How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Citizen Cane.
Quote #7
KANE: I've come here to tell you that, unless some action is taken promptly—and you are the only one who can take it—the oil that is the property of the people of this country will be turned over for a song to a gang of high-pressure crooks!
Kane is determined to make sure that the people of America all get to benefit from the wealth created by the country, especially if that wealth comes right out of the ground in the form of oil. But without someone speaking up for the working class, Kane is convinced that the rich will just take everything for themselves.
Quote #8
KANE: The personal note is all there is to it. It's all there ever is to it. It's all there ever is to anything! Stupidity in our government, complacency and self-satisfaction and unwillingness to believe that anything done by a certain class of people can be wrong— you can't fight those things impersonally.
People might tell Kane that he needs to deliver the news objectively, but he insists that being subjective is the whole point of a newspaper. He can't stand idly by while rich and corrupt people take over his country and report the news objectively. He needs to tell the world these people are crooked and that they should all be thrown out of office.
Quote #9
THATCHER: They're all part of your general attack—your senseless attack—on everything and everybody who's got more than ten cents in his pocket.
Thatcher is convinced that Kane is engaging in class warfare when he attacks rich people. But in Kane's mind, he's just looking out for the interests of ordinary people. And this makes sense, since most of the newspapers in the U.S. are owned by rich dudes who want to keep the working class down.