The Biblical Story Of David And Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell recounts the biblical story of David and Goliath in order to provide a solid foundation for the rest of the novel. The seedling of an underdog being able to defeat a goliath is planted into the reader’s head, and the seedling continues to develop as Gladwell adds more stories. Also, it begins to convince the reader to think outside of the box, “It never occurred to him (Goliath) that the battle would be fought on anything other than those terms, and he prepared accordingly” (7), because David used a tactic that Goliath was not prepared for, he triumphed. This theme continues throughout the stories as people use unconventional strategies to achieve what they desire. For example, Gary Cohn obtains a stockbroker job by jumping into a cab and lying. Another theme is coming out on top, despite shortcomings that the champion might have.
Dyslexia affected his ability to read, so his brain compensated for that, and he developed an astounding memory. He memorizes almost everything he hears, and this allows him to also learn patterns of speech like tone, and pacing. Boise won a major case because of that, “When Blankenhorn paused just a bit too much in certain crucial moments, Boise caught it. ‘It was the tone and pace of words he used. He’d slow down when he was trying to think of how to phrase something…And by being able to zero in on those areas, I was able to get him to admit to key elements of our case” (111-112). Without the introduction of the original David and Goliath story, the rest of the novel would not have been set up successfully, and it would not have been