How Is The Other Wes Moore A Positive Role Model

In his book, “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” Wes Moore (2011) tells a true story about two men from Baltimore who have identical names but have different outcomes in life. He also illustrates the similarities of their life’s situations when they were younger, the decisions they made in life and their impacts, and the roads they took that ultimately led them to where they are today.

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.

“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.

Role models play a huge role in shaping an individual and the paths that they go down in their lifetime. Whether it is a good or bad influence, it will depend which path they will take that will determine their fate. Often family members, especially parents, act as the most influential factor in a person’s life. Coincedientaly, The Other Wes Moore, is about two boys who have the same name and who have lived in the same city. One went on to become a Rhodes Scholar, combat veteran and a White House Fellow. Whereas, the other Wes Moore is sentenced to life a in prison for robbery, which led to the death of a police officer. In this book, both Wes Moores’ are influenced by at least one significant other that has influenced them to become the people

“Children learn more from who you are than what you teach,” stated W.E.B DuBois. As illustrated by the quote, the people and the environment that an individual surrounds themselves with affects their future. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore, is a narrative that tells the story of two males, who share the same name but take two different paths in life. The two Moores experience similar situations, however surround themselves with different types of people, resulting in different paths. One Moore is successful while the other is incarcerated, proving an individual’s environment influences ones future. Ultimately, after analyzing Wes Moore’s novel and Terry Pratchets quote in the excerpt, it is evident that the

One of the most well-renowned authors, Wes Moore, took his life struggles of growing up in an extremely unprivileged neighborhood --where the chances of living a successful life are very scarce--However, In Moore’s inspirational memoir called The Other Wes Moore, he compared his life to another man who lived through the same unfortunate circumstances, but Moore defied the odds and became an influential figure in the African - American community.

Critical analysis of the social justice aspects for the main characters of the other Wes Moore

Both Wes Moores struggles with family issues in their lives. The author Wes Moore had 2 sister that he lived with, Nikki and Shani. Nikki and Shanie were very important people in Wes’s life. Wes was taught to never hurt a women physically because he got in a lot of trouble for punching Nikki in the face when he was very young. Compared to the “other” Wes Moore’s sibling he had more of responsibility to be the role model instead of following the role model. “Shani had quieted down and was playing with her shoelaces, while Nikki put me on her lap.”(Pg. 14). Shani and Nikki have always had an impact on Wes’s life. He always knew that it was important to be there for them no matter what. Like Wes, the ‘other’ Wes Moore had a sibling, his name is Tony. Tony was six years older than Wes. He didn’t live with him. Tony live in a home with many other people along with his father. The home he lived in had a bad name of drugs and illegal activity. “People who lived

In the beginning of “The Other Wes Moore”, I was introduced to two both of the Wes Moore’s. They both had similar upbringings. They were both raised in Baltimore, Maryland. They each lacked a father-figure in their life, so circumstances for their families were difficult in regards to finances. In the era that they grew in, there was a typical stereotype for a young, black male growing up with an absent father. However, both of the Wes’s found themselves in similar situations when drugs and violence came to hand. Yet, only one of the Wes’s were fortunate enough to escape the poor fate.

“The other Wes Moore” by Wes Moore, is a book that follows the surreal and vindicating lives of two young men that lived in Baltimore; both by the same name, Wes Moore. The author presents that while him and the ‘other Wes Moore,’ may have been in very similar circumstances both being black males with no father figure, growing up in New York, playing sports, the outcome of their lives has been drastically different. While he has come to be a successful author, White House Fellow, business leader and influential public figure, the ‘other Wes Moore’ was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, in June of 2001, for the murder of a Baltimore County Police Sergeant. The author forms a relationship with this ‘other Wes Moore’, leading

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

Role models play a huge role in shaping an person in either a positive or negative way. In this case education, parenting , poverty played the biggest roles in developing the Wes Moore’s. Wes once said “when were 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.(moore178). Not only did role models play a huge role in their transition into adulthood the education system in which they were offered affected them very differently. Each was not offered the same opportunity to have the the best education. Living in poverty played a significant part in the making of them as individuals because

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,

The Other Wes Moore documents the true life stories of two Black males named Wes Moore that both grew up in broken families located in disadvantaged neighborhoods, but regardless of their similar backgrounds one Wes Moore became a Rhodes Scholar while the other is incarcerated (Moore, 2010). In similar vein, I saw the same parallels with the Wes Moore’s in my own life with having a half-brother with the same name as myself who was incarcerated. Although we were directed toward different trajectories we were only houses apart from each other with an abusive father that simultaneously maintained two families. It could be argued the trajectories were mere coincidence, but my twin sister and I both sustained the same experiences from birth, yet

The book The Other Wes Moore sells its self on being about “two hauntingly similar boys take starkly different paths… the other Wes his age and from the same area of greater Baltimore” (Publishers weekly, 2011). The book tries to convey the boy’s lives could have been the same through crime, education and family but against the odds fate, or choice changes their two fates. This is simply not true. The two boys could have nearly never had the same lives for the vary reasons the book proves itself. The two Wes Moores could have never been the same, not because fate but because of location, family values, and how the two men grew up living complete different lives.