Character Analysis: The Other Wes Moore

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.

In conclusion, both Wes Moore’s had critical moments and different standpoints throughout the entirety of their lives. Though they both had individual accountabilities it was the choices that they individually made that ultimately determined there fates. “Wes and I stared at each other for a moment, surrounded by the evidence that some kids were forced to become adults prematurely. These incarnated men, before they’d even reached a point of basic maturity, had flagrantly-and tragically-squandered the few opportunities they’d

Two children named Wes Moore both dealt with “difficult childhoods” in Baltimore, states the back cover of The Other Wes Moore. From fatherless homes to trouble with the police, the Moores undoubtedly dealt with many struggles as they grew into adulthood. However, exactly what factor determined how one Wes Moore would go on to becoming a veteran and a business leader as well as venturing to places as the White House and Oxford, while the other Wes Moore spends the rest of his life in prison? What the two Wes Moores valued throughout their lives impacted their futures. This is because personal values are the most important factors in determining success or failure, as what a person treasures determine what decisions

because his way of living is not an good example to show the other Wes. This simply gives the other Wes a disadvantage to not growing up with a competent role model like author Wes. Author Wes had multiple competent role models surrounding him that help him have a better understanding on how to succeed in life. Author Wes grew up with a decent father, who showed him how to take care of his family by working, loving and being present. This not only allow author Wes to have a good role model but a father figure which gave him a advantage over other Wes. Even though his father

At first, I saw this as equality in the boy’s lives. Yet as I read on and listened to more of their stories I realized how different the situations were. The first difference I realized was the reason why each of the fathers weren’t present. As the other Wes states, “Your father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, my father wasn’t there because he chose not to be” (1). Though both boys grew up without fathers, how each boy’s family reacted made the huge difference. Wes’s older brother, Tony, appeared as a great role model. He was always encouraging his younger brother to continue on his education and avoid the path in life that he took. But as most say, actions speak louder than words. And with Tony being “a veteran of the drug game at eighteen”, he didn’t provide the best example for his little brother (57). On the other hand, the other Wes found his need for a male figure in his grandfather. What Wes didn’t realize was that he grandfather’s “strict” rules would ultimately pave the right path for

For my final paper, I decided to read the autobiography, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, by Wes Moore. The story is about one boy named Wes Moore, the author, who was facing poverty while trying to receive a proper education, and of Wes Moore, a boy who lives in the same neighborhood, whos is convicted of murder in the first-degree, and sentenced to a life in prison. These boys grew up in very similar circumstances, but how does one go on to being successful in his life, while the other ends up in a jail cell for the rest of his life? The book tell the author's side of the story. Starting from his early childhood years to later in life. We see Wes Moore growing up in very poor conditions, where his family barely makes it. We see Wes

He is his own caretaker. For example “Their mom was usually out of the house by 8:30 and didn’t come back until well into the evening. Wes, now eight years old, was free from any adult supervision till then (26)”. The other Wes was taking care of himself from the time he was eight years old. He did not have any parental figure in his life to take care of him or teach him any ethics, morals or values in life. This applies to my theme because the other Wes’s mother was not present most of the time in his life, so she did not impact much in his life and that resulted in Wes making his own decisions and living by them. Wes was making choices by himself without any interference by an adult from a very young age. Due to less family involvement and minimal guidance, Wes made the choice to become a drug dealer because he thought this was the right approach to earn extra cash. Only if there was more family involvement from the beginning in the other Wes’s life teaching him the right ethics and morals than he would have chosen a different path that would have lead to better

In the memoir The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore, the main character Wes Moore grew up in the rough city of Baltimore, where the future of a typical black male teen is often associated with illegal activities.  Contrary to these discouraging expectations, he went on to become a successful and prominent business leader.  This unusual phenomenon is called being an outlier.  According to Malcolm Gladwell, an outlier is a “scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lies outside of normal experience,”. Wes Moore prevented his dark fate by not following the paths other had with the amount of opportunities he was given.  As Gladwell explained, “Success is the result of what sociologists like to call ‘accumulative advantage”’(30).  Wes Moore was given beneficial opportunities at the right time, along with proper guidance to make sure he was not left astray.  This was not common for people that lived in Baltimore in the 1990s, therefore making him even more of an outlier.  Using evidence from the memoir, The Other Wes Moore

“The Other Wes Moore” is a book written by Wes Moore. This story is based on him and another boy who grew up with the same name, Wes Moore. In this book he explains both his and the other Wes Moore’s childhood. Both of them had a similar childhood and experienced some of the same things. They both grew up without fathers, got involved in drugs, violence, and lived in poverty. Despite having the same circumstances one Wes Moore went to military school and turned his whole life around while the other ended up in prison for the rest of his life. Was this because of fate or was one Wes Moore more determined than the other? Neither. We all have the free will

Malcolm Gladwell defines an outlier as an individual who has accomplished so much in extraordinary circumstances compared to people with normal circumstance. Outliers are individuals that succeed in life despite the odds that are placed against them. However, Gladwell states in his nonfiction book Outliers: The Story of Success that the success of an outlier “is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky- but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier in the end is not an outlier at all,” (299).

In the “Introduction” of his book The Other Wes Moore, the author Wes Moore provides a general overview about the story of two kids, who were raised in a same life conditions, same social environment and had even the same name “Wes Moore”, but turned to a totally different life path. While one, the writer, realized an impressive success in his life, the other became a prisoner. In the year 2000, a newspaper published an article about the writer after he received “one of the most prestigious academic awards for student in the word” (xii). In contrast, weeks before that, the same news paper published an article about the armed robbery made by the other Wes Moore and his brother. According to the author, this contradiction is what took his intention

The influence of parents and how their children are affected by their choices is ever present by means of direct characterization and tone in The Other Wes Moore. The two men, according to the author Wes Moore, have the same name and background, but different fates. The other Wes Moore grew up in a house with no father and a mother, Mary, that worked constantly to support her family. On account of this, Wes “felt he had to take care of her [because] his father had been a ghost since his birth” (Moore 18).The opinion that the author, Wes Moore, creates gives the idea that through tone, it is the other Wes Moore’s duty to take care of his family instead of going to school.When Mary lost her grant for John Hopkins University,

The author of the book The Other Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore each encountered many struggles in their lives. Many times both boys were given opportunities from their mothers to change their ways, however what sealed their fate was when one boy had the ability to take his opportunity and work with it and the other did not which affected who they grew up to be. The author, like any young black boy, longed to fit in and assimilated into the stereotypes that the white people created for them. He longed to become the tough gangster, who ruled the neighborhood. Wes took his street life seriously and soon brought it into his mother's home and hit his sister. This was one of the many bumps in Wes’s long journey ahead of him. Wes begun to be out of school more than he was in it which lead him to hit rock bottom when he was almost arrested from vandalization. He knew that something would have to change and his mother agreed; she decided to give Wes the opportunity to change his life by shipping him away to military school. At first Wes resented being in this new institution and wanted nothing to do with it. Once he was able to contact his mother and learn of the sacrifices that were made, his mother took upon a new job and his grandmother and grandfather gave him their life savings, for the sake of his well being and education, Wes knew he had to make them proud.

The novel The Other Wes Moore, written by Wes Moore, is about two boys with the same name who could have had the same fate. The author Wes Moore was born in Baltimore and raised in a single mother home with no male guidance. The Other Wes Moore was also born in Baltimore into the same single mother situation. A few people who effected the life of the author were his mother Mary, his grandparents, and his sisters Nikki and Shani. They all had an impact on his life, which lead him to his future of success. For the other Wes the only person who had a powerful impact on his life was his brother, Tony. Throughout Wes’s life Tony urged him to avert the drug business, but Wes failed to by following his actions rather than his words. The overall message of The Other Wes Moore is your actions effect your future.

Family is something one can always rely on. This is especially true for families who have little else. They are our pillars of support and the ones we emulate, even when we find out they are not perfect. As seen in “The Other Wes Moore,” The author and Wes’ family life was the biggest difference in their lives. An outsider looking in might believe the fact they were both from fatherless backgrounds, means they grew up the same way, however the male figure they yearned for, was found in two distinct personalities, who they found they could trust.