Final IR Post

Outliers is a novel written by Malcolm Gladwell that offers an alternative explanation for the reason why some people succeed farther than others due to their surroundings. In an interview with the New York Times, Gladwell states, “Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.” The last section of the book describes how culture affects success more than intelligence and how various outliers portray this claim. For example, an outlier named Joe Flom had to take on harder, more risky law cases where no one else would because Flom was jewish and he was not hired by many firms. This cultural discrimination lead Joe Flom to the successful man he is and his firm boomed. Malcolm Gladwell successfully argues his claim through the use of rhetorical devices. One such example is the personal stories that the rhetor discusses to describe the outliers' lives and how they developed into a success. In addition, Gladwell uses statistics and facts to provide proof that supports his argument about culture relating to success.


After close reading Outliers and analyzing the piece through rhetorical devices, there were many observations that were made. The overview of Outliers is success and how culture and the environment play a large role in the achievements of the elite. After scrutinizing the parts of the novel, some elements that seemed important and made it evident that culture dictates accomplishments was the 10,000 hour rule. This rule shows how investing an exponential amount of time in a task will eventually reach perfection. It is scientifically proven that 10,000 hours results in achievement, and this part of the novel clearly put culture and success together. The environment of practice and pressure from family results in a favorable outcome for the outliers. The title, outliers, successfully fits the novel because an outlier is defined as "a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample". Gladwell includes this definition in the first chapter which sets up the type of arrangement of this novel- definition. The entire book is based on using examples to define what an outlier truly is. Malcolm Gladwell successfully creates a relationship between himself and the audience as well as the audience to the content through establishment of credibility as well as the arrangement of definition to help the reader understand the claim. Finally, Malcolm Gladwell sums up the novel by noting that success "is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky- but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all."This statement makes the reader thing about the claim that was made throughout the novel and how Gladwell completely refutes this claim by stating that an outlier is not an outlier, but just a person who was lucky and may have had an opportunity in their environment that lead them on the path of success. The conclusion makes the audience realize that this novel was an autobiography about Gladwell's life that he was not born into success, but the environment that evolved around him created him to the person he is today.