‘Hall of mirrors’

‘Citizen Kane’ opened with an establishing shot of Kane’s dark Palace surrounded by fog, setting the mood for the upcoming scene where Kane is alone and mutters his last word, “Rosebud”. With a snowglobe rolling and eventually breaking on his floor.

Kane’s snowglobe plays a significant part in Kane’s story, as it represents his childhood home and links his death to his childhood. This is important as it shows the contrast between Kane’s comfortable and carefree childhood to his difficult adulthood after he was taken away from his family and childhood home. When his snowglobe shatters it represents his childhood and innocence being fragmented and lost.

The ‘Mirrors’ scene can be rooted back to Kane’s snowglobe as while he was destroying Susan’s room (his now ex wife) he uncovers the snowglobe that reminded him of his childhood, which was carefree, peaceful, and in order. When he picks it up he’s reminded of his early childhood and about the innocence he once had. Kane’s last words were “Rosebud,” which was his childhood sled. This is an additional representation of Kane’s childhood innocence being lost.

After finding his snowglobe Kane walks through a ‘hall of mirrors’ where Kane’s reflection is mirrored infinitly, which is used by Orson Welles to represent Kane’s fragmentation and loneliness. The endless duplicates of himself suggests Kane’s multiple personalities; a complex personality with different versions of himself that manifest into one person, ‘Charles Foster Kane’.