Citizen Kane: The Myth Of The American Dream

It is easy for a person to put away a dream as a mere fantasy that cannot be achieved in life. For this reason, people never take the opportunity to evaluate the true facts behind that dream. In the documentary “Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream” by Director Alex Gibney, an analysis of the true facts behind the ‘American dream’ is presented (Lee). Similarly, the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen speaks about the true facts of a war that people foolishly dream to go to for honor (Owen). The two are distinct in the sense of their nature. The first piece by Gibney is a documentary film while the second one by Owen is a poem. For this reason, they apply different strategies to put across their themes to their audiences. Despite the clear distinction between the two, there exist clear similarities in trying to analyze the true facts behind a dream.

As a child, Kane is fully happy as he plays in the snow outside the family’s home, even though his parents own a boarding house and are quite poor. He has no playmates but is content to be alone because peace and security are just inside the house’s walls. When Thatcher removes Kane from this place, he’s given what seems like the American dream—financial affluence and material luxury. However, Kane finds that those things don’t make him happy, and the exchange of emotional security for financial security is ultimately unfulfilling. The American dream is hollow for Kane. As an adult, Kane uses his money and power not to build his own happiness but to either buy love or make others as miserable as he is. Kane's wealth isolates him from others throughout the years, and his life ends in loneliness at Xanadu. He dies surrounded only by his possessions, poor substitutions for true

The definition of the American Dream varies from person to person, however, its basic components include a healthy, happy family, a sense of safety and security, and a sufficient amount of money. People from all backgrounds strive to achieve their specific American Dream, however, actually achieving this proves extremely difficult since the nature of the American Dream is often unrealistic, fragile, or elusive. Many artists, authors, and poets use their art to explore or comment on this heavy, complex topic. Specifically, Truman Capote investigates the American Dream through his work of creative nonfiction, In Cold Blood, which centers on the violent murder of a Kansas family in the 1950’s. After interviewing law enforcement officers,

America historically owns the reputation of being the land of opportunity, and for generations immigrants have fled to the United States to experience the freedom and equality our government lays claim to. At the root of this reputation is the American Dream, the belief that with hard work anyone can succeed based solely on his or her merits. While definitions of success vary, the American Dream defines it as the ability to become a "self-made man," thereby rising to a more-than-comfortable state of living. The American Dream is believed to be blind to race, sex, or socio-economic status and at a first glance, seems to be almost Utopian. Conversely, repeated examples and statistics of the lower-classes, those continually facing the harsh

Like many Americans, the Nolan’s wanted a new start. It was the American Dream to own land in America. Many immigrants came to America to start over, but most ended up as poor as they had started. However, Katie and Sissy’s mom, Mary Rommely, knew how to become rich. They needed a star bank. First Katie must get a condensed milk can, and cut and fold it into a star shape (Smith 89). Then she should nail it to the back of her closet (Smith 89). Once she has done this she can save up to buy land (Smith 86). Mary wants her daughter to live a better life than she did. She believes the Nolans can have this opportunity by saving up for land. Once one owns land there are options which come with chances to pull through. Being poor is hard work, but

Citizen Kane is presumably the best that American Cinema has ever offered, impeccable from beginning to the end. Frequently rivaling Its a Wonderful Life for number one, Citizen Kane is in a group of its own and unmatched in artistry on a number of fronts. The innovative development and the specialized headways used during production, can be minimally viewed as inconceivable and amazing, for a 1941 film. Citizen Kane has stood the test of time for well over six decades, serving as a benchmark and wellspring of motivation to storytellers of all walks of life. Citizen Kane is a sad tragedy about the fictions character Charles Foster Kane, a business head honcho and a daily paper investor. Through this movie, Orson Welles deified Charles Foster Kane as well as showed his determination, as an author, chief, on-screen character and above all as an auteur. The scenes displayed as flashbacks, not simply show his flexibility as an on-screen character (dealing with the subtleties and the nuances anticipated that would depict the diverse stages and parts of Kane's life), additionally his narrating brightness. Kane's muttering of "rosebud" at the moment of his demise and him openly destroying his political adversary, Jim Getys, speak to the two extremes of human life, the low and the high, individually. The scenes in the middle of Welles and Joseph Cotton are a flat out treat to watch. Feelings of sensitivity and disdain towards his childhood friend,

In movie Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles, Kane has too much pride and always cared about his image in front of the cameras. As Kane grew up with his new rich legal parent, he never knew what love was and showed arrogance instead. Kane thinks he can have anything just because he has money and power. In order to have a perfect image he wants he lost his only friends that are loyal to him. Both of his marriages broke through because he thinks he has power and money.

     Citizen Kane is set at a time in American History where the world is changing and money is at the center of that world. For example, during this period of time wealth has become more important in America has more new money arrives. Kane is a part of this new money sweep across America and like everyone else is stretching his power and wealth. He stretches it so much that he loses sight of his objection, which is replaced by his obsession to be in control and make all the decisions, a power which he finds through wealth. But it is because of this obsession that his idealistic world is corrupted. Furthermore, the film revolves most around a newspaper. A newspaper reaches everyone and during this time one of the only few mass media. It is through the newspaper that Kane stretches his wealth and influence. He is corrupted by the power that the newspaper gives him. In addition, Kane is constantly surrounded by beautiful things and people, until the end of the movie when

A well-known film that had top ratings and many awards globally, called Citizen Kane, was released in September of 1941 in theatres across the United States. Orsen Welles played a significant part in the film. Welles was the producer, director, and star of Citizen Kane. Orsen Welles helped to describe the American Dream by using literary devices and symbols throughout the film. When American’s think about the American Dream, many relate to one another on their views, which is to live a successful and happy lifestyle. Few Americans might have some exceptions to the others, but success and happiness is the general idea of the American Dream. Citizen Kane on the other hand, understands that the “dream” is not as simple as everyone thinks it is. Orsen Welles presents the American Dream as a successful and enjoyable

Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that that journey is not the same for every individual. For Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), the main character of Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, the path towards riches and a fulfilled life is being well liked. He serves to please others. He strives for that attention. This view cost him his happiness in the end. In this man’s rise and fall through prosperity, Welles shows the futility of striving solely for likeability.

The American Dream, the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative, is a dream that many people both living in and migrating to the United States desire. Like many dreams, the reality is sometimes much different than the image developed in those hopeful minds. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, depicts the struggle of a strong character’s journey in search of independence and yet to live cohesively with those around her.

No one can sum up a man 's life into one word. This was a thought--intriguingly an idea in the film that still resonates today in our society. Citizen Kane (1941) is an important film that reflected society 's false belief of the American Dream during its time. The film was directed and starred by Orson Welles and tells a story of a man name Charles Foster Kane, who had everything and who lived an ideal life that everyone wanted to have. However, having many fine possessions of things and a great deal amount of money at his disposal, did not make him happy. The film reflects on Mr. Kane 's life before his death and his legacy. Citizen Kane shows how during the era, people wanted to have financial security, happiness and to gain material success. Although the American Dream is still something people want today, Citizen Kane shows how attaining the American Dream was something less of a dream during its era. The film also show the changes of the American Dream from 'dream ' to 'myth ' and explores the dark side of the held belief.

The beginning of Citizen Kane starts off with a ‘News Flash’ that is giving a quick history of Charles Foster Kane’s life and news that he has died. After that, it then goes into a storytelling but not in a usual way. There are different people narrating the movie throughout it. It shows different journalists asking multiple people about Charles Kane from when they knew him throughout his life. The main purpose of this interviewing by these journalists is to find out what ‘rosebud’ meant to Kane, since it was the last thing he spoke on his death bed. Throughout the movie, the time flips from what is currently happening to what has happened in the past. Flashbacks of Kane’s life are a primary way of explaining his childhood and history. This type of narrating is known as the parallel narrative structure which was not common for the time.

"I, too, dislike it. Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in it, after all, a place for the genuine" (Twentieth-Cenutry 231). The time of the imagists was a time of change. Sometimes that change was and other times it wasn't so good. They fought for freedom, refering to African Americans and the fight for civil rights. They changed the rules on how to write. They even made such a lasting impression that the way of writing continued past the time period and changed into a style of writing to last the years. Although it was said to be created by one man, the idea actually came from another who had brought the idea up before its time. It eventually reversed the fact that it came about before it was ready and ended up lasting long after the era was declared over. Since the literature was changing so was the mind set and it was directly related. This is where the American Dream comes into play. The American Dream during the time of the Imagist Movement could be represented by the way of life in that the people of the time were changing, not only in their writing, but with how they were living in that they would fight for equality or be more focused on what was real, and that sense of "changing" was solidified in the American Dream.

The central theme of Citizen Kane is exploring a person’s life after his death. It talks about a person and what does audience thinks of that person. This film also analyzes the American Dream of Happiness.