Comparison between Archetypal Westerns and Comedic Westerns
Comparison between Archetypal Westerns and Comedic Westerns
Movies and books, about tales of the Old West, are still popular today. They give us a vivid perspective of how the Old West was. Images of the Wild West evoke thoughts of gunfights, saloons, and women in distress waiting to be rescued by the local hero. The movie, High Noon, directed by Fred Zinnemann, takes on the traditional tone that the viewer is all too familiar with. Stephen Crane’s story, “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” recreates the classic Old West tale of the villain versus the hero while giving it a comical edge. While High Noon provides one with stereotypical portrayals of the damsel in distress, the villain, and the hero, both pieces focus on the notion that good always prevails. They are clearly similar in this way; however, differences abound between the two works. The plots of the stories unfold with action sequences taking on different roles in each. Comedic elements in Crane’s Story create a theme that also differs from that in the more classic High Noon. The characters in High Noon are just what one would expect in an Old Western tale, while those in Crane’s story are anything but typical. If we compare and contrast the elements of High Noon and “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” we can see Crane’s theme: not all of the arguments in the Old West were resolved with gunfights. Violence is not the answer to every argument.
The two pieces show typical similarities. Both are Old Westerns focusing on good versus evil. The notion that good always prevails is present in both works. The marshal wins in both cases. They both have the same setting, taking place in the Old West, in a small town. They also have the same plot: a damsel in distress, a villain, and a hero, as do most Old Westerns. Another similarity is that both heroes have just been married. These two pieces also have their differences in how they approach the characterizations of the bride, the villain, and the hero.
In an Old Western film or story we expect the characters to look and act a certain way. In High Noon the characterizations fulfill all of our expectations. In High Noon, Amy Kane, the...