Throughout the book, The Other Wes Moore we learned about the lives of two young kids who unexpectedly share the same name but like everyone else have totally different life’s. This book explores the concepts that deal with a person’s path in life and gives us an understanding of which factors are the ones that greatly influence the type of person we will become. I believe that the factors that have a bigger impact on our life paths are; the environment we live in, our family and friends. From the moment, we are born the environment we are raised in makes a bigger impact on our lives than we think. If you were to live in a nice environment where streets are clean and people are educated, you are more likely to have a bright future. On the I wasn’t poor but I wasn’t rich either, I was surrounded by an environment in which many people where in need of shelter and food because their families could not afford both. Just like poverty played a major role in my life, so did an ambitious and hardworking environment. Because those people I would see every day on the streets without food or a home, were the ones that had a bigger passion than anyone else, to one day be able to have a stable job and home for their family. This has shaped me to be who I am today, because I greatly appreciate what I have and take advantage of the opportunities I am given because not everyone is lucky enough to have what one Wes (the author) has a family who wants to see him succeed. Although Wes didn’t know his father for long, the two memories he had of him and the endless stories his mother would share with him, helped guide him through the right path. His mother, made one of the biggest effects in Wes’s life when she decided to send him to military story, after seeing he was going down the wrong path. Perhaps, the other Wes’s mother tried her best to make sure he grew up to be a good person, but unfortunately Wes never listen. His brother, Tony was a drug dealer who wish he could go back in time and make the right decisions and he wanted Wes to be different than him. He didn’t want his brother to end up like him and even after he tried everything to keep Wes away from drugs, nothing worked and he gave up. As you can see, both families are very different, Wes (the author) has a family who wants him to have a bright future. Most importantly, a family who responds fast because right after his mother saw him falling down the wrong hill she didn’t hesitate to do something about it. The other Wes isn’t as lucky, as I believe since his mother already had so much pressure over keeping her job and her son Tony being involved in drugs. Same thing with Tony, he was so caught up in his own business that no one payed so much attention to
In The Other Wes Moore, the author and a neighbor have the same name, Wes Moore, and they both begin their lives in similar ways. However, as their lives progress, they begin to part. For example, both “lost” their fathers when they were young. Because of the way their mothers respond to this loss, the boys’ lives begin to separate. Both mothers have different responses to challenges in general, which eventually leads them to respond to their child’s actions in contrasting ways. Throughout this novel, readers learn that depending on how a mother decides to react to the negative actions of their child’s actions, the child can either lead a successful life or lead a life of failure.
The Other Wes Moore was a book written by Wes Moore about two boys who were very similar growing up. They both grew up with out their dad and in a rough lifestyle. The two boys lived in same rough Baltimore neighborhoods with activity going on always. The difference is one grew up to have a successful life and the other is spending the rest of his life lock up as a convicted murderer.
In the book, The Other Wes Moore it is difficult to believe the great similarities in the lives of the two Moores, who share a name and other aspects of life. The two were raised fatherless and were born in the late 1970’s in the neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. They also happen to have encountered similar experiences when growing up, but at one point one of them became a criminal and the other a scholar (the author of the book). The author of the book seems to be interested in the similarities of the two boys as opposed to their different experiences. The story is interesting and makes one imagine what would have become of the writer if he did not by any chance come across the people who guided him to become what he finally became, the little changes in their destinies shaped out their final end. Perhaps the writer aims at helping the reader understand the significance of one’s upbringing to what finally becomes of them in the future (Moore, 2011).
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 than the other Wes Moore. This is because Wes didn’t have a father because he lost him to acute epiglottis, but before his father died he gave Wes a father figure, someone to look up to, someone who loved him, and wanted the best for him. Wes had so much support from his loved ones. After Wes’s father passed, his mother couldn’t handle being alone in the house; she shared so many memories without him.
The story of two men growing up in the same neighborhood with similar backgrounds with the same name and eerily similar circumstances that leads and ultimately has each character ending up in very different places in life. Taking completely different paths to their futures is the setting of this story “The Other Wes Moore”. The way a person is shaped and guided in their developmental years does undoubtedly play a huge role in the type of person they will become in life. The author Wes does a good job of allowing you the ability to read this story and the circumstances surrounding the character his mother joy played such an important role in his success, while comparing the roll of Mary the other Wes’s mother. Both boys grew up with strong, hardworking black women in their lives and yet it still allowed for two completely different journeys. I think the lack of fathers and having not so good male role models was also a contributing factor.
“This is the story of two boys living in Baltimore with similar histories and an identical name: Wes Moore” (xi). Wes Moore became obsessed with this man, who had the same name as himself, after seeing him in the newspaper. The two men were born just blocks away from each other. After the story of the robbery he wrote a letter to the other Wes, and he was surprised to get a response. They were intrigued to share their stories so Wes Moore decided to start regular visits with the other Wes; this inspired him to write a book about it.
Choices lead to actions and actions lead to consequences. Not all choices are the correct choice and will give way to repercussion. Two similar lives can turn out completely different by the choices that have been made. In The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore a Rhode Scholar, American author, social entrepreneur, television producer, political analyst, decorated US army veteran and special assistant to Condoleezza Rice. The book is about two boys who share the same name and similar situation: both fatherless, lived in similar neighborhoods, had rough childhoods, run in with the police. This book tries to answer the question on how one of the Wes’s grew up to be successful while the other end up in jail. The author explores
Hooks says, “It is better to be poor than to allow another person to assert power over you in ways that are dehumanizing and cruel” (435). Weather poor or rich everyone deserves and opportunity to be successful in life and shouldn’t be stereotyped. Everyone deserves the chance to be successful in life and have the same equal opportunities. Poverty is everywhere in this world some worse than others. Living in poverty once in life it can actually be a learning experience. To see and experience the struggle gives them not only a better understanding but appreciate what they have.
Expectations influence who we become. Many factors come into play when we assess the lives of both Wes Moores introduced in the short novel The Other Wes Moore. Some of these factors are the expectations that shaped each man’s life. Moore illustrates his point when he writes, “The expectations that others place on us help us form our expectations of ourselves”(126). The explanation to the quote was it will help people to see the expectation of “thinking outside the box” means that think freely for themselves with better judgment in everyday life for their moral action in their society. Expectations from others have a strong impact on the choices an individual makes, and both Wes Moore’s choices were strongly influenced by the expectations
No matter the walk you take in life at the end of the day are you rich with love, respect and honor. Or, are you poverty stricken simply because you choose not to allow love, respect and honor to shine through. Not only on yourself but, also on those around you. In life a hard lesson needs to be learned and we can only learn this for ourselves, be rich because of who you are and not what you have because in the end people will not remember the house you had, the material possessions you bought or gifts that you gave, what they will remember is if you held your head high, even through the rough times, the respect you gave and most importantly, the love you
in the same future paths. The author said that both Wes’s grew up without a father under a
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.
...fortunately, whether the program wasn’t strong, or by his flaws, it did not work for him and he ended up back in the drug game. His biggest mentor in life was Tony, who initially tried to steer him clear, ended up being with him during his downfall.
Within the last two chapters of “The Other Wes Moore,” I take in every emotion from each Wes and try to relate in any way possible. I am reminded that every decision we make has an outcome, and I come to the knowledge that Wes 2 had to have known that his decisions would soon consume him. Within the pages, I see a story start to unfold about two lives without fathers and each is taken from a different perspective. One Wes is bitter while the other has forgiven the circumstances that took his father away. I take the fact into my life that forgiveness sets you free, and I tell myself I have a choice to live in bitterness or to forgive myself for the things that I have done. Oftentimes, I over complicate things and in this book, Wes 1 shows you
As long as I can remember, I have been poor. I remember the days in the Robert Taylor buildings, that my family went without food. My brother and I would steal food from people coming up the elevator with their groceries. My father would sell drugs just so we can eat for the day. This was everyday life in that gated community. Similar events happening to my family would happen to another just on a