In the book The Other Wes Moore , both Wes’s have similar ways of being brought up, yet in the end they end up in two different places. The question is how did they end up in such different places when their childhood was similar. One of the differences in Wes Moore’s life is that he went to military school. When Wes thought about the people who had the biggest impact on his life it was the, “... men [he] most trusted all had something in common, they all wore the uniform of the United States of America”(Moore 132). In the end, military school showed Wes what success and honor looked like and he wanted that for himself. He started to apply himself, go to school and fight in the military. Around the same time Wes was going to military school, the other Wes stopped going to …show more content…
By the other Wes not going to school and getting into the drug game accounted to his fate and by Wes going to military school helped him on the right path. Another difference in the men’s lives that changed their fate was their families. The other Wes did not have good role models when he was growing up. His brother Tony was big into the drug industry and most of his friends were into the drug game. Even though Tony didn’t want Wes in the drug game, “Tony had now spent over a decade dealing drugs and knew how much money could be made in the game”(Moore 70). As a young child it is hard to not follow in your family's footsteps when that's all you know to be true. When the other Wes was making decisions about his life he didn’t have good role models to show him what is right and wrong. On the other hand Wes had very good role models in his life. His mother did everything she could for Wes, like sending him to a private school, moving in with their grandparents and sending him to military. His mom and grandparents sacrificed a lot for him to have a good future. Also, they were good role models, hard-working and
4.Wes Moore the author says that “I was taught to remember but never question. Wes was taught to forget, and never ask why.” Are these things different and if so how are they different? How do they point to differences in each of Wes’s upbringings? How might they connect to the differences in their outcomes?
The Other Wes Moore is a novel that shows the different paths of two different men, one successful and the other not so fortunate. We discovered their different identities and how their choices and role models effect their lives. Wes 1 was led by his brave, hard working mother and the great military men. He didn't make incredibly great decisions but the people in his life helped him turn into the successful man he is today.However, Wes 2 had a brother who dealt drugs. The novel guides you through the 8 crazy years that led to Wes Moore 1's success and Wes Moore 2's life sentence for prison.
Mr. Moore’s father died from a medical complication that could have been prevented, while Wes Moore’s father was never around leaving him to be raised by his mother. The death of Mr. Moore’s father resulted in the family having to move to live with his grandparents in the Bronx. Mr. Moore’s mother tried everything, including putting him into an expensive school to keep him out of trouble and give him a chance for a successful life. Mr. Moore was still influenced by the neighborhood which lead to him being sent to military school, where he was able to understand that his actions had consequences, leading him to be the person that he is today. The other Wes Moore did not have the same fate. Although his brother, Tony, was a gang member, he constantly talked to Wes about how he could not get involved in gangs. “Tony felt his brother’s life could be saved”, but eventually Wes got involved with dealing drugs (Moore, 2011). After a robbery that resulted in the murder of two people, Wes was convicted of life in
The mothers, Mary and Joy, push their sons to achieve an education in different ways. Mary, Other Wes’s mother, enrolls him in public schools and expects him to take control of his life and work hard. This arrangement does not work favorably; Other Wes stopped attending to school two years before he graduated high school. He eventually received his GED from Job Corps. On the other hand, Wes’s mother, Joy, enrolls her son in private school to avoid the public schools in the area. First, she sends him to Riverdale. Wes hates it there. He got suspended numerous times and let his grades slip. He was in charge of his own fate at Riverdale, but he botched it up. Finally, Joy sends Wes to military school. He is given a second chance, but “by the end of the fourth day at military school, [Wes] had run away four times” (90). Eventually, after an abrupt phone call, he agrees to stay. He embraces military school, and thrives there. He has the chance to escape Other Wes’s fate, which even Wes agree could have been his own. He may have had no choice but to leave to military school, but his success there is up to him. While Wes was sent away to avoid the ghetto’s problems, Other Wes is right at the center of
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.
However, this only opened the door to a significant social change in his life. He, consequently, became involved in the life of dealing drugs that his mother and brother strived so arduously to prevent him from starting. Wes was arrested several times throughout his life starting at the early age of eight, when he attempted to stab another kid. He was also arrested for selling drugs and again for the attempted murder of a man. Another significant change for him was when he went to Job Corps, and was academically successful. Unfortunately, the reality of the world he left behind; such as, supporting his kids drove him to return to dealing, and later ...
The factors that surround us when we are young create the people we become in the future. Usually the people and area that surround us influence the people we become in the future. If we grow up in an area with lots poverty crime and with parents that rarely give a care what we are doing with our lives. We are expected to probably lead a life of crime and violence. Unlike a person who is born in a well adjusted place with parents who concerned for their future are expected to lead better lives. We see in the book The Other Wes Moore the path both men end up taking is because of the many factors that influenced their lives during their young age. One huge factor was their mothers. Each were similar that they both raised their kids as single
“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.
In “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” written by Wes Moore the author writes about two boys growing up in Baltimore that share the same name and similar backgrounds but end up taking drastically different paths in life due to many varying factors. The author goes on to earn a college degree, become a Rhodes Scholar, a veteran and more while the “other” Wes cannot avoid the inevitable fate of dealing drugs and ultimately spends his life running from the police and in prison. This reflects how both Wes Moore’s became products of their environment as the way a person is shaped and guided in their developmental years does unquestionably play a large role in the type of person they will become as adults. A lot of elements come into play that help to determine a person’s success or failure, but at the end of the day the most important factors are family, education and opportunities.
Not taking action upon the chance that is given to one in a way defeats the purpose of why the chance was given to that person. Wes had wanted to have a fresh start. So he left Cheryl, and went over to a friend who had recommended the Job Corps, and soon after that, Wes went for an interview. It states, "Two weeks after his conversation with Levy, Wes stood in the parking lot on the corner of Saratoga and Greene streets, waiting for the bus that would take him to the Woodland Job Corps Center in Laurel" (Moore 140). This situation perfectly supports the quote that in which, it shows that the Other Wes Moore was given a chance to act on changing his life, and he did in fact do that. This proves that acting on a chance can lead one to success. One cannot lose anything in a situation similar to this, so acting upon it is very important. Therefore, act upon a chance that is given, it may lead one to extreme
Moore quote including said, “It was a different psychological environment, where my normal expectations inverted, where leadership was honored and class clowns ostracized” (96). The quote The (author) Wes Moore seen in his Military School that the lower freshmen was respects the higher ranking. The (author) was very amazed that in his military school the students were respect their superior and follow their command and their honor code rules to obey by. At the Military School teaches (author) Wes Moore about learn the discipline, leadership, and teamwork. The military do care about the (Author) Wes Moore successes. The (author) Wes Moore have the stronger mentor giving him the responsibility of their trust on him to force him to change his bad behavior that impact his teenage and adulthood
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
In chapter 5 of The other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, both protagonist are encountered with being taken out of their environment. In the 5th chapter the author Wes was sent to military school and the other Wes is arrested after shooting a “jump off's cousin”(105-106). For Wes being taken out of his loose Bronx environment and being put into a strict military environment drove him crazy. The insanity Wes faced can be attributed to the apparent structure the military school had, unlike the Bronx. Like the title of chapter 5 both Wes and the other Wes are lost beyond belief, although they are both lost they both have an opportunity to grow from an change in environment.
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
...his dedication. When both Frank and myself were children, we fell in love with film and storytelling. We both saw it as an escape and as a new world, we are both dedicated to film and to telling stories. Frank and I also both share the dedication of making the best of our own lives, and working hard to guarantee ourselves success. Whether it is helping our family, giving to others, or working hard to make other people happy; Frank and myself both share dedication for many things. Dedication is very important in people's lives. It keeps them driven, loyal, and hopeful. If it wasn’t for Franks dedication, we wouldn’t have gone to America, and his family would still be depressed. If it wasn’t for my dedication, my love for film and my dream of becoming a filmmaker would vanish. Dedication changes everyone's lives, and what you are dedicated to make all the difference.