Consequences In Literature

The novel, The Other Wes Moore had many important lessons to be taken away and remembered. One of the significant themes I will take away from The Other Wes Moore is the importance of discipline in development and the effects of it on life. In the novel, author Wes was shown discipline from an early age like when he was yelled at by his mother. He was also given a strict set of rules to follow when he moved to the Bronx to live with his grandparents. They required him to be home before the street lights were on and had him doing chores from the moment he returned from school as long as he was living with them. Wes’s grandparents were an integral factor in keeping him safe and a prevalent force in his early discipline. On the contrary “the other”

In this quote, “the other” Wes Moore’s mother, Mary, is telling her son and older brother of Wes, Tony, that Wes has already been arrested and taken by the police. Wes was arrested for shooting another teenaged boy named Ray after Ray beat up Wes since Alicia was at his house. This quote is true both literally and metaphorically, as Wes seems “gone” with his arrest, possible parenthood, and dealing of drugs have led him to the losing of his freedom and family. This quote fits quite well with chapter five “Lost”.

Throughout “The other Wes Moore”, The Wes’ were faced with surprisingly similar situations that were handled in very different ways. These situations were key turning points in each of their lives and shaped them into who they are. Even though each Wes had hardships in their environment and faced many trials and tribulations, ultimately, their choices during these times are what produced each Wes. Because of their series of different choices that each Wes Moore made during their lifetime and the outcome of their choices, we are not just products of our environments, but also products of the choices we make.

In the novel, The Other Wes Moore, Moore discovers the way people shape our lives and influence our future by examining the effects of family support, influence from peers, and his experience with authoritative figures in his life. He sees this through the story of the other Wes Moore. A young man who grew up a product of his environment, single mother, and a brother who was to involved with the bad life to be of any help to him. With this Wes Moore's life was sentenced to where he is now. The author is astonished by the fact that although their paths significantly differed they weren't always so different.

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

Guilt, shame, and penitence are just a few of the emotions that are often associated with a great act of sin. Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly respected minister of a 17th century Puritan community, is true example of this as he was somehow affected by all of these emotions after committing adultery. Due to the seven years of torturous internal struggle that finally resulted in his untimely death, Mr. Dimmesdale is the character who suffered the most throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s ever present guilt and boundless penance cause him an ongoing mental struggle of remorse and his conscience as well as deep physical pain from deprivation and self inflicted wounds. The external influence of the members of

“I sat back, allowing Wes's words to sink in. Then I responded, "I guess it's hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances"(Page 67). In "The Other Wes Moore" the environment of both Wes Moore's were completely different from each other. They both made some stupid decisions over time but who is perfect? It is expected of everyone to make some mistakes, in my opinion the main influence on their choices came from their environment. In their environment they had peers that would influence them to do things that they did not necessarily want to do. This caused them to get into trouble, but at the same token, their environment also gave them some opportunities to make it through some rough times. For Example: Wes #2

Wes Moore, the author of “The Other Wes Moore” had many accomplishments in his life. He however gained notoriety with this book it was a New York Times best seller. In Chapter 7, the main idea is that two people living in the same environment had different outcomes in their lives by making entirely different decisions on how to deal with the adversities they faced in their lives. These decisions led to the lives that they ultimately lived. The tone was intense and high energy to begin with but then seemed to turn neutral in both men’s stories. The purpose is to inform the reader how the same environment can take two people and based on their decisions lead to very different out comes in life. The author takes each man’s thoughts and show how

It is on a daily basis that people are forced to make decisions as to whether or not they will chose to rise above their challenges and it is these decisions that affect the outcomes of many lives. Each person is presented with their own difficulties and they are given the option to either overcome these difficulties, or let them stand in the way of success. Whether presented by society, certain individuals, or even oneself, the conquering of challenges is what leads many people to their greatest achievements. The main characters in both The Other Wes Moore and The Scarlet Letter learn to overcome their difficulties and it is because of this that they are bettered as individuals. In The Other Wes Moore, written by Wes Moore, Wes is forced to overcome his challenges presented by racist teenagers and his prestigious military school. Wes Moore captivates the importance of overcoming his challenges by using direct characterization and tone. Nathaniel Hawthorne also uses these literary devices to express Hester Prynne’s ability to conquer challenges put forth by her Puritan society in The Scarlet Letter. Through the use of tone and direct characterization, the authors of The Other Wes Moore and The Scarlet Letter are able to exemplify their theme of the importance of one’s ability to rise above their challenges.

The average person encounters hundreds, maybe thousands, of people throughout their lives. They come into contact with family, members of their society, teammates, coworkers, and more. What is often ignored, however, is the toll these people can take on someone’s life. This is a central idea in the novels The Other Wes Moore and The Scarlet Letter. The Other Wes Moore follows the lives of two young boys into adulthood and discusses why their lives turned out so differently, despite coming from such similar backgrounds. The author Wes Moore proposes that maybe it was due to the influences that each boy’s role model’s had. A similar idea is illustrated in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, which tells the tale of Hester Prynne and

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.

In order to help the author Wes, Joy sent him to military school because she knew that the choice she made for her son would ensure that her son would be able to go into the world completely disciplined and prepared even if he hated her for sending him away. When explaining how the book was written, the author acknowledged, “This book is meant to show us how… our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path, or a tentative step down the right one” (Moore xiv). She made the decision as a mother for her son’s entire future that ends up stopping him from making decisions like the other Wes Moore’s. The author acknowledges that the decisions he made and the decisions that the other Wes made affected their lives forever when he said, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that mine could have been his” (Moore 180). The other Wes Moore made poor decisions in his youth that led to a continuous use of drugs, alcohol, and unprotected sex. These decisions ultimately led to Wes being put into jail, hurting the ones he loved and changing his future

At the time that Hester comes out of jail and the Puritan community is “. . . with their eyes fastened on the iron clamped door” (Hawthorne 34). The community’s actions, and the danger of the iron clamped door create a tense and nerve wracking atmosphere, at the time of Hester Prynne’s physical consequences. In The Other Wes Moore, the judge’s verdict on the future of Wes’s life creates an atmosphere. During the trial, two sides of family are in the room, Wes Moore’s and the police office’s. When the judge announced that Wes Moore would receive life in prison the police officer’s “. . . widow. . . hugged her father and sobbed” (Moore 156). The police officer’s widow created a joyous atmosphere for her side of the courtroom, but on the other side of the courtroom “Wes’s mother, Aunt Nicey, and Alicia sat stunned with tears. . .” (Moore 157). Wes’s side of the family was in shock, they were sad, an opposing atmosphere was bought by his family to the courtroom. Together, a mixed atmosphere was created, during Wes Moore’s physical consequence. The atmospheres in The Scarlet Letter and The Other Wes Moore represent the theme that unlawful actions have physical consequences because they bring conflicting emotions to both scenes.

While Wes Moore was able to change his situation and begin to make better decisions, the other Wes Moore was never able to accomplish such task. During one of their conversations, the incarcerated Wes said, "From everything you told me, both of us did some pretty wrong stuff when we were younger. And both of us had second chances. But if the situation or the context where you make the decisions don't change, then second chances don't mean much, huh?" (66). In the same conversation, about ¼ of the way into the book Moore realized an important aspect in life, "I sat back, allowing Wes's words to sink in. Then I responded, 'I guess it's hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances.'" (Moore 67).

The story of The Other Wes Moore and how different the two men’s fates turned out to be raised many questions and theories for the readers about how this could have happened. Was nature or nurture to blame? Could their stories have been swapped so easily? Moore included an excerpt from a poem from Sir William Ernest Henley which ended with, “I am the master of my fate /