Small Town Life

Small town life is an important element in the book “Friday Night Lights” by H. G. Bissinger. The concept of a small town includes the social, cultural, economic, and racial make-up of a town such as Odessa, Texas. Later, Midland and the community of Carter in Dallas factor into “Friday Night Lights” in important ways.

Odessa, though it is a small town, is big enough to have two high schools –Odessa High and Permian –but it is Permian which is known for its football program, having won several state championships. Odessa is a very conservative, very Republican, very Christian working and middle-class town built on oil, enjoying booms and suffering busts. The town itself has little to take pride in at the moment. Currently in a bust, the people of town devote even more time and focus than ever on football, something which they know they...