Comparing The Antagonists In High Noon And Unforgiven

Who are the Antagonists in High Noon and Unforgiven High Noon and Unforgiven are films set in the Western culture depicting the livelihood of people in Hadleyville and Big Whisky respectively. The main antagonist in Unforgiven is the cowboys who decided to cut up a prostitute for having laughed at one of them for having a small penis. Their actions are what led to the other prostitute’s decision to put a bounty in their head. In High Noon, the main antagonist is Frank Miller. He was an outlaw who is freed out of jail and goes back to seek his vengeance in the town of Hadleyville on the man who played a hand in his arrest. Both films try to bring out the view that villains are not only found in the wilderness, but also in civilized societies. …show more content…
His wife had changed him to be a good man and a simple farmer, and her death becomes his breaking point. He barely knows much about farming, which drives him back to being an alcoholic, outlaw and killer he had been in the past. The town of Big Whisky is filled with normal civilized people all trying to lead a quiet life and make a living. Most of these people often live under the notion that there is no likelihood of having wild people in a civilized town given the nature of the society. This could be the reason most communities look down on people from the wilderness. Munny may have grown up civilized, but throughout the film what one can see is a man struggling with his desires, morals and love for Claudia. Eventually, his desire to kill wins, making him change his ideals and attitudes towards the society. The film further depicts how money can easily change man. Munny had not had a drop of alcohol in 8 years or murdered anyone, but the prospect of getting money for it quickly …show more content…
Will Kane is a sheriff in small town and on his last day in office, which is also his wedding day, he finds out that Frank Miller, a man he had put in jail, has been set free and is coming for him. As the judge flees town, he warns Will of the expected reaction from the townspeople. As much as they had elected a sheriff to protect them, it is evident that the people are hypocrites and unwilling to help out in fighting crime in their society. While referring to a past event, the judge gives the example of a well-known tyrant who had murdered one of the representatives of legal authority in the town. Martin Howe, a former sheriff in the town tells Munny “You risk your skin catching killers and the juries turn them loose so they can come back and shoot at you again. If you're honest you're poor your whole life and in the end you wind up dying all alone on some dirty street” (High Noon). This further depicts how little the law means even for people in the civilized