Scarlet Letter And The Other 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 people and environment that you incorporate into your life affects who you become and the direction in which you develop. An example of this, is seen in the value of education in different areas. In inner city communities, young children are exposed to the high rates of crime and drug activity as well as increased high school dropout rates. Since their primary role models sustain themselves by engaging in illegal activity, the children have nothing else to look up to. This is contrary to the environment on the other side of the city. Since Forest Hills School District is a highly ranked school district in Ohio, students are in a daily environment where graduation rates are high, and teachers are qualified and dedicated to giving students all their academic supplies in order to succeed. This directly correlates to students success in the real world outside of academia due to the positive influences they are surrounded by. The shaping of individuals through their direct environment, is seen in the novels The Other Wes Moore and The Scarlet Letter. The Other Wes Moore follows the differing stories of two men with the same name, but very different fates. The Scarlet Letter follows Hester Prynne, an outcast in the Puritan society of Boston, and her struggle with her sin of adultery. Each of the main characters were affected by the environment and it slowly shaped their identity. The theme of how the environment defines who you become, is displayed throughout The Other Wes

Both of the Wes Moore’s had varying motivations for their incidents throughout the second book that prove

d. Although Wes and the other Wes Moore both grew up in the same city around the same time period, both

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.

Two children named Wes Moore both dealt with “difficult childhoods” in Baltimore, states the back cover of The Other Wes Moore. From fatherless homes to trouble with the police, the Moores undoubtedly dealt with many struggles as they grew into adulthood. However, exactly what factor determined how one Wes Moore would go on to becoming a veteran and a business leader as well as venturing to places as the White House and Oxford, while the other Wes Moore spends the rest of his life in prison? What the two Wes Moores valued throughout their lives impacted their futures. This is because personal values are the most important factors in determining success or failure, as what a person treasures determine what decisions

When most people hear the name Wes Moore, they think of the Wes Moore that is a decorated veteran and author, but when Wes Moore hears his name, he thinks about not himself, but the Wes Moore serving life in prison for first-degree felony murder. They both grew up in similar settings and both had trouble with the police, but there lives are the complete opposite now. Most people wonder how that could happen. Each Wes ended up on totally different paths as evidenced by actions and events that took place in each of their lives. Throughout the following paragraphs, how each Wes’s life slowly became different will become clear.

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.

By Moore telling their stories personally, readers have a evident perspective on the character of each man. Moore is able to demonstrate that he and the other man were never completely horrible individuals, even the other Wes Moore today, despite the choices they made. One time, the other Wes Moore was making the right decisions, like trying to provide for his family. While he was in the job training program, he decided to make a small house for his daughter to protect her, which shows that he did care for his loved ones (Moore 142-143). It was when he decided to go back to using drugs that his life fell apart. His choice to go back to drugs shows that it is not his mentors or loved ones who play the

The other Wes Moore deals with many situations of public humiliation which are explained in detail by author Wes Moore through the use of tone and imagery. After being caught and arrested by police officers in Philadelphia, the other Wes Moore faces criminal charges for murder. When Moore was put into prison, Baltimore City police officers were overjoyed after the arrest of the man who murdered their colleague. Author Wes Moore describes the contrasting feelings of the police officers and Mary Moore’s feelings after the other Wes Moore was arrested. While newspapers and news networks ran coverage of the arrest “civic leaders held press conferences praising the work of the police officers” (Moore 155) whereas “at home, Mary wept” (Moore 155). The tone of this situation is solemn due to the serious situation that is present, and author Wes’s use of sad emotions. By showcasing the two varying emotions of Mary and the police community, author Wes Moore uses tone to approach

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).

Children and young-adults look up to their parents for the hard choices they need to face and for support when needed. When a child is taught to make their own decisions, they can learn to be more independent in the future. According to Psychology Today, “Decision making is crucial because the decisions your children make dictate the path that their lives take.” To become a healthier and more mature adult, it is critical to a young person that they make positive judgement calls. In the novels, The Other Wes Moore and The Scarlet Letter, the authors focus on the point that children are greatly influenced by their parents to make the right choice. In The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester, the main character, has a child named Pearl who is considerably impacted by her mother. Pearl is compared to her mother using direct characterization and tone, but is also seen as more valuable than a symbol of disgrace. The same thing occurs in The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore. The author, Wes Moore, and the other Wes Moore both grew up in the same area with similar home situations, but they ended up taking different paths as adults. The author captures their similarities and disparity through the use of literary devices to bring about the idea that their parent’s decisions affect them. The direct characterization and tone present throughout The Scarlet Letter and The Other Wes Moore gives the message that the choices the parents make influence their children’s decisions in the future.

When Swami Sivananda said, “A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching.” He was correct because every microscopic action that we commit has an unintended consequence. Some consequences, are good. Other consequences, on the other hand, can be miserable. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore, both stories exhibit that each choice a person makes has a consequence, good or bad.

In the novel The Other Wes Moore, the author Wes Moore talks about his life experiences as well as the experiences of another Wes Moore. Both grew up near each other and have the same name, but could not have had any more different lives. The author goes to college and graduates from Oxford and currently works at the white house, meanwhile his counterpart is serving life in prison for drugs and murder. The main goal behind this novel is to illustrate how different environments can drastically change a person’s life. In sociology this is called Socialization, a process where an individual acquires an identity that is appropriate to their social position. In a time where race and class equality is as conflicted as ever, this novel contains themes that produce these situations and ways to end them.