Success In Outliers Essay

The concept of success is something that society has been obsessed with since the beginning of civilization. People constantly question: What defines success? What separates the successful from the normal? However, the most important question regarding the topic is: What does one need to become successful? Most consider the buildings blocks for success to be plenty of hard work, intrinsic skills, and a small amount of luck. However, some believe that success is not this simple, and that a number of key factors play into the success of an individual. One such person is Malcolm Gladwell. In his book, Outliers, Gladwell makes a conclusion about success contrary to the usual belief, claiming that success is more reliant on specific circumstances,
To start, Gladwell uses the Jewish immigrants of Eastern Europe as a prime example for family background leading to success. He talks about the fact that most had occupational skills, unlike other European immigrants who were peasant farmers before their arrival to the new country. The most popular skills however, had to do with clothing (Gladwell 142). This background in cloth making and tailoring resulted in a set of opportunities in America, giving them the ability to open up clothing stores, leading to higher levels of success. Moreover, this can be extended past family and into ethnicity in general. To prove this, Gladwell uses the subject of rice agriculture, “Throughout history, not surprisingly, the people who grow rice have always worked harder than almost any other kind of farmer,” (Gladwell 233). Rice was hard to grow and required lots of diligence, not to mention the fact that it was what life revolved around in Asian culture. Consequently, its influence taught Asian peoples to work harder in everything they do, resulting in higher success among these ethnic backgrounds. Where one comes from plays a huge role in what one will become, and this extends back hundreds of years in one’s family