David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell Essay Example
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell Essay Example

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell Essay Example

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Malcolm Gladwell in his book “David and Goliath” he repeatedly uses the word “we.” He has however used this word in his works of literature since he joined the field. His first piece if literature was the book The Tipping Point that resulted in a lot of success in this area. Since the writing of his first book, he has been successful ever since. He has therefore gained a lot of fame due to his works. The book “David and Goliath “is an epitome of great works of artistry. The book talks about misfits, underdogs and ways one can fight giants. Tye underdog in this book is David while the giant is Goliath. (Gladwell 1st ed) The misfits that are portrayed in this book are the incidences that Goliath went through and what he had caused in the society at that time. He h

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ad created a lot of problems, and David was highly determined to kill him and therefore trusted in his faith, and finally he managed to terminate Goliath.

Lessons learned from the book:

Storr, C. & Molan, C. (1985). David and Goliath (1st ed.). Milwaukee: Raintree Childrens Books.
To come up with a good literature review of his book David and Goliath, a good analysis of his other books must be conducted. This will help in knowing how he employs artistry in his book. It will also help in identifying the kind of themes he uses in his book and if there is a similarity in his literature. However, his book David and Goliath revolves around the loopholes that are created by something good and the positives that accrue from something that is negative. Gladwell goes

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ahead and says that there are so many disadvantages that are brought up by the things that human beings think are advantageous. On the other hand, he claims that the things that people think are disadvantageous have some benefits attached to them. His book has a contradiction as human beings are made to reconsider the facts that what happens in day to day activities is the opposite of what indeed happens. Most of the things that the society terms as advantages are covered with a lot of blemishes. (Storr, 1st ed)

In his book, he has compiled different ideas from so many people to come up with this piece of literature. The connections he has obtained from various people are evident in the book David and Goliath. Different meanings of different things have been brought up in the book. Therefore, David and Goliath is a collection of so many ideas from various people.

Payne, L. (1967). DAVID AND GOLIATH. The Lancet, 290(7511), 373. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(67)90219-x

The connections that Gladwell uses from various people are dizzying. He uses some characters that are dyslexic and connects them to people who are champions for human rights. He also relates them to residents from London at the time of blitz. His ideology was that these people were able to turn a negative situation into a positive one. It is one of his most used themes in his book “David and Goliath” in the real sense according to him; he claims that advantages come with so many negatives and they are not as good as people think. Most of the tye people who seem to accrue a better kind of lifestyles have some problems

accompanying them.(Payne, pg 373)

Sprecher, S. "David And Goliath.". Radiology, vol 176, no. 1, 1990, pp. 288-288. Radiological Society Of North America (RSNA), doi:10.1148/radiology.176.1.2191367.

His philosophy is incredible, and his thoughts bring another level of provoking. His ideas are also somehow convincing too. The themes that Gladwell is bringing up have some sense in them. The main difference is that these philosophies are not as contrasting as he claims to be. In his book, he talks about David, who was very quick in his action with the sling. On the other hand, David was at a disadvantage because he was huge and slow. In a real life scenario, one would think that Goliath would win the fight because he was huge. (Sprecher, pg 288) However, this wouldn't case because of David no matter how small he was; he still won the fight. This story was a table turning kind of story because people would think differently of a real life scenario.

Lessons from the book

"David And Goliath". IEE Review, vol 50, no. 11, 2004, pp. 25-25. Institution Of Engineering And Technology (IET), doi:10.1049/ir:20041111.

However, many Americans know what an underdog can as Gladwell says. An underdog can surprise many with an outstanding outcome. Underdogs are usually undermined as they are always thought to be disadvantaged. Human beings in the real sense always judge people using their appearance. They also seem to mistake the capability of a person with previous results. Someone’s past performance can be used to decide how that person will perform in a particular present event. However, underdogs have with them a certain potential that cannot be undermined. This can also apply to military power and advantage.

A country that thinks has a stronger military performance can be surprised by another country that is seemingly weak. (IEE Review ,pg 32)
Gladwell also has a whole chapter that talks about people who are suffering from dyslexia. These people usually develop some certain skills that they use to replace their conditions. These skills give them a particular form of satisfaction and life accomplishments. Any misfit cannot deter someone from performing extraordinarily in a certain field. It’s usually called a compensatory mechanism as anything with a disadvantage usually has an advantage too. People with dyslexia in the real and recent world, even though faced with a huge problem, have come up very strongly. They have helped conquer the world in their unique way, by coming up with so many ways of creating jobs. Many researchers have found out that people with dyslexia have a bigger advantage over other normal people despite having an illness. In his book, Gladwell has cited so many sources from different psychologist and researchers that have talked about these people. A lot of scrutinity has been done on this to make sure that scholars come up with a real conclusion that can withstand any controversy.

Steel, D. (1991). Against Goliath (1st ed.). London: Pan.

In his book “David and Goliath” there is a contradicting theme about some people. Losing a parent at q younger age can be troublesome for some people. However, in his book, he claims that losing a parent at an early age comes with some advantages. This is the main reason why this remains contradicting and has so much light shone upon it. Losing a parent at any age is difficult

for so many people as it comes with am a lot of struggles. This is in a scenario where the parent was acting as a breadwinner for the family as a series of problems usually follow the family as they try to stabilize themselves.

To back his theory, he, however, cites psychologist by the name Eisenstadt, who conducted a study that many successful people in the world had one parent or had lost both parents at a certain event in their life. He also talks about q certain doctor by the name Emil who had gone through leukemia and still survived to become a doctor in his later life. In his book, there are a lot of shortcomings that are so evident. (Steel, 1st ed) Gladwell has however used a lot of research and support from psychologists to support his sample of literature. This has made him famous as the topics he is talking about are contradicting according to the society and many people have their view about such kind of theories.

Freireich's is the character who lost his father at an early age because of suicide. During that time, there were so many wars and problems that were facing the world. However, it came by surprise that people did not panic from that scenario. Despite that there were so many deaths that occurred at that time, many citizens still continued with their normal life without any interferences. However, this scenario did not affect many people as many of the citizens did not have a bomb explode next to them, therefore, were not affected by this kind of a scenario. This was explained by a psychiatrist by

the name MacCurdy. Therefore, people did not experience traumatization from the event that’s why they were very comfortable in their skin. They were, however, undergoing a mixed feeling as the psychiatric explained.

"David, Meet Goliath". Nature, vol 347, no. 6295, 1990, pp. 700-700. Springer Nature, doi:10.1038/347700b0.

This event happened when the doctor was growing up. He had lost his father and to add salt to injury, he had to undergo a very tough political time. In a normal person mind, one would think that Freireich would not make it at all. To become a doctor from such kind of a scenario shows how hard Freireich was hardworking. That situation is very tough for one to survive. Also, it a situation that presents a lot of problems for those trying to study and become something. Many people if put in such kind of a scenario would give up in life and decide to lazy around. Many people can sustain a lot of problems that they are faced with in life and become successful at the end. (Nature, pg 700) On the foyer hand, they few individuals who are unable to sustain problems in life end up becoming miserable. It is a requirement for one to be of strong faith and strong will to keep on pushing on in life as it has so many challenges. Freireich is an epitome of what a strong man can do to survive the many challenges that are found in this life. His piece of literature in some way acts as advice for people by creating examples.

Gladwell in his book tries to explain that tough times are what make a person. Without problems

in life, people would not learn how to live. Problems and difficulties make people sail in the same boat. They reveal the true meaning of life NAD what it has in a hold. Life is hard, and people must learn how to live with this hardships by uniting together. This relieves the burden that life has in store for so many people. Hence, hardships are a necessary condition for people to become of some substance in life.

Conclusion:

Gladwell book David and Goliath is a piece of work that has so many realities that cannot be underestimated. There are so many things that happen in real life that people cannot avoid. Nature has a way to bring hardships to test people and their capabilities to survive. Without this kind of difficulties, it’s difficult for people to survive and they are a part of life. It is, however, necessary for one to be put through for one to learn how to survive this world’s problems.(Gauld, pg 28) With the necessary skills that one gains from this difficulties, challenges ahead won’t be a problem. One will be ready for one and will avoid this kind of challenges when he or she detects one. In a nutshell, there are so many things in life that help build up a person. We cannot leave out lessons as a great human being core detector. They help one go through life in a certain way that makes it even more interesting.

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