The Other Wes Moore is a book about two kids who share more than one could expect. They share same name, they grew up in the same neighborhood, they both had a difficult childhood, and they both grew up fatherless, the list goes on. They might have been the same in many ways, but they grew up completely different. One day the author was reading the newspaper that featured him and he came across an article about a planned jewelry store robbery that went wrong. That article featured someone by the name of Wes Moore. The author Wes Moore decided to write the man who was currently serving life in prison. The author thought that he would never get a reply, but he did. Ever since then they have stayed connected and are very good friends. Throughout the book, The Other Wes Moore, the author Wes does a great job at
So how did they turn out different? It is true that both Wes Moore’s grew up without a father, but the way they lost their fathers were completely different. The author, Wes Moore lost his father by a tragic death that could have been prevented. While, the incarcerated Wes Moore’s father was never in his life to begin with. The way they lost their fathers is not the only thing that played a part of the Moore’s turning out differently. The quality traits that their fathers posed also played a role. Both of the fathers had different quality traits. The author’s father was strong, independent, protective, non-abusive, and the list goes on. On the other hand, the incarcerated Wes father was a drunk. So does the way ones father become absent really matter? I believe it does. Would you rather know what happened to your father or have to face the fact that your father never wanted to be a part of your life. As a result of losing their fathers, both Moore’s headed down a path of destruction. But it was family and the memory of his father that guided, the author, Wes Moore in a different
The Other Wes Moore is a book talking about two different men with the same name,Wes Moore. They were both raised up by a single mother and live in the same decaying city, Baltimore, where there are surrounded by drug and alcohol. However, the author Wes Moore’s parents completed their education and have a good job while his grandparents also were well-educated. But the other Wes Moore’s parents didn’t graduate from college, his mother tried to get the scholarship but failed, and his father left high school and don’t have a job either. This two Wes Moores both grew up with their mother. The author Wes’s father died for disease while the other Wes’s father left his family. With this situation, they went to the same direction, being absent from
The novel guides you through the 8 crazy years that led to Wes Moore 1's success and Wes Moore 2's life sentence in prison. Wes Moore 1 definitely did not have the perfect life but his life had more positives than Wes Moore 2. Wes's family, friends and the military impacted his decision making and life choices that make him successful today. But the more he tried to be like his brother, the more Tony pushed back.”
1. Briefly describe each of the Wes Moore’s. Include information you believe is important to their life path (community, family life, big decisions, etc.).
In the passage from The Other Wes Moore, author Wes Moore uses an event to display a moment when he matures and realizes if he screws up his life, he may never get control of his fate back. After getting caught spray painting a wall, Author Wes Moore, AWM, states, “he had control of my destiny–or at least my immediate fate. And I couldn’t deny that it was my own stupid fault”(83).
It’s in these subtle differences that one can identify where it went wrong for the Other Wes Moore. The reason that there was no father figure is drastically different, the author's father died when Moore was
Despite the belief that people can achieve extraordinary things regardless of their circumstances, One’s environment plays a monumental part in the chances of their success. An example of how environment influences fate is through two men named Wes Moore in the novel “The Other Wes Moore” by author Wes Moore. Author Wes reflects on his and the Other Wes’ life journey and their difficult lives through constant struggle in their neighborhood, school, and family issues. In many ways, Author Wes and Other Wes shared very similar characteristics regarding their personality and environment, but what astronomically differed was their upbringings. Author Wes was given the gift of a supporting background in the form of his mother while Other Wes had
In “The Other Wes Moore”, by Wes Moore, the author takes the readers through his life growing up as well as the life of someone who was a stranger to him during his childhood but turned out to be a huge part of his life later on. His name was also Wes Moore and both he and the author grew up in poverty and did not have the best childhood. Although they grew up similarly, their adulthoods were the polar opposite. The author Wes Moore became the top in his class, a Rhodes scholar, and studied at Oxford University to later become very successful. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore is in prison for the rest of his life for a robbery and murder. How did these two grow up so similarly, yet had completely different adulthoods?
Both Wes Moores were definitely not raised in such an environment. In The Other Wes Moore, both boys grow up in the ghettos of Baltimore with the lack of a paternal presence. The responsibilities of a father are to provide a good example for his sons and raise them to become gentlemen. Fathers are usually the source of this positive role model because most children view their fathers as their heroes. A father is supposed to teach his children how to properly live, and show them right from wrong. Because the main characters are both fatherless, they have to find other “role models” to look up to. These other “role models” could possibly have ...
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.
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
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
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.
“I guess it’s hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances” (Moore 67). This is a powerfully central theme to the book The Other Wes Moore, written by Wes Moore. For the two men this book is about, it all begins with a wide-open future. The mothers that gave birth to them and the influences they had, along with their own powerful choices, sealed their fate . People don’t ever stop growing or improving and the two Wes Moore’s are no different. Throughout their lives, they are constantly changing and in some places calling the shots. One chose correctly, and one did not.
Wes Moore Paper Richelle Goodrich once said, “To encourage me is to believe in me, which gives me the power to defeat dragons.” In a world submerged in diversity, racism and prejudice it is hard for minorities to get ahead. The novel “The Other Wes Moore” is a depiction of the differences that encouragement and support can make in the life of a child. This novel is about two men, with the same name, from the same neighborhood, that endured very similar adversities in their lives, but their paths were vastly different. In the following paragraphs, their lives will be compared, and analyzed from a sociological perspective.
Everyday, there are teens that are putting themselves in unbearable situations. Wether if it is being influenced by others to do drugs or alcohol, both causes are very dangerous. Just as one thinks he is ok, standing away from those situations, is the time when danger will strike, and there will be just a few chances to get out. The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is written about two boys with the same name growing up in similar situations. Both grow up to be surrounded by crime and substance abuse, and both do in fact have several chances to escape those holdbacks. Crime and substance abuse was common because of the locations that both Wes's grew up, and that was ghettos. In the book, The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, the author explores the