Mary Kane was the perfect housewife. She was organized and delicate in her movements, strict and loving with her son, and above all she was the prize that every man aspires to come across and land as his wife. Indeed, on the outside she appeared to society as a strong woman, the only woman her husband and son Charlie had ever known, but on the inside, she was just a young girl trapped in an era way ahead of her time. Although Mary obediently completed her chores day-in and day-out, she hoped to break free from the chains of social norms, yet too afraid to speak out. Every day, she could not stop herself from thinking about how her life could have been different or how she could have been the hero of her own story. For Mary was not always like the woman she had become, she was not always a perfect housewife. She was molded into the persona by the strict hand of her parents’ and thus left to feel hopeless. Admittedly, at one point in time she was a different Mary.

      Mary’s troubles started long ago when she had been in love for the first, and what she believed to be, the only time. For she did love her husband, Charlie’s father, but that love could not compare to the one in which she knew she had forever lost. Unfortunately, like many other women out there, she married for money and to appease her parents’ wishes of her establishing security via marriage. However, when Mary was 19 she met what we like to call a “soulmate.”. All in all, Mary was head over heels for a broke man living off what many call “the land.” Indeed, his wallet was empty. But to Mary, he was never broke when it came to his soul. He provided her with a sense of calmness and laughter so that his inspiration gave her a new hope for herself. It was 1942 at a time where war was breaking out all around the world; hatred was in the air across cultures, but this wild and incredible soul gave her what she was sure to be her only shot at true happiness.

      If one were to really know Mary, they would say she was full of sacrifices. Her life had consisted nothing of her choice. As an obedient daughter, Mary sacrificed carrying out her dreams of exploration with her beloved, for a marriage of silent regret. As a wife, she sacrificed an education for what her husband called “raising her boy right.” As a woman, she sacrificed her sanity to be the towns’ “saint,” always there to lend a helping hand, offer a warm place to stay, or provide a homecooked meal. As a mother, she sacrificed seeing her boy mature into a young man by giving him away at the age of 10 to a wealthier young couple from New York. Therefore, it was no surprise that Mary would sacrifice her own safety for her son’s happiness.

      Indeed, it was the week before her boy Charlie was to be taken to the train station for the final goodbye when the first tornado of 1942 was about to reach the Kane family. As the wind escalated, the family quickly decided to take cover in their preplanned shelter. With all three safe and sound, Mr. Kane was about to bolt the shelter doors shut when Charlie began to complain of having to go back to get the new toy he had been obsessed with for months. Although it was far from winter, Charlie had been determined to whip out the new Rosebud snow sled the minute the first snow hit. Having known Charlie’s determination, Mary escaped from the shelter and scurried across the windy plain on the way to the barn in search of the toy. Grabbing the sled from a high shelf, Mary’s foot caught on a piece of rubble blowing about. As the gash on her head drew blood, her eyes, drifting closed, saw a blurry “Rosebud” in fancy red lettering across the sled.

      Mary awoke. Immediately she rose up in search of her boy. Now, two days after the tornado, Mary saw Charlie playing outside by the porch. For despite his normal condition, along with the constant chattering between her husband and the doctor behind her, she knew that he was far from being safe. In the past two days, Mary had laid there unconscious, but her mind was wild at work. Yes, in the past 46 hours, Mary had witnessed any mothers’ biggest fear. Through the seemingly long dream Mary had seen the course of her son’s entire life played out from his utterly failed marriages to the loss of his true “soulmate,” and from his newspaper business to his attempt at running for governor, Mary had seen everything and then some.

      In truth, Mary had witnessed the doom of her son and she all she could do was stare blankly out the window at her young son. In 4 days’ time she would see her boy for the last time and couldn’t help but shiver in fear that the long dream was in fact possible. Unlike other dreams, this one felt so real, landing close to her heart. Maybe it was the fact that she had been pondering for a while about whether she was making the right decision by giving her son away. Mary knew that he would surely have a better life, but was it really better? For the dream revealed that he did in fact have privileges especially when it came to money. However, reflecting on her own life, she realized that money was not the answer to life’s problems; true friends could not be bought, genuine happiness did not stem from a bank account, and marrying for any reason other than possessing tender affection for another was detrimental to the soul. In her dream she had seen her son grow up spoiled rich, marrying for the wrong reasons, and splurging on everything in search of love and happiness. Yet he was so blind.

      His second wife had been his soulmate. The fact being made clear to Mary given their interactions on the first day they met. For she had looked at her soulmate in the same fashion many times long ago and like an outsider looking in on her son’s life, she instantly knew. What he had been in search of his whole life, he had let rot away. Susan was the one for him, his own shot at happiness, but he been so scared to love that he continued with his ways and ignored what was in front of him all along. Years had gone by, he had spent millions in treasured goods, hoping that each statue, each work of art, and each project would to be enough to fill his void at last. However, such a void could never be filled by a man as blind as he. Without a doubt, the universe had sent him Susan, and she loved him so dearly as she stuck with him throughout his dark times of failure in terms of his business and government. Unfortunately, Charlie was never fully able to love as he saw her solely as a project, in hopes that making her an opera singer success would give him the special feeling he had been in search of; at the end of the line, like the long list of other attempts, this was to no avail. Susan, like any right-minded individual had grown bitter with his lack of attention and lost persona. She had left him and only a few years later he had succumbed with the word “Rosebud” forever written on his soul.

      Surely these words were a mystery to many a people, but to Mary who at seen the tragedy played out in fast forward, “Rosebud” was the answer. For “Rosebud” represented more than just a snow sled or a child’s toy, it embodied an unexplainable feeling of love and happiness. Mary appeared to stand a little straighter as she continued to peer out the window fully lost in thought. Indeed, she may have lost her “Rosebud” and was suffering the consequences every day. Nonetheless, it was not too late for Charlie. Mary’s eyes shined a bit brighter as knew what she had to do; she would not let her son make the same mistake twice. Her son would have to grow up poor but with his ambition he would make it to the top without fail. Mary was positive that in the process the universe would send Susan to him once again and this time Mary would be there to make sure that he would not let her slip away again. More confident than ever, she made her way across the room and retrieved her stationary set. Across the envelope, she wrote the words “URGENT,” followed by the New York address.

 

 

 

Character Description

 

Mary Kane: Her character is well-described through the course of my updated plot. Attempting to provide a shortened description here would not do her character justice.

 

Charlie Kane: The older Charlie Kane is the character who appears in Mary Kane’s dream. This Charlie Kane is the exact man that appears in the movie; he is rich and ambitious, yet always mentally lost. During the time that Mary is conscious, the younger Charlie Kane is one who is about to be given away. At this point in time he is an innocent, young boy with the whole world ahead of him.

 

Susan Kane: She embodies a young love-at-first-site. Susan is the second wife of Kane. At the beginning of their time together we see that they are in fact meant for each other but as time goes by Kane focuses on the wrong things. Kane is so caught up in making her a star, something that isn’t even her dream, that he misses out on what is really the important aspect. As the plot thickens, Susan learns that Kane is all for himself; he never feels content with his life nor will he ever. Susan stands up for herself as she leaves Kane for good.