Outliers Malcolm Gladwell Analysis

Individuals wake up and make decisions everyday, but are these decisions truly made by the individual, or another external force that may be dictating the lives of all living beings? Individuals debate about free will and pose valid arguments either stating that individuals possess free will and influence their future, or that individual’s fate is predetermined by another unknown force. “Outliers: The Story of Success,” by Malcolm Gladwell, a nonfiction story, describes the importance of practice in order to master the skills that allow professionals to properly perform their occupations. Throughout the story, Gladwell utilizes numerous examples comparing differing groups of individuals based off of their hours dedicated to practicing a certain
“The deer” symbolizes the middle class destined to struggle, but allowed some success, similarly to “the deer” struggling to escape death by fire (1). Comparably, the “smaller lives,” which consists of minor animals including mice and birds, symbolises the lower classes of life whose destiny is to struggle with limited to no success (3). Representing an individual occupying the top of the hierarchy is the “eagle,” symbolizing power and nobility, because eagles fly in the sky above other animals (6). Classifying the animals into this hierarchy allows the speaker to compare and contrast the different values the classes possess. For example, to summon the eagle requires a numerous amount of “smaller lives” due to the fact that the “smaller lives” posses less value than the eagle; in order to obtain the attention of the eagle and entice the eagle to appear a large sacrifice must take place to satisfy the eagle’s requirements (3). The sacrifice of “the smaller lives” may be a hideous act, but the speaker interjects with the idea that “Beauty is not always lovely” (3-4). This paradoxical statement reveals that the fate of individuals
Gladwell analyzes groups of violinist in the “talent argument… study… by the psychologist K. Anders Ericsson “which divides the violinist into groups based upon the amount of time the violinist practice (Gladwell 2). Through this research, Gladwell compares and contrasts the similarities and differences, to discover a principle that explains the results of the study. Gladwell states the fact that, “ Everyone from all three groups [of violinist] started playing around the same age” (Gladwell 3). Stating that all violinist begin to play approximately the same age is important because the control over the variable of beginnings allows for the equal opportunity between the violinist to practice and become skilled. With the variable of beginnings similar for all the violinists, Gladwell reviews the aspect of practice which contrasts between the groups. Gladwell discovers a correlation between the amount of time the violinist practice, and their skill: “elite performers [total] ten thousand hours… good students [total] eight thousand hours, and… future music teachers [total] just over four thousand hours” (Gladwell 3). This correlation reveals that individuals possess free will and may influence their future. By simply practicing