The Other Wes Moore, follows the fates of two young boys that both happen to be named Wes Moore. Although, their lives start off similar to one another, they slowly begin to diverge in separate direction that ultimately has one of the Wes Moore’s serving a life sentence for murder (Moore, 2011). Wes Moore, the author of the autobiography, begins his story about his parents, and eventually the loss of his father. Which leads to his mother moving him the family to New York to help raise the children while she tries to pull her own life together. After this event, you can see the slow change in Wes Moore as he begins to skip school and commit petty crime, like tagging the neighborhood where he lived. His mother eventually fed up with this ships him to Military school in hopes it will shape him up. After a rough begging, a distinct change is seen in the author. On the other hand, Wes Moore, the other individual that the story also follows, and states the hardship that began from living in a fatherless household. The other Wes Moore began his life in Baltimore, Maryland. Wes would begin his stint of crime when he began to work as a look out for a group of drug dealers, and would lead him to being a lieutenant to his own drug operations. Then Wes Moore’s freedom would come to an end with the court ruling of first degree murder of a police officer. Therefore, it is important to note that Wes Moore had spent his time collecting information and analyzing both Wes Moore’s and his
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.
"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine... It's unsettling to know how little separates each of us from another life altogether (Moore XI)." The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is about two men who have the same name, Wes Moore. Both grew up in similar areas, each made choices that lead to one spending life in jail and the other spent his being in the military. The Wes Moore's grew up in the 1970's-1980's. They both were poor with single mothers who worked day in and day out, and still struggled to be able to be above the poverty line. For each man there was one moment that changed the future of their life. In the book,The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, the author explains the idea of poverty to develop the theme poverty can affect an individual negatively, but each action and decision a person makes can control whether his or her life is positive or negative.
“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.
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
In conclusion, both Wes Moore’s had critical moments and different standpoints throughout the entirety of their lives. Though they both had individual accountabilities it was the choices that they individually made that ultimately determined there fates. “Wes and I stared at each other for a moment, surrounded by the evidence that some kids were forced to become adults prematurely. These incarnated men, before they’d even reached a point of basic maturity, had flagrantly-and tragically-squandered the few opportunities they’d
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.
The novel The Other Wes Moore was written by Wes Moore and it speaks upon, two boys with the same name but both have different fates. The Other Wes Moore touch's base on how the environment and experience can shape an person. The book allows you to follow two young boys named Wes Moore who tend to make life changing decisions that in the long run shape and effect their future. The purpose behind this phenomenal novel is to understand the pain and struggle to overcome the streets and how the streets can raise you and change you as a person. Furthermore, allowing you to foreshadow your thoughts of how your environment and experience can shape who you become. The environment we live in does play a significant role in our growth in life. Nature and nurture can effect individual success in different aspects. In the novel The Other Wes Moore the author Wes uses narrative elements such as parallelism and characterization to describe and tell both Wes's stories.
Bad Influences, Stressful Situations, and Abandonment led to the incarceration of the Other Wes Moore. The Other Wes Moore was a man that lived in the same neighborhood as the successful Wes Moore, but he had more negatives than positives in his life, which causes him to be influenced by all of the bad influences.
The other Wes Moore is also considered to be deviant by his poor decision-making and careless choices. He dropped out of school, sold drugs, participated in a robbery of a jewelry store, and was a convicted murderer with a life sentence. There was many sociological factors that led to the other Wes Moore’s deviant behavior; the absence of his father being an important factor. Although both the author Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore grew up without a father, it affected the other Wes Moore a little more considering the fact that his father chose not to be in his life. Also, Tony had a big impact on the decision he made for himself. Throughout the story, Wes would remember what Tony told him about demanding respect. “Send a message,” And Wes would do as Tony said. The problem with the other Wes Moore was that he lacked positive influences in his life and he had no motivation to live a better life until it was too late.
In Wes Moore's book, The Other Wes Moore, he describes both his childhood and the early life of another boy of the same name who grew up near the author in the same Baltimore neighborhood. Moore's book explores the reasons why one boy, the author, succeeded in life while the other Wes Moore was overwhelmed by his struggles and will spend his life in prison. The author Wes Moore addresses different topics for the reader to take from the book.The ideas that are presented by him and should be recognised are the environment the boys grew up in, the motivation they got from family, and the influence from not having a father. The author Wes Moore has always had a supportive family while on the other hand the other Wes Moore had no one besides Tony, who even then was a big factor on why Wes is where he is at today. Their environment plays a big role in both of the boy’s life since they both were around the same things. The only difference is that one had a family who got him out of there to an environment that shaped him up to be the man that he is today and the one that never left will be the one that will never leave prison for the rest of his life.
One name, two different people with two different fates based on life choices. The Other Wes Moore is a story about two men with the same name, who both grew up in West Baltimore. The town was crime-ridden, and both the author and Wes struggled with school. Both boys were in instances with the law, however, while the author learned from his encounter with police, the other Wes Moore didn’t and he continued in his drug dealing ways. The author went to military school to learn respect and discipline, attributes the other Wes lacked. The reader notices the author’s tone when “My mother had noticed the way I had changed since leaving for military school…They made it clear that they cared if I succeeded, and eventually so did I,” (Moore 115). As the author used the scene of military school to portray his tone of optimism. While the author was making something of his life, and overcoming his obstacles, the other Wes Moore suffered and made horrible mistakes. The other Wes became a drug dealer with power, the power that went to his head. After he found his girlfriend, Cheryl, overdosed at his house, he realized the drug game was wrong. He soon entered the Job Corps, wanting to create something of himself. However, as the stress of his new job and caring for his children was demanding,
How do two boys with the same name who live within the same community end up with lives on two completely different paths? The author, Wes Moore, begins life in a tough Baltimore neighborhood and ends up a Rhodes Scholar, Wall Streeter, White House Fellow, etc. The other Wes Moore starts in the same place in Baltimore but ends up in prison FOR LIFE.
The Other Wes Moore is a novel by Wes Moore that is about two men that live in a similar situation, but their outcomes are completely different. Both men grew up around gangs and drugs, each of those factors affected them differently. The Other Wes gets involved with drugs and joins a gang, while the Author Wes goes to military school and becomes a decorated combat veteran. Many outside factors also contribute to these outcomes, but each Wes had to allow that to happen. No two people are the same it is just how they let the world change them, that decides how they live. Children who
The Other Wes Moore The Other Wes Moore is a book about two children with similar lifestyles when they were growing up and the same names, but ending up in different places in their lives. The story is about the other Wes Moore, who was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment and Wes Moore, the author, who faces poverty and has an ambition of receiving proper education (Moore, 2012).