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)?
I believe Rosebud is significant because of the message is shares to viewers of the movie. The message is that money does not but happiness and the best moments in your life are the ones with no care and living for the fun and love instead of being strictly motivated by income, other opinions, and anything that is not personal. A moment where this is clearly shown is when Kane is forcing Susan into singing, so he has something else to write about and brag about even though she clearly hates it and cannot stand singing and taking criticism. Kane takes this so far into driving Susan to attempting to take her own life. Kane has no remorse and carried on with his life which is heartless and showed his true intentions and motivations. Another moment that showed Kane’s motivations is the building of his giant mansion. By sharing the words “Rosebud” is when he was most happy and that was in his little cabin playing in the snow while once this mansion comes into his life it is all about the money, status, and ranking. Kane’s values change once money, fame, and status enters his life which he hates. In conclusion, “Citizen Kane” does a fantastic job sharing the ideas that money does not equal happiness and shows the life pass of someone who’s only motivation in life is moving up the ranks, becoming more successful, and achieving a higher status. Finally, in the end of Kane’s life when he shares the word “Rosebud” he is showing that his only regret in life was not staying with his family and living a quiet but happy life.
ReplyDeleteThe sled has an important significance of Kane’s life before it was corrupted, but it’s just a small piece in a big puzzle. The name ‘rosebud’ itself represents Kane’s childhood. A rosebud is small, enclosed, and hasn’t yet bloomed to its full potential, much like Kane before he was moved away from his parents. After that, he bloomed so much that he withered away. He became obsessed with materialism and consumerism, building himself an enormous mansion and living in solitary. However, this didn’t provide him with happiness. The reason why he said ‘rosebud’ right before he died is because he missed the innocence and true happiness that was present in his life when he used the sled as a child. While this is an important thing to know, it isn’t the key to understanding what Kane’s life was like. This key isn’t even a single item; it’s all the different stories that the reporter gathered. Without those stories, rosebud is just an undiscernible, old sled. The stories themselves show that Kane’s life was sad, and that his money couldn’t buy happiness. The reporter was able to gather that, even without ever finding what the significance of rosebud was. He was divorced twice, there were numerous bad stories written about him, and he had trouble maintaining relationships. It’s just like a puzzle; rosebud is one piece. If you only have one piece of a puzzle, you have no idea what the full picture looks like. The meaning of rosebud isn’t necessary to the story of Kane, but it adds to facts that were already apparent based on the stories from people who knew him.
ReplyDeleteKane subconsciously yearns for his life before he was thrown into a complex world of mistakes and responsibility. His sled serves as the tipping point between a simpler life and his current one. More importantly, the sled represents a time when there was no need to care or fight anything or anyone. The sled reminds Kane of when he was free and “rosebud” represents his younger self, not fully developed in the same way a rosebud is a flower that has not yet opened up and grown. None of the other things that Kane kept had the same meaning to him as none of them were able to serve the same purpose of remembering his past. He took one thing with him from his old life, the sled, and therefore it's all he has to remember it.
ReplyDeleteThe word rosebud is significant to Charles Kane because it represents the last time in his life that he was truly happy. 'Rosebud' was written on the sled he has had since childhood. In the scene that his mother and father are talking with each other and Mr. Thatcher, we can see Charles playing with his sled outside through the window. This scene makes it obvious that Charles has no idea what is going on inside the house. I believe that this would be a very strong memory for Kane to hold onto as he continues into adulthood. In his final moments of feeling as if he has a whole family, he was outside playing in the snow. The one object he would be able to associate this memory with is the Rosebud sled. It is a part of Kane’s life because once he was separated from his parents, everything changed. While Kane was trying to demolish Susan’s room, he comes across a snow globe. After he finds it, he stops his outburst and shakes it. Snow globes represent a moment frozen in time. As he shakes it, the snow whirls around in the glass and he is brought back to playing in the snow as a child. I believe that while Kane is looking at the snow globe, he is wishing to go back to that moment, and freeze it. He appears to be very calm and then says rosebud while everyone is looking at him. The snow globe and Kane’s childhood sled both represent the life that Kane wished he still had. When he says this, he is wishing to go back to the bliss and purity he had not felt in decades.
ReplyDelete“Rosebud” has so much insignificance in this movie and to everyone, but it is significant to Kane, making it an important piece to the puzzle. The “rosebud” in this movie represents the once simple innocence Kane once had in his childhood. The object that was “rosebud” was Kane’s sled. Kane may have said “rosebud” before he passed if he was recalling the true happy times in his life. Sledding is something so simple to others but significant to him. It was Kane’s only time to be a child and make mistakes, before he would enter a different type of world that was all surrounded by the stress for money. Kane grew up too fast and never got to have a breath of his youthful side which he clearly yearned for. “Rosebud” is not necessary for the full picture and the complete puzzle of Kane’s life, but only lets us see deeper into the empty hole. Kane was happy when he had his family, even if they did not have money. When Kane was taken away, he was then taught that money would make him happy. Kane worked to get rich and buy everything he wanted, thinking it would bring him great happiness. Little did Kane know he was buying his way farther and farther away from being truthfully happy. There is no other significant symbol in this movie that I find more meaningful than “rosebud”. “Rosebud” is so significant in this movie and to Kane, because it is such a normal thing for most people.
ReplyDeleteThe significance of the sled, Rosebud, to Charles Foster Kane is that it is the epitome of everything happy in his life. When Kane is removed from his parents and inherits a significant amount of power from his newspaper business, he desperately attempts to use money as a way to reenact his past. Displayed in scenes such as when Kane’s second wife leaves him, Kane has resentment for all of his materialistic values in life as he destroys the room filled with pricey valuables. He comes to the blunt realization that money will not relive the same feelings or experiences he obtained as a kid, and in a fit of rage towards this realization, everything is left destroyed except for a snow globe reminding him of Rosebud, his old sled. Kane then cherishes the snow globe for the rest of his life, even to the point where the last thing he thinks of before he passes away, is Rosebud. One symbolic reference that Rosebud represents to Kane is that it is a sled. Sleds, directly associated with the action of sledding, are primarily a childhood event where massive amounts of entertainment are possible. It is shown in one of the flashbacks on Kane’s life when his parents are relinquishing him that Charles has no care in the world other than to appreciate his sled and snow piled high around his home. Another symbolic reference would be the sleds association with snow. The massive amounts of untouched snow outside of Kane’s house creates a correlation that snow represents untainted purity, or childhood innocence, where Kane was able to achieve a sense of untainted happiness, without having to deal with the realities of life. Despite not having a significant monetary value in its physical identity, the sled, Rosebud is rich in the nostalgia it gives Kane, with the sled being the living memory of Kane’s childhood.
ReplyDeleteRosebud is significant due to the unique connection it has with Kane. It is a symbol of the happiness he had a child that he could not regain with the life he had. Early in the film, we see Rosebud, a cheap sled that Kane was playing with before he was separated from his home and parents. In this scene, Kane is a typical child; his life is simple, fun-filled, and he doesn’t have many life responsibilities. Living with a happiness money could never buy, he is outside, enjoying the snow, until everything changes for him. He is moved into a new life. A day that previously consisted of enjoying childhood had turned into one motivated by fame, money, status, and overall wealth. Unknowing of how he could find true happiness, Kane turns to money to give him satisfaction. He buys things and lives “the American dream” of a life in luxury, only to find it wouldn’t give him the same, true happiness he had as a child. His childhood could be labeled as “Rosebud”, which acts as a symbol of his growth. The word rosebud refers to something so fragile that is yet to be beautiful. It has potential to bring joy to someone, but its not quite there yet because it is still blooming. Just like a rosebud, Kane’s childhood had potential to develop into such a beautiful life, but that isn’t the case for the film.
ReplyDeleteThe significance of Rosebud in the movie, Citizen Kane, is Charles Cane’s poor childhood as it is tied to his memory when he was playing with his sled in the snow; the effect from his origin is reproduced throughout Charles’s life in the film. In the beginning of the scene, Charles is innocently playing outside in the snow with his sled called rosebud. It shows the purity that’s still in his life, however, you see the camera move from outside the house through the window that Charles is playing all by himself. In that scene, Mr. Thachirt and Charles’s parents are discussing his departure from their household; this is the first time Charles drifts away from a woman in his life, and is foreshadowing throughout the film. After the boyhood scene, Charles is in a fight with Susan, his second wife, and destroys the place after she leaves him. He pauses and halts his destruction when he comes across a snow globe where he says “rosebud.” Seeing the snow in the snow globe provoked the memory in his childhood where he lost his relationship with his mother. This pattern of Charles’s lonesomeness is projected throughout the film as he cannot stay in a relationship with his wife nor is he close with many of his colleagues. Near the end of the film, Charles’s last word before he dies is “rosebud.” At this moment, Charles has lost everything, all the relationships he had in his lifetime were gone. As the mystery of solving the meaning behind the word “rosebud,” in Charles’s life continues, it is the only thing that is consistent throughout the film. Charles never kept his relationship and, despite the money and power he had as an adult, his capability to commit to others is always in someone else’s hands.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Citizen Kane, the main character, Charles Foster Kane, lives an extravagant but superficial and lonely life. The name “rosebud” is a meaning for a new beginning or bloom just like a child. A rose begins as a rosebud as a person begins as a child. The sled name directly correlates to the stage of life that Charles was living. This is significant because before all the glamour, popularity, and drama of Kane’s life, there was a little boy who enjoyed simple things like playing in the snow. The snow globe at the end of the movie reminds Kane’s of simpler and happier times of childhood innocence. In these memories, Kane had not yet experienced the pain of the real world, and he still had people who loved him. Kane had not yet experienced the loneliness after losing a wife or disappointment after losing an election. As a child, happiness was easily attainable because of little to no expectations and imagination that created the best memories. Kane could play outside in the snow for hours without having to worry about money, status, or belongings. “Rosebud” was the only material thing Kane needed to have fun and be happy. As Kane grew older, he accumulated more and more objects whether they were property, statues, or art, they never truly made him happy. The material things could not fill the void of loneliness or boredom that belonged in Kane’s adult life. Kane tried filling his life with material things that would make him happy, but the only thing that could truly do that was “Rosebud” because it contained memories of childhood innocence and happiness.
ReplyDeleteRosebud is a MacGuffin in the way that it pushes the story forward, but serves no purpose to the characters in the end of the film. The entirety of the plot is built around the investigation of rosebud, yet there is gratification only to the viewers when the sled’s name is revealed in the fire. However, the sled still holds symbolic meaning. In Kane’s childhood scene, Kane plays innocently with his sled while the adults discuss his future. He is unaware of the wealth, corruption, and eventual unhappiness they decide for him, making Rosebud symbolic of a simpler, modest life and his childhood innocence. He resists leaving with Mr. Thatcher, first clinging to his sled, then throwing it between himself and the banker. The scene ends with a shot of the sled, left alone, slowly disappearing under a pile of snow, an image that clearly represents leaving a happy life behind. In contrast, Xanadu represents Kane’s failures and unfulfilling life as an adult. He is superficially successful - he makes a fortune doing what he loves. But his work overwhelms his personal life as well, and by the end he is an abusive husband, incapable of making relationships. In his quest to compensate for this lack of compassion, a source of happiness for others, he spends excessively, building himself the opulent Xanadu. The statues he collects obsessively are perhaps a result of his loneliness, exemplified by shots of cold sculptures in his spacious Xanadu corridors. The fact that Xanadu is never finished, could also be symbolic of his unfilled life, and that physical luxuries cannot satisfy his need. This is why his last words of “Rosebud” bear such significance. He realizes at the end of his life, all the excess wealth and fame he built for himself only made him more miserable, that really he yearns for his modest boyhood.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I cannot sign in, nor delete a comment, but the previous post is from Milena. I wanted to add that when he says "rosebud", he means "what have I become?". It is more of a realization than a yearning.
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