Faizan Ahmed

Sophie Clews

Word Count: 1071

3 August 2018

The Superiority of Marxism:

A Marxist Analysis of Citizen Kane

By entangling capitalist, fascist and communist elements within Citizen Kane and juxtaposing
Marxism with counterpart political theories, Orson Welles explores and justifies the Marxism in
America. In the film, Welles presents a rivalry between capitalism and Marxism as an internal
dissonance within Kane; by illustrating the isolation of Kane, Welles demonstrates the
superiority of Marxism over capitalism. Furthermore, the film manifests fascist characteristics
and ideologies within Kane who exerts his authority over others by manipulating the truth;
through his eventual downfall, Welles further endorses Marxism over fascism. Central to this
analysis, Welles critiques communism; through Kane’s hypocrisy, Welles elucidates the
impracticality and unattainability of communism and further encourages the pre-eminence of
Marxism. The juxtaposition of Marxism with counterpart political theories within Kane serves as
an argument against capitalism, communism and fascism; through this, Welles proves the
superiority of Marxism over other political theories.

In Citizen Kane, Kane’s zeal for capitalism overshadows and vies with his Marxist ideals. Upon
1

separating from his mother, Kane embarked on a political career in search of love; for that was
indeed “why he did everything [and] why he went into politics”1. Kane’s Marxism is rooted in
his childhood need to reconcile with the love of his proletariat family; Welles further
establishes Kane’s Marxism when he chooses Marxist ideals over potential wealth, by rejecting
his counterfeit father and disregarding wealth for “philanthropic enterprise[s]”2. In a compelling
effort for “voters to love him”3, Kane publicized Marxist ideals through his newspaper and
presses which propagated to overcome the manifold forms of domination and exploitation
through the self-emancipation of the working class. However, his wealth and power soon
clouded these ideals and induced his “changes in politics”4. Kane’s political shift evolved him
into a figure whom Leland described as a “corrupted idealist”5 who “did brutal things”6. The
internal mentality shift by Kane created an external effect which Kane condemns; those whom

1
Ibid. [1:09:54]
2
Ibid. [0:26:24]
3
Ibid. [1:10:02]
4
Ibid. [1:19:31]
5
Ibid. [0:59:08]
6
Ibid. [0:59:21]
Kane was infatuated with and befriended, such as Leland, soon denounced him. Furthermore,
Welles demonstrates the inferiority of capitalism through Kane’s isolation. Kane being alienated
by those whom “he was in love with”7 and Leland’s estrangement from him demonstrated the
devolution towards capitalism. Indeed, through Kane’s shift from adhering to the Marxist ideals
of the “Declaration of Principles”8, to ideals derived from capitalism, Welles justifies the
superiority of Marxism over capitalism.

As the events in the film unfold and Kane begins to advocate ideals which are stemmed from
communism, his Marxist ideals are contradicted by his capitalist ones. The doctrines espoused
by Kane of which “decent, hardworking people of [the] city aren’t robbed blind by a group of
money-mad pirates”9 is further cemented by his assertion that he will “provide them with a
fighting and tireless champion of their rights as citizens and as human beings” 10. However, in a
scene in which labourers work tirelessly to construct a “private mountain for [their] landlord
[Kane]”11, Welles subtly suggests that Kane, much like other 20th century landlords, played a
pivotal role in adopting and further spreading capitalism. By exploiting the proletariat to the
service of the bourgeoisie, Kane ultimately contradicts communism and thus Marxist ideals.
Ironically, although Kane had compelled his colleagues not “to take the love of the people of
this state away from [him]”12 and was determined to “[look] after the interest of the
underprivileged”13, after Kane’s death, many considered him to be “a menace to every working
man in [the] land.”14 Kane possessed a charismatic authority which enabled him to embody a
bourgeoisie figure while preaching the equality and justice of the American public. Indeed, the
duplicity of Kane reflects the intrinsic hypocrisy of communism and the impracticality of
practising such a system; through this, Welles elucidates the practical issues with implementing
a communist system and illustrates the pre-eminence of Marxism. 2

Kane’s charisma and the authority he possessed over the American public allowed him to cloud
the truth and implicitly incorporate fascist characteristics and ideologies into his political
agenda. Kane’s manipulation of the truth through his newspaper which he deemed as “the
truth”15, demonstrated an approach to Marxist ideals with fascist actions. Despite the
impression his colleagues claimed that Kane was solely “entertain[ing] his readers [and] never
telling them the truth”16, the initial impression he provided to the constituents was that he will
indeed compel the American public “to think the way [he] wants them to think”17 and thereby
demonstrate his sovereignty and influence. Furthermore, when Emily rationalises that “he is

7
Ibid. [1:38:59]
8
Ibid. [0:54:04]
9
Ibid. [0:32:17]
10
Ibid. [0:41:25]
11
Ibid. [0:09:49]
12
Ibid. [1:01:32]
13
Ibid. [0:29:43]
14
Ibid. [0:08:11]
15
Ibid. [0:23: 18]
16
Ibid. [1:10:02]
17
Ibid. [0:56:06]
not the president of America”18, Kane counters that it is a “mistake that will be corrected one of
these days”19. This further elucidates Kane’s strive towards crafting a society to the ultimate
ambitions of his ruling; evidently manifesting the doctrines of fascism. Another exemplary
demonstration Welles embraces into the film is the scene portraying Kane parading with Adolf
Hitler. Fascist regimes in the past, such as that of Benito Mussolini in Italy, have performed
similar gestures to devour the people and garner support for their party. Although Labor unions
denounced Kane as a “fascist”20, he countered such accusations with the politic assertion that "I
am, have been, and will be only one thing-an American"21. Ironically, this enforced his fascism
since this implicitly highlighted the principle of extreme nationalism. Throughout the film
Welles demonstrates the effect of fascism and its relationship with Marxist ideologies. Indeed,
Welles creates a delusion of fascism through the manipulation of the ideologies derived from
Marx and thereby highlighting the supremacy of Marxism over fascism.

The portrayal of Marxism is interwoven within Citizen Kane by asserting it with counterpart
political theories. Through Kane’s wealth, capitalism overshadows his moral mentality and
drives him into isolation. Furthermore, Welles demonstrates the impracticality of a communist
system through Kane’s unintentional hypocrisy of adopting a capitalist outlook. The
manifestation of fascism incorporated into the film induces the manipulation of the truth and
enforces delusion which ultimately is controlled by Kane. Indeed, through exploring the
juxtaposition of Marxism with counterpart political theories, Welles justifies the superiority of
Marxism over other political ideologies.
3

18
Ibid. [1:02:49]
19
Ibid. [1:02:54]
20
Ibid. [0:15:30]
21
Ibid. [0:27:58]