This Boy's Life Analysis

While author Wes Moore has a healthy relationship his father, the other Wes Moore has little to no relationship with his father and barely acknowledges that he exists anymore. The difference between the two is that since author Wes Moore has a positive relationship he has better guidance for his future and ends up doing things to help his life, whereas, the other Wes Moore doesn’t have a relationship with his father, nor a father figure in his life at all; he ends up making poor choices in his life and gets sentenced to life in prison. The comparison between the article and the book is that they both show the positive and negative effects it makes when you have a good father figure in a child’s life. The author Wes Moore interviewed the other Wes Moore and during the interview there was a chilling statement that the other Wes Moore expressed about the huge difference of their lives with or without their father; “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.” To continue the similarity of that quote to the article, there is a quote that states the difference between the two just because of how they grew up; “One of us is free and has experienced things that he never knew to dream about as a kid. The other will spend every day until his death behind bars for an armed robbery that left a police officer and father of 5

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

The relationship between the two fathers and the two sons is a very important theme in this book. Because of their different backgrounds, Reb Saunders and David Malters approached raising a child from two totally different perspectives.

The difference lye within their characteristics; the author Wes’s mother was a strong, independent, educated woman that served her family relentlessly. “My mother slept in the living room to stand guard, she said. She didn’t want me and my sisters to be the first people a trespasser ran into if they entered the house. She was determined to protect us (Moore36).” Later she realized she was losing her grip and needed the assistance only her parents could provide, and they did.

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

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.

Moore uses indirect characterization to show readers the influence that “The Other Wes’” mother had on him, “She was only twenty seven years old, and despite having two sons, . . . she was still young enough to enjoy partying, dancing, and being noticed by men. . . much to the chagrin of her family and friends who ended up watching the boys so many nights” (Moore 19), because of her actions, she is characterized as neglectful and irresponsible. The woman’s “activities” not only serve as a negative example for her son, but they have significant psychological effects on him as well. This combined with the absence of his father inspired actions which lead to him being incarcerated for the rest of his life. Wes, on the other hand, despite having a similar background, had very different role models. Wes’ mother had done everything to keep him out of trouble. She even forced him to attend a military school hundreds of miles away after he got into trouble with the police and slacking off in school. Wes had his grandparents, his mother, and leaders at military school to guide him on the right path. He despised his school at first, but eventually we can see that the environment and the people played a key role in making him successful. Moore illustrates this change through imagery, “ My back stood straight, and my sentences now ended with "sir" or "ma 'am." My military garrison cap was intentionally a size too big, forcing me to keep my head up, walking taller

While the other Wes had decided to lie continuously to his mother about selling drugs. Yet in some ways they can both act similar towards women. In the book it showed how they would be respect and cherish women. I believe that the book tells us that basically if both of the Wes’s didn't have their mothers in their lives they wouldn’t have anyone try to give them the right guidance and to get try to get them to a successful life and that the book also says that women should be treated with love care and respect and that’s what both of the Wes’s did but one had more success than the

Throughout the first three chapters of the book, we get to know both of the Wes Moore’s childhoods which are filled with crucial point in the sense of the development of a child. For example, both of the father figures are missing in both Wes Moore’s life, but the reasons lack similarity. For the soon to be smart Wes Moore, his father was a great man whom he admired but suddenly died due to the lack of treatment from the hospital. As for the other Wes Moore, he does not know his father at all, but from what the story depicts to us, he is a drunk who does not care for his child. Later on, the soon to be smart Wes Moore moves to his grandparent’s home in the Bronx, which seems at the time a very dangerous place to live in. The soon to be jailed

    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

As the author Wes Moore stated himself “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.”. What he may not be aware of is how strong their mother’s roles were. For instance, without the engagement of Author Wes’ mother, switching him to private school and eventually military school he may have been placed in similar predicaments as the other Wes Moore. Alternatively, had Other Wes’ mother been more available and offered consequences and reactions to Wes’ negative behavior he could have easily found his way on the right track, living a life similar to the authors.

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

All parents have different and similar ways of raising their children throughout their lives so they can prosper into intelligent and admirable young adults. The different and similar parenting techniques are portrayed in the novel, The Body Of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum- Ucci, when Torey Adam’s parents and Christopher Creed’s parents show their parenting techniques. Throughout the story it is evident that Christopher Creed’s and Torey Adam’s parents have very different relationships with their children and different ways of parenting and teaching them. In Carol Plum- Ucci’s novel, The Body of Christopher Creed, Torey Adam’s parents and Christopher Creed’s parents had very similar and different parenting techniques, which are that they both protect and care for their children at all costs, they will do whatever it takes to help their kids, but portray their actions in different ways, and they both love their children deeply, yet they have very diverse ways of showing it.

In Sasha Costanza-Chock’s 2012 scholarly paper for the Born This Way Foundation & the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, she states that, “youth who have to struggle the hardest develop the strongest connections to social movements.” (3) This statement is supported throughout the course of history making reference to several distinct occasions where the hardships in young people’s lives made them especially motivated for their dissimilar causes. Such as, being involved in war efforts due to family troubles, helping young girls receive education due to similar hardships one endured, and being asked to help when you are treated savagely.

When comparing the mothers in the two stories, “Two Kinds” and “Stains," we can see many similarities and differences between the two. Both mothers care about their kids, they are doing what they think is right for them. We know the mother from “Two Kinds” cares for her daughter because every day she pushes her to be better. She wants the best for her daughter similar to the mother from “Stains,” she expresses some unnecessary regrets about things she could have done differently for her son, showing how much she cares for him, in this aspect they are the same. Another similarity they share is that both mothers lost their kids in one way or another.