“What change was that I found myself surrounded by people-starting with my mom, grandparents, uncles, and aunts, and leading to a string of wonderful role model and mentors- who kept pushing me to see more than what was directly in front of me, to see the boundless possibilities of the of the wider world and the unexplored possibilities with in myself (179).” Wes started so really think about the people who pushed him to do better. I think the person who pushed him the most was his Mother, Joy. Wes wouldn’t of gone to military school without his mom saying that he had to go. With his family expecting more from Wes and them wanting to see him do better. Wes might or turn out like the Other Wes that was in the book, but he didn’t. In the book …show more content…
At first he HATED military school and just wanted to go home to his family and friends. He called his mom one night asking her to come and pick him up so he could go home, but his mom wouldn’t allow it. Wes Mother said to Wes during the phone call, “Wes, you are not going anywhere until you give this place a try. I am so proud of you, and your father is proud of you, and we just want you to give this a shot. To many people have sacrificed in order for you to be there. (95)” Wes wanted to leave to leave Military School and never come back, but his mother wouldn’t let him leave. Wes said “I had never seen a man, a peer, demand that much respect from his people. I had seen Shea demand respect in the neighborhood, but this was different (96).” The respect he was use to see was the kind where you beat or scare it out of people. The respect that he was seeing in Military School was real respect . At that point Wes started to change, he wanted that respect more than anything. Wes started to see that he was in a different environment and with different people around him. Military school did help Wes in so many ways, but if it wasn’t for his Mom he wouldn’t be in the place he is today. Wes mother pushed him to go to military school because she and the rest of the family wanted better for
They all immediately judged him because of his race. Wes knew he would not be able to fit in with the other kids even if he tried. Had Wes tried to include himself in friend groups at school, he would have to face rejection as well as embarrassment. Wes did not want to be chagrined and so he separated himself from the other kids by having an interest in Ms. Tretheway. The narrator did not agree with Wes when he said that Ms. Tretheway "was so beautiful". The narrator was one of the bystanders who watched the other kids tease Wes, occasionally joining in as well. Everyone excluded Wes throughout high school and by then he accepted that but when he gets voted as best all-around student he admits that he "was so happy [he] could believe anything.” (Buckler, 115) Wes believed that he was finally getting included with the others, he had hope and anticipation. In the end, he was let down and avoided which led to the incident in the basement. Not everyone finds it hard to fit in but those who do may struggle with the pressures of society for
Wes was abandoned by his father soon after he was born and Tony, Wes’s brother, who was often at the Murphy Home Projects left Wes to be the “man of the house”. The absence of an older male figure made Wes more independent and, with Mary’s low paying job, made him have to provide for himself. Having to equip himself for day to day life built the base for Wes to experiment with the drug trade and, eventually, got him arrested multiple times. Tony wanted to keep Wes from the drug trade, in one instant he beat Wes up for being involved, but he knew that “his mission as a big brother was to toughen him up for the battles [he] knew Wes would have to fight as he got older”. As a young boy, Wes wanted to be exactly like his older brother, but as a hypocrite, Tony wanted Wes to stay out of the drug trade while he, himself, was deeply involved in the trade. The older Tony got, the more he realized how inevitable it was that Wes would engage in the drug trade. Once he realized Wes would become involved, he began to prepare him through fights and him protective advice. By being a drug dealer, Tony injured Wes’s future, and when Tony associated Wes with the jewelry store robbery, he destroyed Wes’s future. The men that influenced Wes Moore throughout his lifetime were the ones that made him the human destined to spend the rest of his life in
Education standards. One Wes’s family took education very seriously and the other Wes’s family let education standards slip. This was one reason the two Wes’s went down completely different life paths. Author Wes Moore mom took education very seriously and did not let Wes get away with slacking. When author Wes Moore mom found out he was slacking so much in school she collected as much money she could and sent him to Military school.Author Wes states about going to military school “I knew my mother was considering sending me away, but I never thought she’d actually do it.” (Moore 87). Military school is a big factor in the reason author Wes turned out to be as
While reading the book The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore many readers come to find out why Wes states, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore Introduction). What Wes is saying here is that both Wes Moore 's have a very similar life they shared the same name, they both lived in Baltimore with similar histories, yet they had two complete different lives. This is not to say that I agree with the statement, but rather disagree to an extent. I believe that even after being from the same town, having the same name, and both not having fathers at a young age Wes Moore had a more fortunate life that the other Wes Moore. This being because Wes didn’t have a father because
A child will not change their behavior if their parent does not show disapproval and does something about their behavior we they act out. With both of these combine, it made Wes’s opportunities starting from a young age, very slim of being successful. Growing up, Wes Moore had his mom and family around him to support him and when things got bad, his mom sent him to military school as a disciplinary action. This saved Wes from further becoming a bad kid because there, he learned discipline and respect. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore was off selling drugs and doing other bad things while his only influence was his brother. The other Wes Moore was so involved in his profits from selling drugs that he even sold to a cop even though he knew that he was undercover (Moore 112). Wes took this chance because he was so desperate for the twenty dollars he was going to receive, he didn 't care what the consequences were. I believe that if the author Wes Moore never went to military school, that he would have turned out just like the other Wes Moore. Weich from Lincoln County Jail stated that when investigating the jail, inmate were forced to garden as their “hardwork” this was supposed to change them. The inmates just had to be on good behavior and they were then able to garden while in jail (Weich). The point of going to jail is to be disciplined and learn and grow as a
The author and Wes Moore faced very similar environmental changes and challenges. The differences that resulted these two on opposite ends of the spectrum was their family’s influence upon their decisions. The actions of each Wes Moore’s mothers had a great effect in their lives. The author Wes’s mother, as well as his grandparents, played a key role in his success as an adult. The sacrifices of time and the minimal amount of extra money she made went towards the author and his other siblings which ensured him the best educational environment. Without his mother, Joy, a college graduate herself, who “raised all of her children together, and she worked multiple jobs to send all of her children to private school” Wes could not have aspired to be where he is today (Moore 48). She persisted with him by laying down her expectations for him to excel in ...
He had been scared about being at the bottom of the food chain again. He pulled through well, but had a couple of social issues as this stage in his life progressed. For example, he had some experiences with peer pressure by his fellow classmates. It was important for him to go through this, because he needed to learn about standing up for what he believes in.
In their respective life journey, both Wes Moores often found them facing with some hard choices or decision to make or standing at a crossroads of life change without knowing which way to turn. Therefore, “for all of us who live in the most precarious places in this country, our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path or a tentative step down the right one” (Moore xiv). During their early childhood, both Wes Moores struggle at school and had troubles with the law. However, for the author Wes Moore, attending the military school was the biggest turning point in his life. Aware of his mother’s determination, his family’s sacrifice, and encouragement from classmates and instructors as well as the influence of role models, the author Wes Moore finally made up his mind that he wanted to succeed in the military school. At the end, the author Wes Moore fulfilled his dream and did well academically from then on. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore had tumbled on a series of missteps along the road: dropping out of school, getting involved with drug trade, committing violent crimes, and being a father of four when he was so young and immature. Even though there was a time when he tried to reinvent himself: joining the Job Corp, getting a high school diploma, and finding some decent jobs, the reality and his making-quick-money mentality eventually brought him back to the original path with no return. At last, by committing an armed robbery that left a police officer dead, the other Wes Moore irreversibly drove himself to the dead end of life. Obviously, based on their early life experiences, both Wes Moores would have gone the same route to failure. Nevertheless, at some critical points of their lives, the author Wes Moore made some good choices with intervention and guidance of good people while the other Wes Moore lost his footing under undue
They both grow up in a similar environment and was raised by a single mother. Author Wes can see how the other Wes 's life went and saw that there were Decisions and actions that were taken that made them made them into the people they become. American people are always talking about “keeping up with the Jones 's” and “the grass is greener on the other side”, and most people don 't ever know about a person who shared their name and grew up in the same environment. So it makes sense that if a person becomes aware of a person like that, who shared a name and grew up in the same environment, they want to know more about what that person 's life was
The quotation stated above from “Long, Long After School”, written by Ernest Buckler; demonstrates a great significance that reveals both character and theme. The quotation reveals who the main character really is and the change he undergoes in the telling of Wes’ flashback in the story. While Wes is reminding the main character of all the things he and his friends did that bullied the poor boy at school, he realizes what a terrible person he was back then- resulting in him (in the moment) feeling like a young boy; and certainly not a gentlemen! It makes him metaphorically “feel less beautiful” because of the torture the main character, Wes was put through. During this part of the story, it shows the main character is a dynamic character-
Respect to me is admiring someone for their abilities, qualities, or achievements. I think respect is always earned an can never be given. As soldiers soldiers we should always respect our peers because they have made the same sacrifice as us. But as soldiers we should have a higher level of respect for our NCOs because they have done their time an have earned it. Being respectful is not hard it is simple, just treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves.
In The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, many people were able to grasp ahold of the author Wes’s life and help him get steered into the right direction. I feel that his mother, Joy, had the biggest impact on his life and meant the most for him. “When we moved to New York, she worked multiple jobs, from a freelance writer for magazines and television to a furrier’s assistant- whatever she could do to help cover her growing expenses (47).” Joy was a very hardworking woman. She worked not one but two jobs to cover her expenses, her kids expenses, and to help her parents out. She did this because she wanted what was best for her children. This later comes back to make Wes respect his mother for all that she has provided and sacrificed for him to get all that he did.
Meanwhile the other Wes tried to get his life straightened out when he was with Cheryl and became a father of four children. The author illustrates this point when he states “listening to my mother talk about sacrifice, I had no idea what my grandparents had given up.” Meaning the five minute phone call with his mom changed the way he thought of military school. Also, when Wes had told Levy “I’m done, man” and he added on to say “I want to get out. Do something different with my life.” That’s when Levy introduced him to job corps and Wes agrees to join the program. The significance of the phone call is to show that Wes realized that it was selfish of him to not stop and think of how his mom came up with the money to put him in military school and asking her to take him out but, then his mom explained him that his grandparents had other plans for the future but they gave it up because they believed the school will change Wes. The other Wes Moore changed for his children, he hated the
Finally, the Department of Defense, with support and encouragement from Congress and the American public, has focused more on today’s military member and family as a unit, instead of the individual soldier, as was the case with the Vietnam veteran. Although a soldier, and sometimes a taxi driver at the height of the Vietnam War, would hand deliver a Western Union telegram notifying spouses and family members of their loved one’s death, it was still perceived by survivors as cold and lacking compassion (Hanna). According to the military, this was considered notification in person, which many family members found insulting (Hanna). In contrast, death notifications for today’s military forces are dealt with sensitively and respectfully, notified in person by a special Casualty Assistance Officer, and followed up with a chaplain if the family
While Einstein has strongly presented his aversion against the military as an institution of herd life that perpetuates violence, I consider the above quote very poignant as a commentary on how the military as an institution is socialized and organized using mechanisms of control.