The theme of guilt and redemption in Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane : Guilt and Redemption

Orsen Welles ' film Citizen Kane (1941 ) takes the classic theme of the American dream and presents it as a tragedy . The audience encounters the film from the view of a historian retracing the life of Charles Foster Kane . An inheritor of great wealth , the subject of the film Kane 's life is loosely based on the lives of William Randolph Hearst Howard Hughes and Samuel Insull , all of whom are historically identified for their American mogul status . Kane 's search for redemption throughout the film is due

to the guilt he feels for the loss of his childhood . Even once the film is resolved , his aspirations are never realized . This only brings Welles ' character closer to the true nature of the-everyman . It 's Kane 's own tragic flaw of egotism that interferes with his redemption . Kane tributes his own downfall to his wealth

In her article , Orsen Welles and the Great American Dummy-Or , The Rise and Fall and Regeneration of Benjamin Franklin 's Model American , Julian Smith compares Kane to Benjamin Franklin . From this comparison Smith is able to identify a formula for failure fueled by Kane 's own guilt . She points out how the film opens up with the intention of identifying Kane as an iconic American figure with the potential of being as great as even Benjamin Franklin . Kane gradually proves unable to live up to his own self expectations due to his tragic egotism . In her article Smith cites Kane 's own explanation for his short comings

.if I hadn 't been very rich , I might have been a really great man Kane is not just giving lip service to the Franklin ideal here - he is delivering part of the great popular `message ' of the film , a contrived moral ' that asserts the danger of unearned wealth and power (p .3 Smith

This is key because it 's one of the only moments in the film when Kane gives a glimpse of his own self loathing to the public . His guilt is composed of many facets . One of which is the fact that if he had been given the opportunity to earn his wealth , he might have grown to be a more stable man . Smith presents more than enough evidence to prove Kane is narcissistic , empty and self destructive . She cites an instance from the storyline when Kane forces his good friend and reporter Leland to go against his own personal virtue . She targets Kane 's multiple publicity stunts and business ventures throughout the film as distractions from his true goal of regaining his childhood . But her most articulate statement , when comparing Kane to Benjamin Franklin , and displaying one of the many ways Kane fell short of being a great American is when she says , Citizen Kane makes the mistake of starting his career with a personal Declaration , whereas Citizen Franklin carefully built his toward the co-authorship of a national Declaration (p .3 , Smith ) This slight statement neatly identifies with the...