Chapter one begins with Gladwell describing junior hockey in Canada. He described the “celebrity” lifestyle these young men have endured and how intense these games were. But then, he goes to talk about how Canadian hockey is a meritocracy or a disgrace rather. These young men are playing Canadian hockey before they even start kindergarten. There are levels for each grade and from there on these players are evaluated and placed on pedestals based on their ability to play. Although it seems unusual, it’s quite common in the sports industries today. Sports like soccer, the Olympics, even the world of classical music, picks their future stars from a young age and seek out those “special” ones. This short description of a successful type of athlete leads to Gladwell’s talk about the outlier of being successful and success is looked upon. …show more content…
How intelligent are they, what’s their lifestyle like, or what talents were they born with etc.… these are just some examples of questions that are raised to just simply understand the successful. But Gladwell says, these are all assumptions that are created to explain how those successful people reached the top. Each back story is the same when learning about the road a successful person went down to get to the successful point. Starts with a troubled past, then hits a different upcoming, and ending with them overcoming those circumstances and becoming successful. Gladwell then believes that, to be successful you had to come from somewhere that made you become this person you are today. Every story is not the same like how the media portrays it. There is something in a person’s life that adjusted their lifestyle and turned them into who they are. This is where Canadian Hockey comes back into play because they way those top players are selected depends on where they came from. Not to mention it’s very interesting in how they are