MODULE B CRITICAL STUDY OF TEXTS

MODUL AR RESPONSES
Kanes abuse of the Inquirer reflects his need to control others
Citizen Kane depicts Kanes moral corruption due to the influence of power, which causes him to pursue
control over people. The corrupting nature of power is foreshadowed in the shot where Kane signs the
Declaration of Principles, where chiaroscuro is used to contrast Kanes darkly lit face, which conveys
his loss of morality, with the illuminous declaration that radiates sanctity. It conveys Kanes act of
deception and manipulation through the declaration to influence more people, which highlights his
desire for power over others at the cost of his own morality. This is reinforced in the symbolism of Kane
turning off the light, and his assertion on how he wants the Inquirer to be as important as the gas in
this light, which represents Kanes need to enact power over others. This is capitalised in his remark,
people will think what I tell them to think, which uses the epistrophe of think to depict Kanes need
to control peoples opinion, and therefore reflective of his need to gain control over them. Thus Kane is
portrayed as a figure who abuses his power through the Inquirer, to manipulate and gain control over
the public, hence reflecting upon the corrupting nature of power.
The realisation of Kanes political power through his abuse of the Inquirer depicts his moral
corruption
Kanes political ambitions reflect upon his manipulation of the Inquirer to gain supporters, which depicts
his loss of morality during his pursuit of political power. The wide shot of his political rally depicts the
enormity of power he has over the public, as conveyed through the surrealist array of supporters. It
juxtaposes the massive crowd with Kanes small stand, which depicts the shallowness of his political
power, as Kane never gains their love through pure and generous means, instead choosing to use
deception to convince them. His abuse of the Inquirer is conveyed in his remark on how every straw
vote, every independent poll shows that I will be elected, where the anaphora of every is used to
cast doubt on the validity of his claims, inferring how he has distorted the truth for political conquest.
His corruption due to power is also highlighted in the parallels drawn between him and infamous
political figures, notably Hitler and Stalin. The allusions to those figures are made in the News of
March documentary, where Thatcher calls Kane a communist, and a public speaker calls him a
fascist. Thus Kane is depicted to have lost all of his morality during his conquest for political power,
which conveys the corrupting nature of power on individuals.
Kanes loss of love draws upon a universally understood concept, which allows the audience
to sympathise for his character
Welles draws upon the narrative of Kanes traumatised childhood, which enables the audience to
sympathise with Kanes lack of maternal love, to provide a compelling portrayal of his rebellious nature.
The scene in Kanes childhood home uses deep focus, which juxtaposes the idyllic image of Kane
content with life in the background, with the domineering Thatcher who instigates power over Kane
through his position in the foreground, which emphasises this control. The loss of Kanes paternal and
maternal love is depicted in the deep focus shot in the snow, where his father becomes diminished as
he forms part of the background, and the separation between Kane and his mother is highlighted in
Kanes stance towards Thatcher, implying that he will be his new guardian. Thus Kanes childhood lacks
the love of a caring parent, which is underpinned by the rapid chronological transition from childhood to
adult hood, to indicate Kanes abrupt and stagnated childhood. Therefore, when Kane will see to it that
the people arent robbed by a money-mad pirates, he is rebelling against Thatcher, who represents the
money-mad pirate, as well as the figure that deprived his childhood. Thus Kanes character is easily
sympathised with by depicting his loss of parental love during childhood, and his inevitable rebellion
against the figure responsible for this.

Loss of maternal love instigates meaningless relationships with people and objects
Kanes association of maternal love with a connection with material wealth, is depicted to be
responsible for his inability to form substantial relationships with people, due to his obsession with
objects. The close up shot of Kane and his mother prior to her departure indicates to the audience the
personal nature of her final words, which will continue to resonate with Kane. She remarks youll
probably be the richest man in America, which causes Kane to associate maternal love with a
connection with material wealth. This is realised in the wide shot of his belongings in Xanadu, which
illustrates the vastness of his material wealth, which become diminished as they lose substance among
the vast sea of collections. It becomes a metaphor for how Kane has died alone in a sea of his
belongings, and reflects critic Laura Mulveys perspective on how his childhood trauma caused his
downfall. This relationship with material wealth also extends into his relationship with Susan, who
suffers as a result of Kane believing objects can make individuals happy. The multi-layered montage of
Susans operatic career depicts the stressful nature of this experience, which conveys how often she is
forced to perform. This is reinforced by the symbolism of the lightbulb burning out, which blinks rapidly
to convey her stress, when finally, it burns out, to symbolised her complete mental breakdown. Thus by
depicting Kanes superficial relationship with objects, Welles demonstrates how Kane and Susan suffer
inevitably as a result of this, and conveys how it has stemmed from Kanes loss of maternal love.
Kanes identity is never completely resolved, even with a multitude of witness recounts
While Welles intrigues the audience to the mystery of Kanes identity, its realisation is never achieved
due to the unreliability of the witness accounts. The audience is initially engaged with the mystery
through the ironic close up of the no trespassing sign, which entices the audience to enter Kanes life
rather than warning them off, as conveyed by the camera transitioning into the Xanadu estate. The
motif of Rosebud is used throughout the narrative as a constant fixation for the audience to engage
with, and its the need for the audience to understand its meaning that underpins the build-up of the
mystery. However, the recounts of Kanes life, which the audience depends on to resolve the mystery,
are unreliable and thus the audience cannot truly resolve the mystery of Kanes identity. This is
conveyed through Lelands characterisation as senile and addicted to tobacco, which causes his
recount to be invalidated, and asserts how witness accounts are not necessarily reliable or accurate.
The audiences inability to resolve Kanes identity is symbolised through the mirrors reflecting Kane,
which forms an infinite array of himself, and conveys the audiences fragmented understanding of him.
This perspective is shared by Roger Ebert, who claims the fragments are not governed by any secret
unity, which conveys the inconclusiveness of the investigation into Kanes mystery, reinforced further
in the symbolism of the smoke exiting the chimney, which represents the futility of the inquiry and how
the truth dissipates like the smoke. Thus Welles depicts Kanes identity as being never resolved due to
the inconclusiveness of witness accounts which are ephemeral and unreliable.