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
How do two boys with the same name who live within the same community end up with lives on two completely different paths? The author, Wes Moore, begins life in a tough Baltimore neighborhood and ends up a Rhodes Scholar, Wall Streeter, White House Fellow, etc. The other Wes Moore starts in the same place in Baltimore but ends up in prison FOR LIFE.
It was clear by just the first few pages of both books that both these books dealt with drugs. Dreamland literally has ‘opiate’ in the title while one can simply read the back cover to discover this fact. Both styles were similar due to both being written in small parts. The Other Wes Moore splits both Moore’s stories in the same chapter with a creative title describing both stories. For example, the chapter ‘Foreign Ground’ describes a new environment for both boys. The one began a new school where he doesn’t fit in while the other moves to a new home. Both of these are a step up from where they were before. Dreamland possesses witty yet literal titles such as ‘Delivered Like Pizza’ which shows the system of delivering drugs. They even have
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
In Wes Moore's book, The Other Wes Moore, he describes both his childhood and the early life of another boy of the same name who grew up near the author in the same Baltimore neighborhood. Moore's book explores the reasons why one boy, the author, succeeded in life while the other Wes Moore was overwhelmed by his struggles and will spend his life in prison. The author Wes Moore addresses different topics for the reader to take from the book.The ideas that are presented by him and should be recognised are the environment the boys grew up in, the motivation they got from family, and the influence from not having a father. The author Wes Moore has always had a supportive family while on the other hand the other Wes Moore had no one besides Tony, who even then was a big factor on why Wes is where he is at today. Their environment plays a big role in both of the boy’s life since they both were around the same things. The only difference is that one had a family who got him out of there to an environment that shaped him up to be the man that he is today and the one that never left will be the one that will never leave prison for the rest of his life.
“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.
In the book The Other Wes Moore, it has two different guys with the same name but different lives. Wes one, had a good family to take care of him. Wes two, wasn’t so fortunate, his family didn’t really care about him. I’ve never been in a situation like this but if you grow up like this on the streets and you want off bad enough you will do whatever it takes. You make your own life no one else.
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).
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.
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).
“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 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,
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
The autobiography The Other Wes Moore was written by a man who was comparing the lives of two men, the author himself and another man who, coincidentally, had the same name. In an attempt to eliminate any confusion, I need to clarify to which Wes Moore I am referring, so, I will refer to the author as Wes 1 and the other Wes Moore will be referred to as Wes 2. It took me a few minutes to decide what to call them since my initial reaction was to say Good Wes and Bad Wes. However, if this course on cultural competence has taught me anything, it’s to not label people. I see now that these two men lived their lives making the best decisions they felt they could have made at the time, and I realize that terms such as “good” or “bad” are misleading
Reactions are more than just facial expressions people produce, these constitute selections that humans elect to act on in answer to dilemmas which occur in their life. Both Wes Moores in the story entitled The Other Wes Moore, traveled through life composing several important choices, under conditions of pressure or influence. Moreover, friends and troubling circumstances swayed how they addressed life’s problems. Likewise, pressured to conform to the standards of the society with the right answer of the time period, Hester and Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, felt extremely restricted in their freedom of options. Throughout both books various characters cave in situations and become victims to their problems, shaping people’s futures forever, using diction and imagery Hawthorne and Moore display how their response to the situation shaped them.
Reactions are more than just a facial expressions people produce, they also are the decisions humans elect to act on in answer to dilemmas which occur in their life. Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore in The Other Wes Moore traveled through life composing several important choices, under conditions of pressure or influence. Friends and troubling circumstances around them influenced how they reacted adding to more opinions and ideas which were essential to fitting into their arrangements. With more drama and a pressure to co-exist with a community which believed themselves followers of God, Hester, Dimmesdale and Pearl of The Scarlet by Nathaniel Hawthorne, felt extreme force to compose choices which didn’t only affect their current situation and themselves. With those standards set in society the pressure to reply with the right answer, which would lead to a successful outcome. Throughout both books various characters cave in situations and become victims to their problem, which happens often in books and real life, shaping people’s futures forever, using diction and imagery Hawthorne and Moore display how their response to the situation shaped them.