42) Wes Moore’s family knew how dangerous their environment they to protect him from exposure to bad habits of violence his family kept him on a “short leash”. A child needs support to do good in order to be successful – Wes had exactly that. He had many family members to turn to if he didn’t know if he was making the right choice, his family held high expectations for him; this is the first steps in how he became a successful writer. Hence, the other Wes’s Mom was rarely aware of his actions outside of the home they lived in, “Wes is out here hustling!
One Wes Moore made the decision to transform his life into success, but sadly the other did
“The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates Essay” written by Wes Moore, which is based on his and another man with the same name life. The book follows two kids with the same name were born blocks apart in the same city just within a year of each other. Both boys had similar circumstances, for which they both growing up in the middle of the crack epidemic in the 1980’s in the city of Baltimore. Both boys had troubling childhood grew up within a single parent household without their fathers in their life’s. Although both two men born into a similar position in the world ended up leading wildly different lives. The author Wes Moore grew up to achieve great things becoming decorated veteran, White House Fellows, and business leader. The other Wes
“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.
Their fathers also affected their lives in the same way as their mothers. Wes’s father, Wes, was a strong, peaceful man who had a stable career. He passed away when Wes was three, leaving Joy with their three children (Moore 15). He still had a positive impact on Wes’s life, though. He was a positive role model for Wes even after his passing. The “other” Wes didn’t have it quite as well, however. His father, Bernard, was still alive and well, but left Wes with Mary, and didn’t care to have a relationship with his son. One of the few times Wes interacted with his father was when he went to his Mamie’s house. His Mamie was his father’s mother, and his father just happened to be drunk and passed out on the couch at
The Other Wes Moore is a book about two young African-American lives that share the same name, Wes Moore. Both Wes Moores grew up with similarities, they both grew up in the same hometown. One of the Wes Moore is free and the other one is spending his life in jail. They both grew up without fathers. The author's father died in front of him when he was just three years old and the other Wes Moore barley knew his dad. The Author's father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, and the other Wes Moore, father wasn’t there because he chose not to be. Both mothers were working hard towards setting their families and to support and care for their sons.
How could I? she was my everything, the person I loved and respected most in my world. I had no idea what to do” (88). This is when the readers see a big role model in the author Wes’s life emerge. Wes looked up to his mother she was the good in his life. Without this role model the author Wes’s life could have been very different, but his mother is who helped him do great things with his life. Besides the fact that both Wes’s had a role model in their life, they have very different lives.
In the reading it talks about the mother's thoughts about his schooling choices in New York. Most people would say if they went through it, it's okay for their kids. However Joy stepped up and knew that the New York public schools were extremely sketchy and unsafe for her son and rather work harder and have her kids go to a private school. His mother also would not let the sadness of their father's death interrupt the time she had them. She would put on a happy face and encourage her kids to take advantage of all the opportunities there are out there. In the reading it shows Wes Moore’s realization of the amount of effort his mother put in to make the family happy,“But no matter how much the world around us seemed ready to crumble, my mother was determined to see us though it.(47)”
“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 chilling truth is that his story could have been mine, the tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore xi) “The Other Wes Moore,” by Wes Moore, focusses on two boys by the name of Wes Moore that were born blocks apart, within the same year, in Baltimore during the 1980’s. Both grew up fatherless in similar neighborhoods; both ran into trouble. But one became a Rhodes Scholar, while the other was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Although he grew up in a rough neighborhood and was around violence and drugs, Wes had the ability to change his life around with the help and support his mother, family, and military school lieutenants were able to give him. Many people influenced Wes, the author, throughout his life, but the person whom I feel influenced him the most was his mother.
The narrator Wes and the other Wes are similar because they grew up in a single parent home. “Mary looked down at her son and uttered the words she had never said before and never thought she would have to say. Wes, meet your father(Moore 25).” When Wes was growing up, he only had his older brother and his mom because his father was never in his life. The narrator's father died after the doctors told him to go home and rest. The narrator’s father would’ve been around and cared for his family if the doctors would’ve taken better care of him. ”The hospital looked at him askance, insulted him with ridiculous questions, and basically told him to fend for himself. Now my mother had to plan his funeral(Moore 15).” Beside
Their actions are very contradictory as it elicits readers to feel a sense of hopelessness but also a sense of optimism, The other Wes, now with a growing family, is forced to try and get a job and support them, however: “Wes found another option: he decided to make himself scarce. In the mornings while Nicey was at work, Wes would play videogames in the house and then head out to check on his drug operation. When she was home in the evenings or the early morning, Wes would normally be out, “trying to find a job,” as he would tell her” (Moore 110). Wes is surrounded by several bad influences in his neighborhood, resulting in him also becoming one. He is running from his problems by taking the easy way out, which results in a having a negative impact on his children. Instead of working hard to sustain his family, he goes to drugs to help support himself because it’s “easy money”. This showcases that without a proper figure to guide you, you could also be succumbed by the negativity in today’s society. A proper authority figure is needed to help guide your way through the hardships and difficulties in the world around us. This event establishes pathos by making you feel disappointment and pity towards Wes and his family. A sense of hope is lost if whether Wes will ever
In the book, The Other Wes Moore, there are two men with same name Wes Moore. They were born within a year of each other just blocks apart. Both grew up fatherless in Baltimore neighborhoods and had difficult childhoods. The author of the book is Wes, an American author, Rhodes Scholar, White House Fellow, and decorated US Army officer. He has accomplished many things in his life, but the other Wes hasn’t grasped the opportunity. Instead, the other Wes has been spending most of his adulthood in prison as he had received a life sentence for an armed robbery that left a police officer, a father of five dead. Although the two Wes’s had grown up in the same neighborhood, their choices about family, education, and career paths placed them in completely
People may think that how could this happen since they both were living the same circumstances. However, in the book Wes Moore, the boys do not have equal opportunities in terms of parenting,
Through the strong attachment that the author’s family has for each other, that what save the author life and his destiny. When the author was showing out in school and poor grades, his mother called up family member to help donated money to send him away to military school. I believe through that kind act of each of his family members donated money to send him away to school is what save the author life from crime and violence. Unlike the author mother, the other Wes mother Mary had no one else to turn to for help support her sons. Like Mary was upset when she finds out that Wes is dealing drugs. She flushed down the toilet thousands of dollars of drugs that Wes intends to sell (Moore 2010). At the end of the day, Mary really could not do