How does Citizen Kane use flashbacks to tell Charles Foster Kane’s story?

In the film Citizen Kane, Orson Welles employs a non-linear narrative structure to explore the life of publishing magnate Charles Foster Kane. Following Kane’s death at the beginning of the movie, the story is told through a series of flashbacks that correspond to interviews conducted by a reporter.1

These flashbacks serve as a mechanism for the reporter to investigate the meaning of "Rosebud," Kane’s final word, by speaking with individuals who knew him throughout his life. The film utilizes these discrete episodes to depict different stages of Kane’s journey across various settings, including his childhood in Colorado, his rise to success as a media mogul in New York, and his eventual decline in Florida. By framing the narrative through these fragmented perspectives, Welles creates a complex portrait of a man whose life remains a mystery even to those closest to him.12