behind Susan Alexander’s fame). But no matter what he does or tries, the cage is inescapable, and he inevitably dies inside it’s walls.
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ReplyDeleteThe reporters’ failure to discover the significance of Kane’s final word, “rosebud”, ultimately prevents them from understanding and exposing Kane’s true character beyond his accomplishments and failures as newspaper publisher. While each interview that the investigating reporter conducts reveals a different facet of Charles Foster Kane, they only provide the viewer with scrambled pieces of a puzzle without a means to put them together to reveal a clear image of Kane’s character. This leaves the reporters questioning why Kane chose his ruthless career path, why he continued to further his career at the expense of his personal relationships, and why a single word could evoke such a strong emotion from a man who never seemed to express vulnerability. The final scene reveals the mystery of Kane’s last words as the reporters unknowingly burn the answer to their numerous questions: Kane’s sled called “Rosebud”. The viewer is introduced to Kane’s beloved sled when Thatcher recounts the moment that Kane’s parents decide to send away their son after they come into a large sum of money. A deep focused shot reveals Kane’s mother in the foreground signing away Kane’s childhood as he innocently plays in the snow with his sled in the background. These are the final few moments of Kane’s blissful ignorance and his youth. When the young Kane hears the news that his family will be sending him away, he attempts to fight back using his sled to block he new guardian Thatcher from grabbing him. In this scene, Kane positions the sled between himself and Thatcher, which acts as a barrier between his childhood and his future. The final frame in the scene displays the abandoned sled buried in snow, representing Kane’s abandoned youth. The parents’ willingness to sacrifice their relationship with their son in order to focus on their newfound wealth paves the way for Kane’s later obsession with his career and his wealth, which supersedes all of his personal relationships. As an adult, whenever Kane is reminded of the moments that he was playing outside with “rosebud”, he is drawn back into his childhood and his final carefree moments of freedom.
Rosebud is the name of the sled Charles Foster Kane plays with as a child before his custody is granted to the banker. Before he is given away to the banker, he is a happy child without a care in the world. He is reluctant to leave, and he leaves his sled behind with his parents, but the sled is not the only thing Kane leaves behind. Along with the sled vanishes Kane’s vigor as well as his ability to love and be loved. The reasoning behind the sled being named “rosebud” is that people love rosebuds and they are a symbol of affection, freedom, and love, but when Kane leaves his home to live with the banker, his “rosebud” is replaced with a “crusader” sled. A crusader is a fighter during the Crusades, and Kane definitely becomes a fighter after his move. He fights for his newspaper, fights with his colleagues, and even brings his fight to Susan Alexander when he hits her. His life as a crusader is one that brings about enemies, and it is an unhealthier life than the one he lived when he was a rosebud. Rosebud is a symbol of the freedom and carefree attitude Charles had as a boy, and one that he wants to have as an adult. Repeating the word “rosebud” brings Charles a sense of nostalgia as he reminisces about the times when he did not have the worries and unhappiness that he has as an adult. Between problems with his marriage or problems with his newspaper, Charles is not the same person he wishes he was, and Susan Alexander leaving him really brings this into perspective for him. His depression leaves him yearning for the feeling of freedom he had in his childhood, but unfortunately, he never feels that feeling again.
ReplyDelete“Rosebud” was the sled that Charles Foster Kane was playing on when Thacher came to his house to adopt him. It is in many ways a symbol of Kane’s childhood. As we discussed in class, the bud of a rose is the first part of the rose that is formed and over time, petals grow around the bud. As Charles was only a boy at the time, he could still be considered a “rosebud” with no petals (or life experience) yet. Charles’s childhood was shown to be a simpler point in his life. He appeared to be happy despite only having the “small joys” of life and being from a low-income background. When his parents sent him away to live with Thacher, a well off capitalist, he evolved into a money hungry monster who did not care at all about the people around him. The film writers were most likely attempting to illustrate the problems with a capitalistic society and show that people can be happy with life’s simple joys. Although Kane had vast amounts of wealth, he always wanted more. Because of his desire for more material things, Kane did not develop deep emotional connections to anyone. He had two failed marriages, a terrible relationship with his guardian, and co-workers whom he did not seem to care for. However, he was not deeply bothered by this and only cared about doing things that would benefit him. For example, when his second wife wanted to quit singing, he forced her to stay in the opera, so he could profit. This decision made his wife so depressed that she attempted to commit suicide. Kane was never truly happy during the film aside from the time that we saw him riding rosebud in the first scene. It is the most meaningful symbol of the film because it finally tells the viewer what the film’s message is, “money can’t buy happiness.”
ReplyDeleteRosebud may be an important symbol throughout Citizen Kane, but other symbols discussed throughout the film have a larger significance then the idea of the rosebud itself. As we learn, rosebud signifies Kane's childhood he did not get to experience, as it was the name of the sled he owned before he was taken from his parents by the banker. He was raised to become a powerful figure that would inevitably become successful, and was not raised in a traditional manner. This symbol is not necessarily the most important that we see in the film, but rather the most prominent and the only one directly discussed throughout the film. Other symbols seen in the film, such as statues that could identify Kane's loneliness and desire to have people surrounding him that adore him, or the jigsaw puzzle, something that signifies the jigsaw that was Kane's life, but only holds significance when paired with the concept of the rosebud (or missing piece). Another symbol we can analyze is Kane's decision to become the head of a newspaper company. Kane states that he though it would be fun to run a newspaper, though paired with the ideas of Kane's loneliness and his desire to be adored by everyone around him, we can find that his desire to run this company could be based on the fact that everyone throughout the city is using and benefiting off of something that he produced. In the end, rosebud is not a super significant symbol in the film Citizen Kane, but it also isn't a MacGuffin in the story since it still holds meaning and it can be paired with another symbol seen in the movie to represent a greater significance.
ReplyDeleteRosebud is something that it growing and full of life while also coming with the consequences, or thorns of a rose. I believe that this is meant to portray the public life and his status within society. He is admired by the working class, women, and the rich for the beginning of the movie. His wife is the niece of a former United States president. However, life begins to move too quickly for Kane. He begins to have an affair and this becomes public, effectively ending his campaign for governor. In order to hold a rose you must hold it carefully. You cannot grab it out of the air as Kane grabs the popularity and attention. Bud is meant to symbolize the man he grows from and into. He starts as a charismatic and charming young man before becoming narcissistic and controlling. This symbol is incredibly important to the movie as it drives the plot. I do not believe it is a MacGuffin because the director actually shows us the sled with the word “Rosebud” whereas many other MacGuffins in movies are not shown. Rosebud is not key to Kane’s character arc throughout the movie. However, it helps explain a great deal. Towards the end of his life where he has lost many of his true friends and family he begins to reminisce about his youth and how innocent and naive he was. This is especially true in the last word he ever says, “Rosebud” right before he passes away. Kane is not enthused at the man he has become and wants to cherish his childhood before he had publicity and wealth.
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