ROSEBUD & THE SNOW GLOBE
Throughout Citizen Kane, the audience is not only led through the events of Kane's life through flashbacks, but also is introduced in the beginning of the movie to the "rosebud" mystery, which does not get answered until the very last scene of the movie. "Rosebud" is later revealed to be Kane's sled, given to him as a Christmas present when he was younger. Also, the snow globe that Kane drops simultaneously as he dies represented his childhood boarding home during winter.
I feel that the foreshadowing of the truth about rosebud isn't actually foreshadowed in the sense that most people expect. The audience isn't always shown clues of what rosebud could mean. However, the reporter constantly mentions that "rosebud" could be something that either made Kane happy, or something that was of great importance to him that he had lost. Both of the things that the reporter inferred turned out to be true at the end; the combination of "rosebud" and the snow globe that falls and crashes when Kane dies is an allusion to his childhood - the only time in his life that he felt truly happy.
Something else that I found interesting was the fact that the snowglobe was the last remaining belonging of Susan's that Kane decided to keep. In the beginning of the film, the audience is introduced to the snowglobe as something that Kane holds and lets fall as he dies. Later, we see the snow globe again as Susan leaves Kane, and he leaves Susan's room uttering only "rosebud." This is the second time that the audience sees the combination of the snow globe and "rosebud" in one scene. This acted as a foreshadowing to Kane's lonely death, because until this scene the audience only saw and heard those two objects in the scene in which Kane dies.
The fact that "rosebud" is the very last word Kane says before he dies, as he drops the snow globe and it crashes and cracks is also something that I found very interesting. Orson Welles (as both a director and an actor) showed in this scene that the snowglobe and rosebud both demonstrated the only truly happy time in Kane's life. Since he said "rosebud" last and dropped the snow globe, he let them go at the same time. With Kane's death also came the deaths of the only two tangible objects that represented the only time in his life when he had no worries.
My question after finishing Citizen Kane: Why were the snow globe and "rosebud" mentioned during both Kane's death and scene in which Susan left Kane? Did the two scenes represent something similar or did the two objects symbolize something in Kane's life that was evident in both his death and Susan leaving him?
I feel that the foreshadowing of the truth about rosebud isn't actually foreshadowed in the sense that most people expect. The audience isn't always shown clues of what rosebud could mean. However, the reporter constantly mentions that "rosebud" could be something that either made Kane happy, or something that was of great importance to him that he had lost. Both of the things that the reporter inferred turned out to be true at the end; the combination of "rosebud" and the snow globe that falls and crashes when Kane dies is an allusion to his childhood - the only time in his life that he felt truly happy.
Something else that I found interesting was the fact that the snowglobe was the last remaining belonging of Susan's that Kane decided to keep. In the beginning of the film, the audience is introduced to the snowglobe as something that Kane holds and lets fall as he dies. Later, we see the snow globe again as Susan leaves Kane, and he leaves Susan's room uttering only "rosebud." This is the second time that the audience sees the combination of the snow globe and "rosebud" in one scene. This acted as a foreshadowing to Kane's lonely death, because until this scene the audience only saw and heard those two objects in the scene in which Kane dies.
The fact that "rosebud" is the very last word Kane says before he dies, as he drops the snow globe and it crashes and cracks is also something that I found very interesting. Orson Welles (as both a director and an actor) showed in this scene that the snowglobe and rosebud both demonstrated the only truly happy time in Kane's life. Since he said "rosebud" last and dropped the snow globe, he let them go at the same time. With Kane's death also came the deaths of the only two tangible objects that represented the only time in his life when he had no worries.
My question after finishing Citizen Kane: Why were the snow globe and "rosebud" mentioned during both Kane's death and scene in which Susan left Kane? Did the two scenes represent something similar or did the two objects symbolize something in Kane's life that was evident in both his death and Susan leaving him?
I agree. The point that "rosebud" could have been the peak happiness in Kane's life or a thought of loneliness because that was the last time he ever saw his parents is a controversial world. In an answer to your question the reason that "rosebud" was said when Kane died was I think because all his life Kane wanted to be happy. At the end of his life he is the saddest, and "rosebud" could have been Kane's saddest memory so that he is a possible reason to why it was used during that scene. Also, it was used when Susan Alexander left because that was also a sad moment in Kane's life. "Rosebud" could be the saddest memory of Kane's. Also, the two objects represented something similar.
ReplyDeleteThis post was very thorough and your questions have me racking my brain for possible answers. My input is that the snow globe was the only piece of Susan he had left (while she did not die, she did leave his life forever), and represented the only bit of happiness and love left in his life. When she left him, he must have felt such a sharp pain in his heart that he destroyed Susan's room and even teared up as he held the snow globe. I would imagine that he made the connection that the house in the snow globe looked just like his mother's house that he spent his early childhood years in, which must have doubled the sadness for him in the scene after Susan leaves.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting points about the different perspective the director took about the mystery which wasn't the usual in films; I didn't realize this. I believe the snow globe and 'rosebud' were mentioned and present during the death of Kane and after Susan left because both of those times are the lowest points in Kane's life where he feels all failure with no success. This is a major significance considering Kane's whole life was surrounded by the thought that success was everything. Therefore, the snow glove and 'rosebud' are like his last touch of happiness from his childhood that he holds onto before he lets go; gives up.
ReplyDeleteI think that the snow globe and 'Rosebud' are in the two scenes together because they come in a pair: the snow globe's contents reminds Kane of Rosebud, and vice versa. They were mentioned when Kane died because he let go of his childhood on his deathbed- the smashing of the snow globe symbolized his dream of returning to being that child literally doing the same thing. They were also both evident when Susan left because Kane had loved Susan's youth, he loved how childlike and innocent she was. Since the snow globe represented Kane's lost youth, Susan leaving left Kane without the hope of feeling young once again.
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