Corbin Sterling TMA 102 Section Thought Paper Citizen Kane Michelangelo, John Williams, and Beethoven were

all once apprentices to master artists. The difference with these artists was that after learning the basics they were able to become masters themselves in their own respective art. Orson Welles never had a master mentor. He fought his way into the film industry backed only with a determination to succeed and a fiery past to fuel his desires. After a thorough analysis of Orson Welles, the director, writer, and principal actor in Citizen Kane, we find reason to believe that this film is actually the autobiography of this amateur director. Although Welles had never really had anything steady or constant in his life, film was always there for him. Orson Welles had quite the childhood. As a boy he experienced a lot of change and a lot of hardship. Kanes character embodies all of those hardships and mirrors the past of Welles. We see this embodiment with many examples in Citizen Kane. For example Welles parents got divorced while Kanes parents clearly werent married even though they were married (if you know what I mean). Although Kanes father wasnt an apparent alcoholic like Welles both fathers didnt have much control within the home. In a dialogue between Mr. Kane and Mrs. Kane we watch as Mrs. Kane calls out her husband on his abusive parenting style. After Charlie tries to hurt Mr. Thatcher before being sold, Mr. Kane says, I'm sorry, Mr. Thatcher! What that kid needs is a good thrashing. Mrs. Kane responds saying, That's what you think, is it, Jim? That's why he's going to be brought up where you can't get at him. Clearly we see an influence from Welles childhood coming out in this dispute. One last example is the simple fact that a businessman adopted Charlie. After Welles mothers death he was actually adopted in real life. This event, as well as many others, would further influence his choices to pursue art and business. Having had experienced so much in such a relatively small period of time, Orson Welles had a very different take on life. This would drastically influence everything he would eventually produce, direct, and act in. Film itself, along with his previous experience in radio, would become the place to which Welles could vent his subconscious. Citizen Kane is a perfect example of how his life experiences affected his work. Just the fact that Orson Welles played the character of Charlie Kane is ironic. Here is a character that is longing for a source of lasting love, is extremely successful yet surrounded by loss, and is formed by a past that not many would ask for. This irony makes Citizen Kane that much more real to the educated viewer. It begins to seem less of a fiction and more of a reality as we make the connection between character and director. As we make that connection, we can really see what Welles was trying to say in his films. He may have been creating a simple fictional story or he may have been using film as the medium to express himself. Unlike his own life, he knew he could count on film to be reliable and exactly what he needed in order to tell his story. As Citizen Kane comes to a close we learn that Kane died a lonely, sad man. Welles must have written this story as a personal warning as well as a form of therapy. After a thorough analysis of Orson Welles, the director, writer, and principal actor in Citizen Kane, we find reason to believe that this film is actually the autobiography of this amateur director. Although Welles had never really had anything steady or constant in his life, film was always there for him.

Even though Welles was untrained, he had an amazing talent for art and the way it was organized.

The Myth of the American Dream Citizen Kane was one of the first movies to depict the American Dream as anything less than desirable. As a child, Kane is fully happy as he plays in the snow outside the familys 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 houses walls. When Thatcher removes Kane from this place, hes given what seems like the American dreamfinancial affluence and material luxury. However, Kane finds that those things dont 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 companions.

, his mom struggled as a single parent, his brother was mentally challenged, his mom died when he was 9 and his father at 15, and was basically adopted by a friend of his mother. So much change made for a very interesting young man.