Citizen Kane Innocence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Citizen Cane.

Quote #4

KANE SR.: Don't say I didn't warn you.

Charles Kane's dad might not be the best guy in the world, but he's kind of right when he warns against sending Charles away. Of course, he wants to keep Charles around for all the wrong reasons (because Mr. Kane is probably abusive and entitled). But there's some truth to his claim that a boy should be raised by his parents and not some bank.

Quote #5

KANE: Rosebud…

At the end of his life, Charles says only the word "Rosebud." No one knows what it means, and we only find out at the end of the film that this is the name of his childhood sled. In this sense, Kane seems to be nostalgic for his lost childhood, a time of innocence that existed before he fell into the world of money and power.

Quote #6

The camera pans over hundreds of crates until it fixates on a child's sled. Someone grabs the sled and throws it into an incinerator. As the camera closes in, we see the word "Rosebud" written across the sled.

It's only at the very end of the movie that we find out what "Rosebud" means. A tight close-up shows that it's the name of Kane's childhood sled, the same sled he used as a literal shield when Mr. Thatcher tried to take him away. The move is symbolic because it shows how Rosebud represents that innocence and familial love that Kane doesn't want to lose.