Themes In The Other Wes Moore

Both Weses had several circumstances in common that happened early on in their lives. Moore narrates that he lost his father at a young age due to a medical misdiagnosis. The author says that with the loss of his father, his family had to move to the Bronx to live with his grandparents. The author Wes was the second of three children, and with the absence of his father, his mother Joy had to work multiple jobs to send him and his siblings to school. Moore adds that he was enrolled in a private school but skipped his classes often and was put on academic probation. On the other hand, the

Their mothers were very influential to how the Moore’s lives turned out. Wes’s mother was not around much and left Wes with his brother, Tony. Tony was often involved with drugs, dangerous situations, and not very good people. So Wes grew up around strong drug abuse, addiction, and crime because his mother was often gone. At a young age, he learned about these drugs that his

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

i. The similarities with the Other Wes’s mother was that she too was never home, but the contrast lye with the mistake she made with leaving Tony as the only guardian. “Wes, now eight years old, was free from any adult supervision till then. His brother, six years older, was the closest thing Wes had to a caretaker during the daylight hours and was fiercely protective of the little brother who idolized him. But lately even Tony hadn’t been around much (Moore 26).”

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

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

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

Wes #1 grew up without his father; his father died near the beginning of the story with a rare disease. Wes #1 did not understand the responsibility that he would have to uphold until he got older because he was only three years old. Wes #1 needed a father figure because he needed a manly structure in his life. Even though Wes already had a loving mother, willing to play both roles as a mother and father, a mother can only do but so much. Young men need fathers/father figures because they help out with the things mothers can not explain. This takes us back to the subject of environment and family, because Wes #1 had a environment that strived off of respect, he had a family that strived off of doing the right thing.

Whether you agree with Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, or Erik Erickson, theoretical approaches to human nature all agree that early childhood years play a major part of our conscious and unconscious decisions we make. For instance, even though both Wes Moore’s were brought up without a father in their home, the reality is that these absences meant something different to each of them. For Wes 1 his father died an unnecessary death due to lack of training of emergency personnel. He remembered his dad as being compassionate, loving, and kind. Wes 1 always knew that if given the choice, his father would have stood by him throughout his life. Wes 2, however, is left with negative fatherly feelings. In the three times they were together, his own father acted as though he didn’t recognize him. What’s worse is that Wes 2 knew that his dad didn’t want to know him, he chose to leave. That left not only a hole where there should have been a very important role model, it left rejection in its place. When Wes 1 was visiting Wes 2 in the jail and asked about the impact his father had on his life, the second Wes said, “Your father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, my father wasn’t there because he chose not to be. We’re going to mourn their absence in different ways” (Moore page 3). Later in the chapter Wes 1 gets emotional thinking about how he misses his father. He was left,

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)”

Luckily the author Wes had a lot of support from his mother and she also represented to him a father figure since he was the only male among his sisters. The author Wes said, “Intent to make some sense of the tragedy, she used the money to create a fund that would provide equipment and training to paramedics on a new procedure for dealing with respiratory or cardiac arrest, a technique that could have saved my father’s life (36).” Besides dealing with the fact that she was a single mother of three children she still managed to make a good deed in honor of her husband who could have been saved if they would have been offered that equipment and training. Unlike the author Wes’s mother, the other Wes’s mother was seeing married men and setting bad examples to her children.

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

    One central difference to think about when looking at the two individuals is the fact that Wes has a more supporting mother than Wes (2), in a person’s life a mother is so important and can be looked as a blessing. A mother is the one that supposed to be the person that takes great care of you and guides you,  and to teach what’s right from wrong. The author’s mother was much more supportive for her son, Wes acknowledges, “Every time I looked  around at the buildings and the trees and the view of the river, I was reminded of the sacrifices my mother was making to keep me there.” (Moore 52). Due to this quote, we can conclude that Wes’s mother, although struggling at the time, found a way to put her child in the best possible route in education. Wes presents it as kind of an understatement, however, from his mother doing this, it affects his life so much. By being put in a excellent school, it offers many more opportunities than that of the other Wes and he can gather a lot more help/exposure to guide him toward a bright future. On the other hand, we have Wes (2) that is lost and seems as if he just can’t find his way, “Young boys are more likely to believe in themselves if they know that there’s someone, somewhere, who shares that belief. To carry the

In both the book The Other Wes Moore and poem “If,” the theme is expressed through characterization. The authors explain the build up of the characters by showing the expectations and decisions for them. Wes Moore describes how both boys were supported differently during the early stages of life. However, individuals can notice that each child was shaped differently. Moore explained, “I was taught to remember, but never question. Wes was taught to forget and never ask why” (page 1). This shows that both Wes’ did have a childhood in which was built up by their moms. Wes got lucky in having a mother (Joy) who truly cared about his education and future. Because Joy raised Wes to follow the positive route, he did not end up in the same boat as the the other Wes. On the other hand, the other Wes’s family did not care as much about him. Since his mother did not do much to help his

Upon reading further into Tobias Wolff’s life, his father and brother lived on the east coast while he and his mother traveled through the Midwest with hopes of settling in Utah. The father figure in the excerpt for The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates was portrayed as a compassionate, gentle man. We read about this in his reaction to Wes mother, Joy, after she yells at her young son; “He’s only three. He doesn’t understand what he did wrong. Do you really think he knows what a woman beater is?” (Moore, 2010) Although Wes’ dad was a tall man, who could appear menacing to a three year old boy, he felt secure and calm when he comes to his room to discuss what he did wrong. Wes recalls that the only memory of his father was this particular incident and when his father passed away. Upon reading further into Wes Moore’s life, he witnessed his father’s death at the same age that we read about this particular memory in the excerpt. As I am pondering about the influences that Tobias’ and Wes’ fathers may or may not have had on their lives, I wonder if Wes’ experience was a better one that Tobias’. Wes’ father was in his life until his passing, but Tobias’ father doesn’t appear to be in his life at