Hawthorne Wes Moore Analysis

When a student is in school, the options for what the student can do in their free time can impact them for the rest of their life. The choices to partake in an extracurricular activity, such as a sport could benefit one in many ways. They can create core values inside a person which then impacts other aspects of their life as well. Sports are able to give one a standard for the way their life should be spent. The ways a sport could influence a person are seen in The Other Wes Moore, giving both sides of the spectrum.

The first environment that readers can analyze between the two Wes Moore’s is the lack of a father influence. Author Wes Moore grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with a family who seemed to have everything in place. Wes looked up to his father in many ways even as a young child. “I tried to copy his walk, his expressions. I was his main man. He was my protector” (Moore 11). Wes tells readers in the story that

In the small troublesome city of Baltimore, there grew a set of twins. As a matter a fact, these were twins not by birth, but by heart. There paths intersected when Wes Moore had just finished his bachelors at Johns Hopkins and was headed to Oxford University, when he received a phone call. It was his mother, Joy Moore, as he answered his mother told him that in their neighborhood were many wanted posters of a man named Wes Moore. The poster read, do not approach he is dangerous, contact police. His mother’s anxiety abated when she found out that her son had no connection to the crime. He later went on to write a letter to the other Wes Moore about his past. He started to learn that both had grown up fatherless, they had altercations with the

Many factors come into play when we assess the lives of both Wes Moores introduced in the short novel The Other Wes Moore some of these factors are the expectations that shaped each man’s life. “The expectations that others place on us help us form our expectations of ourselves” (Moore126) some people are able to help encourage free minded individuals that are able to discover for themselves how to better judge their actions in society for a more positive outcome. Expectations from others have a strong impact on the choices an individual makes, and both Wes Moore’s choices were strongly influenced by the expectations of their role models and mentors. Although, both Wes Moores lived in the ghettos of the east coast and encountered bad influences

“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.

“The Other Wes Moore” is a story that follows two boys with the exact same name who start off living very similar lives in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the boys live on to be an extremely successful man and the other one is living the rest of his life behind bars. The two men wondered how their strikingly similar path diverged into two completely different fates and then an argument formed. Are people products of their choices or their environment and expectations thrown upon them? The book proves that people are products of their choices. Both Wes Moores were raised by a single mom in the tough streets of Baltimore and they both were rebellious children who got arrested at a young age. Their similarities lessened as their choices and their mom’s choices contrasted. The more fortunate Wes was sent to Military school and he chose to make the most of it and become the best version of himself. His determination and hard work trumped his previous hooligan mindset, therefore his future was bright and fulfilling. The other Wes chose to follow his brother,

The difference lye within their characteristics; the author Wes’s mother was a strong, independent, educated woman that served her family relentlessly. “My mother slept in the living room to stand guard, she said. She didn’t want me and my sisters to be the first people a trespasser ran into if they entered the house. She was determined to protect us (Moore36).” Later she realized she was losing her grip and needed the assistance only her parents could provide, and they did.

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.

People have been stereotyping outcasts since the beginning of time. This behavior is a crucial component of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. The main character of the story, Hester Prynne, resides in a community of Puritans; who are notorious hypocrites. Their harsh rules are basically impossible to follow, therefore setting their citizens up for failure and punishment. Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne with the elements of sin, judgement, and revenge.

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.

I first learned of the Other Wes Moore in the autumn of 2014, during the first few months of my sophomore year of high school. My English teacher had assigned the class an essay to write on a nonfiction book of our choice, so I read the back covers of half a dozen books in order to choose one. Even though I did not end up picking the Other Wes Moore, I was still interested in reading it one day. The question “How, then, did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence?” is posed on the back of the book, and I wanted to know the answer (Moore Back Cover).

The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore (2011), tells the story of two children who grew up in the same neighborhood with the same first and last names. It was not just the neighborhood in which they grew or their names that were the same, however. The two boys engaged in the same activities growing up, being active participants in a difficult neighborhood, engaging in gang activity, and getting into trouble with the police (Moore, 2011). In spite of these similarities in their early life, Wes Moore, the author, had a remarkably different life than the second Wes Moore; in addition to being an author, he has been a Rhodes scholar and is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BridgeEdU a social organization dedicated to increasing the ease through which a high school student can transition to the higher education process (Moore, 2011). Moore’s (2011) case is one that has intrigued many in the field of criminology, in part due to the myriad theories on criminal behavior and the disparities present between the situations of the two boys (Schram, & Tibbetts, 2018). Among the different crinimiological theories or perspectives that are the most in alignment with the situation described in Moore’s (2011) book are those of social learning theory and differential association theory (Schram, & Tibbetts, 2018).

One’s childhood has a lasting impact on their entire life. Moore’s upbringing and the loving family he was born into, no matter how trivial it may seem, greatly contributed to his success. Wes seemingly grew up the same as any other kid in the Bronx – in a single-parent household, surrounded by bad influences… what separated him from the crowd? His support system: his family, and their ultimate support and sacrifices made all the difference. As a teenager, Wes seemed to be going down the wrong path. He constantly skipped school, his academic failures were overwhelming, and he was even arrested for vandalism. In the case of the other Wes, his family simply let these actions slide, and decision after decision ultimately landed him with a life sentence in prison. The author Wes’s mother, however, refused to allow this behavior to continue. As a method of intervention, she forced Moore to attend Valley Forge, and in doing so, probably saved his career. The extent of his family’s sacrifice was evident on page 95 when Wes realized that “my grandparents took the money they had in the home in the Bronx, decades of savings and mortgage payments, and gave it to my mother

In response to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s creation of the protagonist Hester Prynne, D.H. Lawrence criticizes how he depicts this character. Lawrence’s portrayal of Hester was quite the opposite and he concluded that she should bear no sympathy from the readers. Lawrence’s interpretation of Hester is contemptuous, in that he believes she misrepresented women and disrespects puritan values. D.H. Lawrence provides the best critical analysis due to his use of persuasive repetition to clearly present his claim, powerful allusions to make it easier for the reader to understand, and tone which allows for satirical statements.

Nathaniel Hawthorne is a perfect example that great success comes with great amounts of criticism. Particularly, in his piece, The Scarlet Letter, where the main character has committed adultery. Critic D.H. Lawrence doesn’t agree with Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne, and writes his essay “On The Scarlet Letter” in hopes to make the reader see why Prynne should not be pitied. Lawrence makes use of satirical tone, ironic allusions, and choppy syntax in order to provide evidence of Prynne’s lack of innocence.