The meaning behind Rosebud in Citizen Kane

The meaning behind "Rosebud" in Citizen Kane is a mystery that is only revealed at the end, showing the tragic loss of innocence and happiness in the life of Charles Foster Kane.

The movie's structure, with flashbacks and rumors building up Kane as a mythic figure, serves to tear him down and reveal the true tragedy of his life.
Despite his immense wealth and power, Kane dies alone and unloved, longing for his childhood sled as a symbol of the happiness and purity he lost along the way.
More than 80 years after the release of Citizen Kane, and the mystery surrounding the meaning of "Rosebud" is still debated by first-time watchers and repeat viewers alike. No matter what one might have heard about the greatness of Citizen Kane, it's still impossible to describe the vast impact it had on filmmaking, or the extend to which it's influenced Hollywood storytelling since its release in 1941. The story of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane's rise and fall continues to offer layers and mysteries even for modern audiences to discover.

The titular character of Citizen Kane, Charles Foster Kane's life story is both aspirational and a cautionary tale. It begins at the end, with a reporter sent to investigate the reclusive media baron's death, particularly his last word: "Rosebud." Loosely based on real media magnates of the era, specifically William Randolph Hearst, Citizen Kane is structured in reverse. Gradually, the story of his life unfolds in flashbacks, and it's revealed that the history of the obscenely wealthy man who lived a seemingly charmed life was far more complex and sobering than anyone knew. Although a deceptively simple final word, "Rosebud" has far more meaning than the reporter – and viewers – initially realize.
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"Rosebud" Was The Name Of Charles' Sled In Citizen Kane
A young Kane angrily looking at Thatcher in Citizen Kane


The secret of "Rosebud" is hidden in a pivotal flashback scene, the true importance of which is only revealed at the end. In the scene, Charles Foster Kane, at that time a young boy, is happily playing in the snow outside his small house with his trusty old sled. As he plays outside, the camera pans to the scene unfolding inside the ramshackle cabin: Mr. and Mrs. Kane are discussing Charles' future with the wealthy banker Walter Parks Thatcher. Mrs. Kane, it is revealed, has come into money and makes the decision to send Charles away with the intention of giving him a better life under the guardianship of Thatcher.


It's a loaded scene – any scene of a child leaving their parents is already loaded with emotional weight – but it at first appears to be nothing more than a scene for backstory, setting up how Charles Foster Kane came into his money. Though he initially fights leaving the only home he's known, the decision is made. Charles' bags are packed and he leaves with Thatcher that night, his sled abandoned in the snow.

It's not until the ending of Citizen Kane that the real meaning of "Rosebud" is revealed. When lawyers are sorting through Kane's vast estate in the wake of his death, one of the men hired to clean out his mansion finds an old sled and tosses it into the fire, believing it to be junk. As the sled burns, a closeup reveals the name painted on its side: "Rosebud." It's the same sled that Charles had lost all those years ago.

Why "Rosebud" Was Charles' Last Word Before His Death
Rosebud with snow on it in Citizen Kane

In Charles' mind, Rosebud symbolizes the purity of nature and childhood innocence that he lost long ago. Citizen Kane, arguably the greatest movie of all time, is a tragedy. In its simplest form, it's a story of how a young, idealistic newspaperman becomes the very thing he hates, the worst of a corrupt system that rewards the wealthy while suppressing truth. As Kane's wealth and influence grow, his happiness and fulfillment shrink as he grows farther from who he used to be. It's the story of a great man's devolution, a warning about how absolute power corrupts absolutely.


At the age of 25, Kane is already one of the richest men in the world thanks to Thatcher's prudent investment of his trust fund. But as the decades pass, Kane's increased isolation and alienation from true connection eventually turn him into a paranoid recluse. After a life of increasing corruption littered with a failed marriage, a suicide attempt by his ex-wife, broken friendships, and a string of scandals, Kane dies alone with no one to mourn him. There's no one left who even really knows him. At the end of his life, all his wealth and power couldn't keep him from dying unloved, and it's at the moment of his death that his mind returns to the only comforting memory he's ever had: his sled, Rosebud, and his last truly happy day–the day that his life changed forever.

Why The Rosebud Mystery Is So Important In Citizen Kane


One has to watch to the end of the then-controversial Citizen Kane to understand why its disjointed structure is necessary to tell the story, and why it's important to keep the meaning of "Rosebud" a mystery until the very end. The movie starts out making Charles Foster Kane a larger-than-life character, his wealth and eccentric, cloistered life spawning countless rumors and wild stories. He's a mythic figure, a god of media and influence–the god, in fact. Citizen Kane doesn't set out to build him up, however, but to tear him down. The entire movie is a pearl necklace of hard scenes from Kane's past, yet the true tragedy of Charles Foster Kane's life is laid bare only in the very last minute of the movie. In his final moments, the great titan is reduced to longing for his childhood sled. In the end, Rosebud, like Charles Foster Kane's life, amounts to nothing more than a heap of ashes soon forgotten.