Why Is David And Goliath The True Underdog
David and Goliath the True Underdog It is almost inevitable for most people to support the underdog in life, whether it is a sporting team or the story of someone going from no one to someone. The distinction between the underdog and the super dog is usually very easy to recognize; but Malcolm Gladwell points out several facts that take away from the archetypical underdog story of David and Goliath. Through close analysis of the text from the biblical story of David and Goliath, Gladwell shows several aspects that point to a new perspective of the story. In the introduction Gladwell lists several main ways that Goliath actually seems to be the underdog. These aspects include the advantage and superiority of David’s sling to Goliath’s sword,
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the experience David has with his sling, and Goliath’s disabilities. To the average reader of this biblical story Goliath’s sword, javelin, and spear seems to out power the sling and stones that David used.
Gladwell however, shows the advantages to the choice that David made and how it is actually superior to Goliath’s combat weapons. First Gladwell brings into account the description of slingers from the Old Testament Book of Judges being “accurate within a hair’s breadth” (9). Also he says, “an experienced slinger could kill or seriously injure a target at a distance of up to two hundred yards” (9). With David being much closer to Goliath this makes his choice even more deadly; while staying out of range of Goliath’s weapons. Eitan Hirsch backs up this aspect of the battle by conducting calculations with the Israeli defense forces by calculating David would have hit Goliath at 35 meters per second the same power as a modern hand gun (11). Robert Dohrenward supports this by saying “ Goliath had as much of a chance against David as any Bronze Age warrior with a sword would have had against a .45 automatic pistol” (12). The accuracy and the power behind David’s sling did not give Goliath a chance to be victorious. This aspect shows that Goliath is a supreme underdog even if it doesn’t seem that way to the naked eye. By using these aspects of the battle Gladwell shows he thinks that David is the real super dog in this
battle. Goliath is a trained close combat warrior and superior in experience in it. When David first decides to fight Goliath it is assumed that he will fight him in close quarters causing King Saul to give him his armor but he refuses. David is more experienced in long combat by using his sling and he fights Goliath the same way he has learned to fight animals with projectiles. David is said to be an efficient and skilled projectile warrior giving him the upside due to his past with it. He choices not to use the armor “because without armor he has speed and maneuverability” (11) this leads to more accuracy with his weapon. With David having these advantages of experience at long range from killing other things and his maneuverability again he seems to be superior and not be the underdog. Lastly Gladwell points out some things about Goliath’s dialogue and size that lead to an assumption that he wasn’t fit to fight anyone. The size of Goliath makes everyone automatically assume he is favored and that he is fit to beat anyone but Goliath has more to him then it seems. First Gladwell takes into account the part of Goliath being accompanied by an attendant to carry his shield, which was unheard of if you weren’t an infantry solider who had no hands. Secondly Goliath’s size and strength is called into question when he tells David to come to him instead of Goliath approaching him and also how slow he moves (13). Goliath shows an underlying issue also by his reaction to David’s approach by insulting instead of being scared due to the obvious upper hand David is given. Finally Goliath sees David but he says sticks plural when David had one stick, which calls into, question Goliath’s sight. All of these points that make Gladwell makes leads up to the overwhelming statement made that “ Many medical experts now believe, in fact, is that Goliath had a serious medical condition” (14). This serious medical condition is named acromegaly, which leads to extreme growth due to overproduction of human growth hormone. Gladwell writes “one of the common side effects of acromegaly is vision problems” (14) this helps to explain the reason that Goliath didn’t even attempt to react. Over time acromegaly can cause double vision, which would explain the mistake between stick, and sticks that Goliath had made. Gladwell then calls into question if the attendant really was Goliath’s visual aid showing more support for the fact Goliath couldn’t fight anyone that day. With all of Gladwell’s claims and evidence put together it is evident that he views Goliath as the actual underdog and that David had the upper hand the whole time. He shows this in the end of his introduction with “ Goliath was blind to his approach-and then he was down, too big and slow and blurry-eyed to comprehend the way the tables had been turned” (15). By using specific evidence from the biblical story along with research and trained professionals it is shown that Gladwell believes David to have always been the super dog. I however disagree I find Gladwell’s claims to be improvable due to no true evidence beyond inferences from a story from the bible. Since no one was there on that day in the valley we can only take the bible’s words into account and I think that to make all these points is altogether a speculation. I would call into question if what Gladwell says about Goliath’s condition is true then why would the Palestine army put all of their lives on his back? Also the theory about the sling causing as much damage as a .45 caliber pistol is questionable because no one was there to see David actually throw the stone. Altogether I do not agree with Gladwell’s claims and I think it is too much speculation around the battle and I still believe that David is the true underdog.
the experience David has with his sling, and Goliath’s disabilities. To the average reader of this biblical story Goliath’s sword, javelin, and spear seems to out power the sling and stones that David used.
Gladwell however, shows the advantages to the choice that David made and how it is actually superior to Goliath’s combat weapons. First Gladwell brings into account the description of slingers from the Old Testament Book of Judges being “accurate within a hair’s breadth” (9). Also he says, “an experienced slinger could kill or seriously injure a target at a distance of up to two hundred yards” (9). With David being much closer to Goliath this makes his choice even more deadly; while staying out of range of Goliath’s weapons. Eitan Hirsch backs up this aspect of the battle by conducting calculations with the Israeli defense forces by calculating David would have hit Goliath at 35 meters per second the same power as a modern hand gun (11). Robert Dohrenward supports this by saying “ Goliath had as much of a chance against David as any Bronze Age warrior with a sword would have had against a .45 automatic pistol” (12). The accuracy and the power behind David’s sling did not give Goliath a chance to be victorious. This aspect shows that Goliath is a supreme underdog even if it doesn’t seem that way to the naked eye. By using these aspects of the battle Gladwell shows he thinks that David is the real super dog in this
battle. Goliath is a trained close combat warrior and superior in experience in it. When David first decides to fight Goliath it is assumed that he will fight him in close quarters causing King Saul to give him his armor but he refuses. David is more experienced in long combat by using his sling and he fights Goliath the same way he has learned to fight animals with projectiles. David is said to be an efficient and skilled projectile warrior giving him the upside due to his past with it. He choices not to use the armor “because without armor he has speed and maneuverability” (11) this leads to more accuracy with his weapon. With David having these advantages of experience at long range from killing other things and his maneuverability again he seems to be superior and not be the underdog. Lastly Gladwell points out some things about Goliath’s dialogue and size that lead to an assumption that he wasn’t fit to fight anyone. The size of Goliath makes everyone automatically assume he is favored and that he is fit to beat anyone but Goliath has more to him then it seems. First Gladwell takes into account the part of Goliath being accompanied by an attendant to carry his shield, which was unheard of if you weren’t an infantry solider who had no hands. Secondly Goliath’s size and strength is called into question when he tells David to come to him instead of Goliath approaching him and also how slow he moves (13). Goliath shows an underlying issue also by his reaction to David’s approach by insulting instead of being scared due to the obvious upper hand David is given. Finally Goliath sees David but he says sticks plural when David had one stick, which calls into, question Goliath’s sight. All of these points that make Gladwell makes leads up to the overwhelming statement made that “ Many medical experts now believe, in fact, is that Goliath had a serious medical condition” (14). This serious medical condition is named acromegaly, which leads to extreme growth due to overproduction of human growth hormone. Gladwell writes “one of the common side effects of acromegaly is vision problems” (14) this helps to explain the reason that Goliath didn’t even attempt to react. Over time acromegaly can cause double vision, which would explain the mistake between stick, and sticks that Goliath had made. Gladwell then calls into question if the attendant really was Goliath’s visual aid showing more support for the fact Goliath couldn’t fight anyone that day. With all of Gladwell’s claims and evidence put together it is evident that he views Goliath as the actual underdog and that David had the upper hand the whole time. He shows this in the end of his introduction with “ Goliath was blind to his approach-and then he was down, too big and slow and blurry-eyed to comprehend the way the tables had been turned” (15). By using specific evidence from the biblical story along with research and trained professionals it is shown that Gladwell believes David to have always been the super dog. I however disagree I find Gladwell’s claims to be improvable due to no true evidence beyond inferences from a story from the bible. Since no one was there on that day in the valley we can only take the bible’s words into account and I think that to make all these points is altogether a speculation. I would call into question if what Gladwell says about Goliath’s condition is true then why would the Palestine army put all of their lives on his back? Also the theory about the sling causing as much damage as a .45 caliber pistol is questionable because no one was there to see David actually throw the stone. Altogether I do not agree with Gladwell’s claims and I think it is too much speculation around the battle and I still believe that David is the true underdog.