Ambiguity In High Noon

Ambiguous Morality
High Noon portrays Kane as a moral hero who is willing to sacrifice his new family for his honor and duty. Additionally, the film paints the townspeople, including Ramirez and Herb, as selfish and morally corrupt due to their desire to remain alive instead of fighting alongside Kane. Although the audience sympathizes with Kane, they understand the townspeople and their motivations. While the film depicts the difference between Kane and the townspeople as stark moral contrast between right and wrong, the cinematography and costume design in combination with the iconography of the genre suggest that the morals of the characters in High Noon are ambiguous.
In the scene when Herb announces to Kane that he will not fight against

The film introduces Ramirez as immoral since she owns brothel and a saloon and Amy as an ethical Quaker because she has stayed true to her values. Additionally, during their meeting, Amy wears a bright, white wedding dress. This costume design suggests that Amy is morally pure. In contrast, Ramirez is clothed in a black dress thus displaying that Ramirez may have improper morals. However, the difference in their backgrounds during this scene suggests another interpretation. Ramirez stands in front of a light-colored background, illustrating how she may be moral. Conversely, the film pictures Amy with a dark background, either the door or a shadowy wall, supporting how she might be immoral for leaving her husband or, later, for betraying her ideals and shooting a man in the back. This contrast between their costumes and backgrounds supports that both Amy and Ramirez have ambiguous morals. Also, in their meeting, the shot reverse shot editing differs the camera angle for Ramirez and Amy. Although their eyelines are matched, the camera films Ramirez from a low angle and Amy from a high angle. Since the women discus whether Amy is right or wrong to leave Kane, this difference in angle supports that Ramirez is in morally superior to Amy.