The Story of Citizen Kane - Essay Example

Tatcher tries to ‘mend’ Charles’ ways by teaching him new values, customs, and skills so that he fits into the new environment. But Charles is not able to adjust himself to the new group. One of the main reasons for this could be that Charles was never able to identify with Mr. Tatcher. This becomes more evident when Charles tells Mr. Tatcher and Mr. Burnsteen that he might have been a really great man if he weren’t rich. When one is forced to do something outside his/her interest or values, he/she is subject to feelings of tension and stress. To handle this discomfort, one uses various coping methods. One of the main coping methods Charles was using was to act out and refuse to cope with the situation.

Charles then goes on to get expelled from many prestigious colleges. His expulsion surely was not an indication that he was an inefficient person. The fact was that Charles Kane had turned into a rebel. When the parents he trusted so much give him away, it leaves Charles with a bitter feeling of betrayal. It causes him to anger and he seeks revenge. He seeks revenge not just by getting expelled from colleges, but also when he has to make a choice to start his career, he refuses to take over wealthy gold mines, oil wells, shipping companies, and real estate agencies. Instead, he chooses to take over ‘The New York Daily Inquirer’, a newspaper that is on the verge of being closed. His thirst for revenge is all the more evident when he declares that he would like to win all that Mr. Tatcher hates. One of the stages in Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development is ‘Identity v/s Role Confusion’. At this point, we get to see that Charles as a young adult had not been able to develop an identity and instead was confused about the role he was playing.

Time passes by and Charles’ quest for love begins in a big way. Charles marries Emily Monroe Norton, niece of the US President. Charles marries for love. He also enters politics to win the love of the voters. But both, his marriage and career in politics come to an end with his extramarital affair with Susan Alexander getting revealed. What draws Charles to Susan is her innocence and simplicity. She reminds him of his simple childhood. Charles, later on, marries Susan and bribes her in all the ways possible to win her love. But Charles fails to give Susan what she wants and even his second marriage comes to an end with Susan leaving him in his estate. At this point, another stage in Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development that comes to mind is ‘Ego Integrity v/s Despair’. Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair.

Charles is all by himself in the last few years of his life and has none of his loved ones by the side of his deathbed. The words Charles utters just before his last breath catches the attention of the reporters, but none of them can understand its significance. He just says, “Rosebud”.

Initially, when Tatcher was at Charles’ Parents’ house to pick him up, Charles shoves a sled at Tatcher and pushes him away. Until then, Charles was enjoying himself in the snow with this same sled. The two words painted on the sled were ‘Rosebud’. Charles leaves behind that sled in his parents’ house. Tatcher gifts him a new sled for the next Christmas, but it never replaces the ‘rosebud’ sled in Charles’ heart.  In the last few minutes of his life, Charles recollects those moments of the childhood he spent on that sled as the happiest moments of his entire life.

It was so rightly said by Margaret Mead that the solution to adult problems tomorrow depends in large measure upon how children grow up today.  Just with one irresponsible act, Charles’ parents cause such turmoil in Charles’ life that he never recovers. He neither manages to find and keep the love he longed for nor does he learn to love others. Most of his adult life is spent in acts merely to disappoint Tatcher. By the end, he is not on good terms with Mr. Leeland, the one and only friend he had. At the very end of his life, with all the wealth he had, he still seemed a pauper. The important lesson we get to learn from the story of Citizen Kane is that it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.