Hard Decisions In The Other Wes Moore

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

In the other Wes Moore it’s about one name but two different fates. It describes how both Wes Moore’s started life started and how it is now. Both started in bad steps Wes Moore the author was sent to military school and put his life back on track and how the other Wes Moore continued his drug life and now he is serving life sentence. I believe that the other Wes Moore could have done something different to have a better life and not end up in prison serving life sentence.

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 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

The author reveals that he hung out with the wrong people which afforded him to be arrested by the police due to vandalism. Because of this incident, the author Wes was sent to Valley Forge, a military school in Philadelphia. The author claims that the author Wes had a difficult time at first and had tried to escape the school several times; but when he discovered that his mother and his grandparents sacrificed a lot just to send him there, he decided to stay and eventually became a platoon leader. However, Moore states that the other Wes got involved with the use and distribution of drugs, like his brother Tony. The author mentions that the other Wes got his girlfriend pregnant and adds that the news of early fatherhood made him frustrated. Moore states that the other Wes stopped attending school and expanded his drug selling business. The author states that the other Wes was arrested for selling drugs to a police

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.

A person’s success or failure can be determined by their environment, education, choices; a number of different things. The autobiography The Other Wes Moore takes a look at two boys with the same name and eerily similar circumstances who end up in very different places in life. Wes Moore spoke at convocation about his book and what he hoped that people would get from it. In the book he says “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore xi). These two men didn’t share the same fate because they each made a choice about what they wanted their life to become. The book truly demonstrates how the choices you make, make you. One Wes

In the book, The Other Wes Moore it is difficult to believe the great similarities in the lives of the two Moores, who share a name and other aspects of life. The two were raised fatherless and were born in the late 1970’s in the neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. They also happen to have encountered similar experiences when growing up, but at one point one of them became a criminal and the other a scholar (the author of the book). The author of the book seems to be interested in the similarities of the two boys as opposed to their different experiences. The story is interesting and makes one imagine what would have become of the writer if he did not by any chance come across the people who guided him to become what

Wes Moore the author says, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” In my opinion, I agree with Wes Moore the authors’ statement; there were several times throughout the lives of both the successful Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore that went to prison could have impacted either one of them to go down the opposite path that they originally took.

“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

“This is a story of two boys living in Baltimore with similar histories and an identical name: Wes Moore. One of us is free… The other will spend every day until his death behind bars...” (Moore, XI) In The Other Wes Moore, the author, Wes Moore, and the other Wes Moore both grew up in similar, yet different, circumstances and had completely different outcomes. This captivating narrative demonstrates how the choices you make, make you. In the introduction, the author Wes Moore validates this statement by saying, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore XI) The author, Wes Moore, shows the readers that a person’s environment, circumstances, education (or lack

The officers then find them both but Wes “decided to take his case to trial. He insisted that he was not there the day of the murder” (Moore 155) and he was guilty. He was sentenced life in prison and “finally he could see his future” (Moore 157). On the other hand the author Wes Moore became very successful. He was accepted and received scholarship money to John Hopkins. He was able to go on his “first long-term trip abroad” (Moore 163) to South Africa. He was able to go around and notice the similarities between the people there and the people that he had grew up with. He is able to see challenges that people everyday face and sees hope for everyone to redeem themselves. For himself he can relate to that on a personal level because he’s “had the freedom to make those mistakes, and the freedom to seek redemption for them” (Moore 179). He has become a great man because of everything he was able to overcome. He knew he needed to be better and he knew determination would get him places. He had a mind set for hope and he could of had the other Wes Moore’s life but instead he was able to pursue all his struggles and “see the boundless possibilities of the wider world and the unexplored possibilities within [himself]” (Moore 179). People in life overcome lots of adversities and it’s great for those who can but for those who can’t it may be easier to see them as people who struggle to find how they want to be in the world. Some people are determined but some people don’t bother to change the person they shouldn’t

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 Other Wes Moore The Other Wes Moore is a book about two children with similar lifestyles when they were growing up and the same names, but ending up in different places in their lives. The story is about the other Wes Moore, who was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment and Wes Moore, the author, who faces poverty and has an ambition of receiving proper education (Moore, 2012).

While he knew he could make fast money with drugs he told himself he wasn’t going to get into that scene again. When Wes got home from his low income paying job he participated in the act, “Muscle memory kicked in as (...) Wes held the plastic bag with both hands and poured in nine ounces of cocaine” (145). This quote shows that Wes was selling drugs, while he knew what could happen if he gets caught knowing his vast criminal record. Although both Wes Moore’s took part in bad decisions while young, their lives took tremendously different paths.