In the storyline of High Noon and The Most Dangerous Game, the two protagonists learn to feel fear when fighting the antagonists. Carl Foreman wrote, High Noon, it is based off a marshal who is retiring, has to fight to protect his town from criminals. The Most Dangerous Game is written by Richard Connell, it is about two experienced hunters who hunt one another to one’s death. In the film, High Noon, and the book, The Most Dangerous Game, both have they’re differences between their settings and conflicts, but they also have similarities between their two main characters.
Will Kane and Sanger Rainsford share similar traits that affect both storylines. Rainsford and Kane are both strong and brave. They both fight for what they think is right. Kane is described as old. The writers of the movie made him older, so we know that he has wisdom and knows what he is doing. He is the kind of character that puts others and his town before him. In one scene of the film, Will Kane and his wife have a conversation about Kane returning to the town to protect others from Frank Milker who is returning for revenge on Kane. “I’m not trying to be a hero! If you think I like this, you’re crazy!” (Forman). Furthermore, Rainsford’s character is a hunter who gets stranded on an island with another hunter named General Zaroff. General Zaroff is a hunter who got bored hunting animals, so he switched to the hardest living thing to hunt, men. Rainsford is put in this position to fight Zaroff, while Kane has to fight Frank. Both characters don’t want to kill the antagonist, but they have to in order for themselves to survive. Rainsford and Kane share these traits because they both did not want to be killed without fighting back. The similarities between the two protagonists catch our eyes, but does the difference in the setting do the same.
In the film High Noon, the setting is different from The Most Dangerous Game. In High Noon, the story takes place in the 1800’s in a western town with a small population. “Series of shots of shutters, Windows, and doors being closed all over town” (Forman). In The Most Dangerous Game, the story takes place on an isolated island, Ship-Trap Island. It is during the 1920’s and it is described as a jungle with many dangers. General Zaroff stated, “The island is perfect for my purposes- there are jungles with a maze of traits in them, hills, swamps” (Connell 12). When Rainsford gets to the island, he is very unfamiliar with what’s around him. However, Kane knows about everything that happens in his town and knows where the danger is. The time span of both stories is also different because High Noon as a storyline lasted about 2 hours, while The Most Dangerous Game, is about 4 days long. The settings between these two stories are different, and the conflicts in High Noon and The Most Dangerous Game are contrasting.
High Noon and The Most Dangerous Game have many conflicts, but they aren’t the same. Kane mentions the conflict of High Noon when he talks to Amy about Frank Miller coming back to town. “I sent up a man five years ago for murder. He was supposed to hang, but up North they commuted it to life. Now he’s free- I don’t know how. Anyway, it looks like he’s coming back (Forman). General Zaroff sets the conflict for The Most Dangerous Game, he hunts men for a sport and doesn’t think that it’s wrong. When Rainsford heard General Zaroff mention his plans, he realizes he is the one that is going to be hunted. “I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships—lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels—a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them” (Connell 13). Even thought the conflict sets the stories apart, the story still comes together to be compatible.
High Noon and The Most Dangerous Game, both have their similarities and differences that influence the story. Kane and Rainsford share character trait that affects our understanding of the story and who they are as a character. The setting of High Noon and The Most Dangerous Game both differ from each other. However, in the film, High Noon, it’s conflict is based of a criminal returning to town; while in the book, The Most Dangerous Game, the conflict is being caused by a hunter who like to hunt men. High Noon and The Most Dangerous, have similarities and differences when it comes to the main characters, setting, and conflict.