The Other Wes Moore Role Models

"When we're young, it sometimes seems as if the world doesn't exist outside our city, our block, our house, our room. We make decisions based on what we see in that limited world and follow the only models available” (Moore, 178). Role models play a very big part in shaping an individual and deciding which route they take in their lifetime. In both of the Weses’ life, role models contributed to why they both turned out so differently. Wes Moore, the author, had strong and positive influences in his life that helped guide him on the right path to become a successful adult. However, the other Wes Moore had many influences in his life that, not intentionally, guided him down the wrong path.

Many know of the tune “It’s a Small World” played at the Disney Parks. It’s lyrics repeat, “It’s a small world after all,” over and over until you have it cemented in your brain for eternity (but that’s beside the point). These lyrics connect with the book, The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, because of how closely connected two men living in Baltimore were. Both men named Wes Moore with a father out of the picture made it an oddly “small world.” But although they had very similar upbringings, their lives took extremely different paths. Three key differences that make them different are: why their fathers weren’t apart of their lives, what they grew up around, and how their mother’s dealt with troubled kids.

Parenting played a big role in shaping the two boys lives. Having a parental mentor is important because they assist and guide children to take the right decisions about their lives. The author had his two parents at the beginning of his life. Also, the author’s parents, especially his mother, tried to raise him in an effective way wanting him to know the right from wrong at an early age. “No mommy loves you, like I love you, she just wants you to do the right thing” (Moore 11). This quote was a live example of the author’s life with his parents. It reflected the different ways his parents used to teach him “the right thing.” Though his mother was upset from his action toward his sister, his father

Throughout “The other Wes Moore”, The Wes’ were faced with surprisingly similar situations that were handled in very different ways. These situations were key turning points in each of their lives and shaped them into who they are. Even though each Wes had hardships in their environment and faced many trials and tribulations, ultimately, their choices during these times are what produced each Wes. Because of their series of different choices that each Wes Moore made during their lifetime and the outcome of their choices, we are not just products of our environments, but also products of the choices we make.

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

“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 the text, the extrinsic factor that most influences the author is family, while the extrinsic factor that most influences Wes are expectations. The author has a strong holding family that helps him with

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

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.

Wes Moore, the author of “The Other Wes Moore” had many accomplishments in his life. He however gained notoriety with this book it was a New York Times best seller. In Chapter 7, the main idea is that two people living in the same environment had different outcomes in their lives by making entirely different decisions on how to deal with the adversities they faced in their lives. These decisions led to the lives that they ultimately lived. The tone was intense and high energy to begin with but then seemed to turn neutral in both men’s stories. The purpose is to inform the reader how the same environment can take two people and based on their decisions lead to very different out comes in life. The author takes each man’s thoughts and show how

“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.

    Humans have come to a conclusion that all lives are different, but all go through many hardships and tragedies. The impact from a slight difference can vary to be very vast to very small, such a slight difference, however, can change a person’s life as a whole. In the book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore there is a difference that can be identified between the author’s life and that of the other Wes. This difference, though can be very critical and is ultimately able to lead to a path of triumph or failure for an individual. The lack of involvement a mother has for their child can fundamentally deprive them from succeeding, and parent involvement has the opportunity to

Throughout the span of the novel, The Other Wes Moore, the two Wes Moore, unfortunately, weren’t the only characters that suffer from society’s oppression. As a matter of fact, one can argue agree that most characters’ social class did impact their storylines. Take, for example, the other Wes Moore’s mom, Mary Moore, who due to the termination of the Pell Grant had to leave behind her education at Johns Hopkins University. Having already been socially isolated from her peers because of the “color of her skin”, Ms. Moore at this moment lost her opportunity to succeed. She lost the ability to earn a degree and henceforth, her ability to reach social mobility.

In The Other Wes Moore, two young boys are raised blocks from each other in the middle of crime infested, poor neighborhoods of Baltimore. The book focused on the duality of fate and choice and how to use the two to shape an individual. The importance of a role model is principle, but both characters were missing their father in their lives. The difference is that one had role models from his drug dealing brother, and one had examples at his military school. Students are at the stage of their life where the examples set by others may have a stronger impact on them than they may even be conscious of.