Jake+C+and+Jake+K

“The Knight” by Adrienne Rich is a representation of Boobie Miles in H.G. Bissinger’s __Friday Night Lights__. The poem represents Boobie in a tragic way, mainly at the end of the poem. Odessa put their full confidence into Boobie, their hero, to protect the "kingdom" of Permian football. In “The Knight”, at the end of the poem, it says “Who will unhorse the rider | and free him from between | the walls of iron, the emblems | crushing his chest with their weight? | Will they defeat him gently, | or leave him hurled on the green, | his rags and wounds till hidden | under the great breastplate” (3.17-24). This is a direct correlation the part of __Friday Night Lights__ where Boobie is “defeated,” crippled by the Palo Duro Dons in their scrimmage. The Dons crushed him, ensuring that he would never be the same player again. They left him “hurled on the green.” The knight that Adrienne is creating //is// Boobie. The armor he has on is his football pads, his helmet; he looks so glorious until he is “unhorsed." The knight no longer means anything to the public - he is no longer a monolith, he is a cripple. Boobie was crushed under the pressures of Odessa until he became nothing more than a benchwarmer.

Furthermore, in the book __Friday Night Lights__, H.G. Bissinger portrays Boobie Miles as an unstoppable force upon the field when playing. Boobie Miles sees himself as the best thing on the field and cherishes the feeling of being on the field. According to Bissinger, “It was something else, more than just strength or speed, a kind of invincible fire that burned within him, an unquenchable felling that no one on that field, //no one//, was as good as he was”(54). This quote directly relates to the poem "The Knight" by Adrienne Rich. Boobie is the knight in Rich's poem. In "The Knight," the poem starts by depicting the knight Adrienne is imagining, describing his helmet, his magnificent breastplate, "under his crackling banner" (Rich). Boobie thinks of himself as an idol on the field and by doing so, Boobie had gained an attitude that scouts looked for and made him a distinguished player. Boobie was a player who had a large ego that he maintained in order to become a good player like he was. Miles had "an unquenchable feeling that no one was as good as he was" (Bissinger 54). This inspired Miles to play harder, hit harder, and run faster than anyone else out there. Boobie would not settle for being the best, he always wanted more, his desire to be better than the best was the "unquenchable feeling" within him. He had an "invincible fire" that no one could distinguish (that is, until he was injured), and play after play he hit as hard or harder than the last. He seemed untouchable, invincible. Boobie was having a very successful season until he sustained an injury to his leg. By getting the injury, Boobie lost his attitude and with that he gained fear in the game. After his time on the bench Boobie lost the ability to play as hard as he could and became a very stoppable force.