The French Impressionists
Gladwell calls upon very familiar imagery to describe how the underdog (David) painters of the Impressionist movement managed to overcome the enormous power of the establishment symbolized by the Salon (Goliath) to transform the world of art forever. He situates the conundrum facing them within the imagery of whether it is preferable to be the Little Fish in the Big Pond by having their paintings ignored at the well-attended Salon against the unique power that sometimes comes with being a Big Fish in a Little Pond. Choosing the latter proved to be the wise choice, eventually making the biggest fish in the biggest pond.
What’s the Deal with Goliath?
The author examines the imagery of the battle between David and the Philistine giant found in the scriptural account and discovers clues that might indicate the reasons for Goliath going down to defeat so quickly and easily. Specifically, he focuses on two passages: when Goliath says to David “Come to me” and when Goliath says to David “Am I a dog that you should come to me with sticks?” From this imagery, he extrapolates the hypothetical suggestion that Goliath may have been suffering from a medical condition that negatively impacted his vision and caused him to move so slowly that he became a ripe target for an opponent relying not on equal strength, but superior coordination and vision.
Full-Court Press
If you’ve ever seen a basketball game, you know how it usually plays out after a team scores a goal. A player from the other team gets the ball out of bounds, throws it to player with little to no at intercepting the pass and they quickly make their way across the half-court boundary line where the defense finally kicks in. In a full-court press, the defense stars right at the moment when the pass is made and the movement of the ball across the half-court boundary is much tougher and takes a lot longer—and sometimes isn’t successful at all. This imagery is used to describe the style of play of several successful basketball teams, but also becomes a symbol of using an unconventional strategy to beat a superior opponent using conventional tactics.
The Blitz
The Nazi attack on London during the Blitz when bombs falling from the sky or just the siren warning of the possibility of bombs dropping from the sky became a daily is a horrific chapter in British history. In retrospect, however, it has come to be viewed as a glorious moment in that very same history the ramifications have become clear: the tactic did its job wreaking destruction, but ultimately lost more than it gained by psychologically strengthening, not weakening, British resolve. The full implication of that failure on the part of Germany to achieve its quite specific aim is portrayed in imagery written by an eyewitness:
“The siren blew its warning and I looked to see what would happen. A nun seized the hand of a child she was escorting and hurried on. She and I seemed to be the only ones who had heard the warning. Small boys continued to play all over the pavements, shoppers went on haggling, a policeman directed traffic in majestic boredom and the bicyclists defied death and the traffic laws. No one, so far as I could see, even looked into the sky.”
