“There was one other thing that helped us bond quickly: he was one of the few other black kids at my new school” (47). This sentence from Wes Moore’s The Other Wes Moore struck me as odd. Wes thought that the color of their skin made them more compatible. This is not the case in most scenarios. Another quote from the book, “The ring was not exactly flashy, but the shine coming off it told a story: the kid had some money” (57). In most cases, our treatment of others is driven only by what we see at first glance.
If you questioned any high school/college student and asked them what their friends were like, they would often describe how they look or maybe act. They wouldn’t tell you at first chance about their friends personalities or hardships. Yes, of course that is not what some people do when you ask a simple question, but we should try to open our eyes. When we meet people for the first time, we often judge them on appearance first and then their possessions or apparel. Instead, we should take the time to get to know these people instead of judging right away on what see first. “People are so wildly different, and it’s hard to know when genetics or environment or just bad luck is decisive” (179). When it comes to people in general, you almost never know what they can hold in their hearts or minds. This quote from the book is true because people are completely different and God made them that way. I have met people that I didn’t like at first and then came to understand
In his book, “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” Wes Moore (2011) tells a true story about two men from Baltimore who have identical names but have different outcomes in life. He also illustrates the similarities of their life’s situations when they were younger, the decisions they made in life and their impacts, and the roads they took that ultimately led them to where they are today.
Humans have come to a conclusion that all lives are different, but all go through many hardships and tragedies. The impact from a slight difference can vary to be very vast to very small, such a slight difference, however, can change a person’s life as a whole. In the book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore there is a difference that can be identified between the author’s life and that of the other Wes. This difference, though can be very critical and is ultimately able to lead to a path of triumph or failure for an individual. The lack of involvement a mother has for their child can fundamentally deprive them from succeeding, and parent involvement has the opportunity to
The Other Wes Moore documents the true life stories of two Black males named Wes Moore that both grew up in broken families located in disadvantaged neighborhoods, but regardless of their similar backgrounds one Wes Moore became a Rhodes Scholar while the other is incarcerated (Moore, 2010). In similar vein, I saw the same parallels with the Wes Moore’s in my own life with having a half-brother with the same name as myself who was incarcerated. Although we were directed toward different trajectories we were only houses apart from each other with an abusive father that simultaneously maintained two families. It could be argued the trajectories were mere coincidence, but my twin sister and I both sustained the same experiences from birth, yet
The memoir The Other Wes Moore shares the story of two men of the same name. While they both grew up in the state, Maryland, their lives took drastically different paths. But what is it that makes such similar people live such different lives? Wes Moore, the author of this memoir, better referred to as Gov. Moore, despite being a troublesome child, managed to work his way up in the world. Meanwhile, Wes Moore is stuck where he is, sentenced to life in prison.
This VS. That Same name. Same neighborhood. Opposite endings. In The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, two people with the same name, and same neighborhood, who grew up at the same time lived two completely different lives.
In today’s society, the variation of social, cultural, political, and economic life mirrors our Founding Fathers dreams. Since then, America has learned to adjust and accept every citizen's differences with the help of The Bill of Rights, US Constitution, Northwest Ordinance, and the Declaration of Independence. As these documents represent the development of America then, books like the Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore reflect the variations of social, cultural, political, and economic life today. Over time, the definition of being an American has evolved and molded with society to make what the United States citizens know now.
Wes Moore could’ve easily had the Other Wes Moores life by the littlest changes both of their lives could have been very different in many different ways. “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” This is true because their choices are what led them to where they ended up at in the end, one ended up very successful and the other Wes Moore ended up in prison.
Wes Moore establishes his writing style quickly with an intriguingly dictated introduction. Every word carefully chosen to lay out how he came across this story. How intricately the story intersects not only his life but the life of a man with too many similarities to Wes including sharing his name. Wes Moore introduces the readers into his world with the utmost respect for the people in this intense anecdote while making sure that respect translates into interest and concern for the people, not boredom.
In the novel The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates it tells the story of two boys with the same name but two very different mindsets in life. “Life and death, freedom and bondage, hang in the balance of every action we take” (xiv). Wes Moore (1), the author, has had many things that impacted to his mindset that led to good and evil choices thought-out his life. Wes Moore (2) had made decisions that set a wrong mindset that would leave him in one place for the rest of his life. The mindsets of Wes Moore (1) and Wes (2) impacted their chances with the law, their choices with education and their opportunities with employment.
“One name, two fates,” that what the author of the Other Wes Moore stated on the cover of his book. Two boys that were born in the same neighborhood in Baltimore, and had a difficult childhood since they both grew up fatherless. The coincidence was that the two boys were called Wes. They both shared a lot of similarities from living in a poor neighborhood and growing up in Baltimore street corners with their squads. However, their futures were completely different as one achieved the impossible and the other was a convicted murderer serving a life sentence. People may think that how could this happen since they both were living the same circumstances. However, in the book Wes Moore, the boys did not have equal opportunities in terms of parenting, education, and environment.
Depending on where someone is from can it affect/influence how they are. The Other Wes Moore By Wes Moore, the genre is a non-fiction memoir. In the book it talks about to boys with the same exact name with different faiths. There experiments started by drugs and were drug dealers both Wes Moore’s. They were both heading in the way for an unsuccessful life. They were both suck in a downwards spiral. What made one vel off and start going up.
“Children learn more from who you are than what you teach,” stated W.E.B DuBois. As illustrated by the quote, the people and the environment that an individual surrounds themselves with affects their future. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore, is a narrative that tells the story of two males, who share the same name but take two different paths in life. The two Moores experience similar situations, however surround themselves with different types of people, resulting in different paths. One Moore is successful while the other is incarcerated, proving an individual’s environment influences ones future. Ultimately, after analyzing Wes Moore’s novel and Terry Pratchets quote in the excerpt, it is evident that the
Choices, whether small or large, play an important factor in the paths people take in life. In The Other Wes Moore, there are two men with the same name who turn out very differently; today, one is an accomplished scholar and decorated veteran, while the other is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in prison. But they grew up in very similar circumstances; both grew up fatherless in heavily drug influenced neighborhoods and often ran into trouble with the police. In the search of finding what led him and the other man down such different paths, Wes Moore finds and shows in The Other Wes Moore that it is the choices a person makes that determines their fate in life.
According to Marian Erickson, “Most of life is choices, and the rest is pure dumb luck.” Real people’s lives depend on this quote everyday, which leads to the outcome of each problem individuals face. In the passages, characterization of the main personas helps one understand the theme. Conflict and symbolism also help lead to the overall idea that life is not always guaranteed to be full of success. The book The Other Wes Moore, the poem “If,” and the informational text “The Art of Resilience” all share a common theme of how choices and luck contribute to the success of life.
Public shame is never a pleasant occurrence, but every society has its own way of punishing others who have committed a crime. Humiliation is present in everyday life and in novels. The Scarlet Letter and The Other Wes Moore both deal with public degradation. The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is the story of two men who live very different lives, but share the same name. Both faced similar difficulties in their youth, although they went down opposite paths in their adult lives. The other Wes Moore chose a path of drugs and violence, which led to him committing murder during a robbery. After his arrest, Moore’s mugshot was shown all over the news and he had a criminal trial. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne has committed a horrible sin in her Puritan community, she has committed adultery. Her punishment was being branded with a piece of scarlet cloth shaped like the letter A on her chest for the rest of her life. Hester must deal with the continuous judgement of the townspeople with her daughter Pearl. Hawthorne and Moore both described in their novels the effect humiliation has on an individual's life and how public shame is present in all societies, past and present, through the use of tone and descriptive imagery.