Chapter Seven: Case Study: Suicide, Smoking and the Search for the Unsticky Cigarette Summary and Analysis

Chapter 7 begins with the story of Sima, a Micronesian boy who committed suicide after his father rebuked him for forgetting to bring home a knife for the family business. Such a case has become commonplace in Micronesia, a country were suicide used to be unheard of. However, suicide is now so commonplace that the horror of it barely registers and teens fail to see the seriousness of the practice. On this point, Gladwell draws a parallel with teen smoking in America.

The failure of many anti-smoking campaigns has been the focus on the cigarette. Gladwell points out that smokers know the risks of smoking, yet they continue. In one survey, smokers guessed cigarettes to be more dangerous...