Previous
Fred Shuttlesworth
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a well-known preacher and activist who came to prominence during the civil rights movement. Gladwell focuses on Dr. King’s effort to call attention to the Movement in Birmingham, Alabama, where the reverend hoped to challenge the racist public safety commissioner, Bull Connor. To do this, Dr. King enlisted the help of Wyatt Walker, a Baptist minister with a penchant for trickery. Dr. King asked Walker to trick Connor into doing something that could be used against him—a request that led to a clash between black schoolchildren and police that ultimately incited a backlash against racist policing around the country. Gladwell examines the civil rights movement because he argues that black activists were able to overcome racists like Bull Connor because the black community is used to being underdogs.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. or refer to Martin Luther King, Jr.. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6: Wyatt Walker Quotes
In the traditional fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, told to every Western schoolchild, the Tortoise beats the Hare through sheer persistence and effort. Slow and steady wins the race. That’s an appropriate and powerful lesson—but only in a world where the Tortoise and the Hare are playing by the same rules, and where everyone’s effort is rewarded. In a world that isn’t fair—and no one would have called Birmingham in 1963 fair—the Terrapin has to place his relatives at strategic points along the racecourse. The trickster is not a trickster by nature. He is a trickster by necessity.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire David and Goliath LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Character Timeline in David and Goliath
The timeline below shows where the character Martin Luther King, Jr. appears in David and Goliath. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5: Emil “Jay” Freireich
...sustaining life-threatening injuries. Shortly thereafter, Shuttlesworth brings a friend to a local church to meet Martin Luther King, Jr. , and when they arrive, there’s yet another angry mob of white men. Nevertheless, Shuttlesworth...
(full context)
Chapter 6: Wyatt Walker
Before the picture of the young black man getting attacked by police dogs was published, Martin Luther King, Jr. , visited Birmingham. The civil rights movement, Gladwell says, wasn’t going well for the reverend,...
(full context)
Gladwell describes Wyatt Walker, a Baptist minister who works with Dr. King in 1960 to push back against segregation. In Birmingham, both Walker and King know they...
(full context)
Dr. King knows his and Walker’s efforts in Birmingham must succeed, because the civil rights movement might...
(full context)
After a month of marches, Walker and Dr. King decide to up the ante by reaching out to politically active minors. Because part of...
(full context)
Dr. King and Walker receive harsh criticism for putting children in harm’s way. The parents of these...
(full context)
