Discovering Wes Moore is full of different conflicts, but most of them are the same type: man vs. society. Throughout the course of the novel, Wes runs into several problems with society. First of all, Wes never did well in school as a child. This does not really sound like it is against civilization, and more like it is against himself. However, this made his childhood very different than how it would have been if he did well in school. Failure in every class led to being sent to military school, which is something nobody, including Wes, wanted to happen. His grades caused him to take part in small crimes and get into arguments with his mother, which is not good at all. Next, Wes commits small crimes. He takes part in vandalism with a friend
he perspective presented in the book "The Other Wes Moore" was economic injustice. Both Wes Moores were somewhat poor. They both didn't live in the nicest homes and couldn't afford the nicest things. This particularly affected Wes when him, Mary, and Tony moved schools to go to a much nicer one, where kids had much nicer things. Wes' old school had a 70% drop out rate, Tony being part of that percentage. Wes saw some headphones he really liked one day. He asked the boy how he got them and the boy introduced Wes to the drug game. Selling drugs offered a way for Wes to afford the luxuries his family couldn't afford, like headphones and new nikes. Wes' poverty lead him to sell drugs and later lead him to murders and robberies. The other Wes Moore's
Wes Moore explain his life events and how he over came all the obstacles. He was a man who grew up just seeing his father twice, and he saw him at four an seeing him die in his face. That when him and his family move to New York, and his attitude change toward life and his family. So his mother sent his to military school and then he went to finish college. Then, a tragic thing happen near the place he was brought up, a police officer with five kids was off duty and he was shot three times. The police officer died on site and it was a national 12 day man hunt. The killers was found and one of their names was Wes Moore, and the Wes Moore that went to college wanted to learn more about him. So, he found out that him and the other Wes Moore had
He had a friend named Shea, who was working as a runner for a drug enterprise. Shea was a good friend to Moore besides the fact that he was a runner and always he was the one that Moore first tagged a building with. Whenever Shea asked Moore if he wanted to tag with him his thoughts were, “I couldn’t say no. First off, Shea was one of the most respected young hustlers in the neighborhood. He was a worker, we all knew that- and while some of the kids were smart enough to be disgusted by what he did, other kids, even the ones who weren’t in the game, respected his position. Plus, I loved throwing my name up on a wall; it felt like splashing in the shallow end of the criminal pool.” (Moore 80.) After reading this it changed my view on Moore because he liked doing these things, so it isn’t Wes’s friends that are bad influences on him. Moore is a bad influence on himself at this point, he likes to tag and he enjoys the feeling he gets after he does
Wes Moore had a biological influence on his life at a very young age. For starters Wes stood well above four feet tall at the age of six and muscular which as above average then his other peers his age. Wes as raised by a single mother who juggled multiple jobs to maintain a roof over her two children's heads, Wes and his brother Tony who was 6 years older than he was. Wes’s father, only seen Wes a few times his whole life, was dealing with alcohol abuse and was not in Wes’s life because of making that his own decision and his mother not being supportive of them two having a relationship. Before Wes was born, his maternal grandmother died from an unsuccessful kidney that did drive his grandfather to alcohol abuse. So far looking at Wes biological family history he is open up to experiencing alcohol abuse because of his father and grandfather's history. When Wes as a
Wes was not good at school, so he decided to skip and his teacher helped him because the class ran smoother without him there. Moore says, "some days I would check into homeroom; other days I'd head directly back to the train and return to the neighborhood, where I'd meet up with one of the guys who had a similar arrangement"(Moore 77). This shows that when Wes decided to skip school, the decisions changed his life because this was one of the reasons that Wes was sent to military school. Military school is the biggest factor in Wes' life that changed his life forever. If he had never dropped out of school, he would not have gone to military school, and his life would have changed for the worse. The consequences of dropping out of school can lead to something bigger in
Wes Moore was a good kid. His parents were Wesley and Joy, who also had two sisters whose names were Nikki and Shani. Wes’s father died at a young age which made him have a hard time growing up especially without a father figure. Wes was sent to military school by his mom which turned his whole life around. His behavior and grades improved and so did his view of life and how to live.
The other Wes Moore faced a completely different life experience. Other Wes also struggled through school and never had a strong sense of ambition or aspiration to succeed in life. He later gave into drug dealing pressures at a young age and seemed to have lost all control of his life and his actions. Though his brother Tony had a drastic influence on his decisions, he blamed others for his faults and never took responsibility for his accountabilities. He denied any control over his fate and considered himself a victim due to his occurrences. He lacked any true power and outlook over who he will become and what his future will hold. When it comes to the concept of a vice, Wes Moore made two major mistakes that will follow him for the rest
The reasoning as to why I believe the other Wes Moore could have went down a path to success is if the other Wes Moore had the same family support as the author Wes Moore and if his brother who had a big influence on Wes, was not involved in the drug game. While both Wes Moore’s are both fatherless, the author Wes Moore was a lot luckier than the other Wes Moore, because he had his grandparents to help raise him. With the support of his grandparents, Wes had someone to look after him and also help steer him in the right direction if needed. His grandparents gave Wes and his sisters a set of rules and chores to do every single day. Compared to the other Wes Moore, he did not have any sort of discipline or rules to go by in his house due to the fact his mother and brother were never really at home. Furthermore, with the other Wes Moore, he only had his mother and his brother Tony, who both were not a good influence on him at all. The other Wes Moore looked up to his brother and wanted to be exactly like Tony. For example, when Wes got into a small
Moore was a troubled kid, getting into fights, getting in trouble for graffiti, running away was sent to many different schools. He was the poor kid in a sea of rich kids (so he didn’t fit in). But he was given the opportunity to change when he was forced to go to a Military boarding school. He eventually decided that he wanted to be apart of something bigger than himself and this was it. He knew he wanted to change. When deciding how he could change he thought, “Aside from my family and friends, the men I trusted most all had something in common: they all wore the uniform of the United States of America,” (Moore pg. 132). He decided he wanted to become a Lieutenant and be someone other people could look up to. This was a major moment in Moore’s life. But Wes, on the other hand, experienced the same bad childhood and never got out of the “bad”. He never had a defining failure where he said ‘this is when I change’. He got onto a path and started making patterns with his decisions and never made the right one to get him to where he needed to be, unlike the other Wes.
While the other Wes Moore took the correct decision that his parents told him too and had a successful life. Even though he didn’t know what he wanted to pursue he had help from admiral people “Have you heard of the Rhodes Scholarship ?”(Mayor Schmoke 161). While on the other hand the other Wes was not surrounded by role models for example his biological father would hit his wife “but his addiction just got worse, and the physical, mental, and emotional abuse he unleashed became more intense.”(pg 9). But overall Wes still had the decision to change but he didn’t he just kept on talking and hanging out with the wrong people even his brother sadly had to be the wrong role model. Later on Wes decided to talk to a couple of girls well sooner or later they became more than just friends and well he got her pregnant but then came the baby and he could not support them financially. So he decided to go back to the drug dealing business. This is where the author shows us that he decided to do the wrong mistake by selling drugs instead he could have done the responsible thing and find a job but he didn’t. While the other Wes Moore became a sergeant of a military school and helped others become a better person. But overall its just the decisions who made them where they are
One reason why Wes Moore the author is successful is his family who pushed him to succeed. Wes mother always tried to set good examples for him; she wanted him to succeed in life and be educated. Wes states, "When we 're young, it sometimes seems as if the world doesn 't exist outside our city, our block, our house, our room. We make decisions based on what we see in that limited world and follow the only models available."(Wes Moore 178). This quote relates to his mother because its explaining how we do stuff based on what we see and how we are educated. When Wes was in high school he was skipping class and not paying any attention. At a time, Wes’s mother found out about his bad grades and made a big change in Wes life by sending him to military school. In the scene, Wes’s mother states “Wes you are not going anywhere until you give this place a try. I am so proud
When I was first told that I had to read The Other Wes Moore, I told myself "Great, another boring book to read" as I am not a reader. However, I was wrong; this story about two boys around the same age, same name, raised by single mothers and around the same neighborhood, but as they grew to be adults due to the choices they made, they had different outcomes in life. I was able to actually relate to some parts of the book and knew how they felt at the moment and for me, that is what a great book is about.
“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
Being that the scholar Wes Moore was bound to be on the better path than the other Wes Moore was a given. The scholar Wes Moore had components in his early life that influenced him to be on the right path. He was able to be see both sides of things and have a sense of direction and create a role model for himself. He was also able to recognize the efforts both his family and his mother has made in the past to help him in the future. There were times where he could have took the wrong path but with his ability to be a loyal and responsible person, he chose to stay on track.
During the two Wes Moore’s teenage years, they had run ins with people that turned violent. Part of how they reacted to these situations are attributed to what their peers are doing and where they live but how they overcome, or fail to overcome these obstacles helped put each of them where they are today. When Wes had a run in with Ray for sleeping with Ray’s cousin, Ray put a pretty big beating on him, but it was how Wes chose to react that put a nail in his coffin.