Others on the other hand, may argue an individuals future is determined by their genetics not by the environment the person sorounds themselves with. Wes supports their argument in that he barely knows his father, however ends up fufilling his fathers destiny by also being absent in his childrens lives. Additionally, to being absent in his childrens lives, he continues to see other women despite having children with Alicia and Cheryl. Additionally, Tony, Wes’s older brother, has been dealing drugs before the age of ten. Wes, following in his brothers foot steps, falls into theh same lifestyle, dealing drugs. Moore states, “And the drug game was everywhere…This is where Tony chose to spend his days,” ( ). Although, Wes follows in Tony’s footsteps,
They were born just a few blocks apart within a year of each other. They both grew up in poor Baltimore neighborhoods with no father figure to look up to. The two of them had interest in the drug game and loving mothers who tried to intervene. If not for the successful Wes’s mom sending Wes to military school, his story could have been much like the other Wes Moore’s. While he was there he was away from the temptation of making money by selling drugs. He was surrounded by men in uniform who expected perfection from him. For the other Wes, the drug became his life. His mother and brother, Tony, had tried to stop Wes at first but eventually gave up. If Wes had lived away from the violence and drugs like the scholar, he could have stayed away from
Wes Moore grew up being the man of his household. With an absent father, a full-time working mother, and a drug dealing half-brother, Wes’s life was off to a bitter start. He was surrounded by drugs; his mom used drugs to ease her stress, his half-brother got into gang violence because of drugs, and his friends were drug dealers as well. In the book The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, the Other Wes started the drug game at a young age despite his brother and mothers attempts to stop him. Wes grew up in a broken home, harsh streets, and an unmotivating school environment.
In the book, The Other Wes Moore, the author, Wes Moore talks about his connection to family and how strongly they have impacted his life. Also, the other Wes Moore talks about his connection to his family and how his actions strongly reflect the actions of his older brother. In the book the author Wes Moore shares his own life story and the story of the other Wes Moore. Growing up the author Wes was very close to his family. His father died at a young age and he lived with his mother and older sister, Nikki, who had a different father. Nikki’s father and their mother had a very toxic abusive, relationship that their mom luckily got away from but parts of the relationship still affected her. One day Wes and Nikki got in a small argument and
Tony, Wes’s older brother, tried to tell him to stay away from drugs but he didn’t listen. The narrator, on the other hand, grew up with a mother who made it a point to learn right from wrong. When the narrator was little his mother said, ”I told you, don’t you ever put your hands on a woman(Moore 5)!” His mother made sure that he knew that it was not okay to treat people like that which showed that he would learn right. These differences may seem very small, but they are a major cause for why they both turned out so
In the novel, The Other Wes Moore, Moore discovers the way people shape our lives and influence our future by examining the effects of family support, influence from peers, and his experience with authoritative figures in his life. He sees this through the story of the other Wes Moore. A young man who grew up a product of his environment, single mother, and a brother who was to involved with the bad life to be of any help to him. With this Wes Moore's life was sentenced to where he is now. The author is astonished by the fact that although their paths significantly differed they weren't always so different.
In this quote, “the other” Wes Moore’s mother, Mary, is telling her son and older brother of Wes, Tony, that Wes has already been arrested and taken by the police. Wes was arrested for shooting another teenaged boy named Ray after Ray beat up Wes since Alicia was at his house. This quote is true both literally and metaphorically, as Wes seems “gone” with his arrest, possible parenthood, and dealing of drugs have led him to the losing of his freedom and family. This quote fits quite well with chapter five “Lost”.
The reasoning as to why I believe the other Wes Moore could have went down a path to success is if the other Wes Moore had the same family support as the author Wes Moore and if his brother who had a big influence on Wes, was not involved in the drug game. While both Wes Moore’s are both fatherless, the author Wes Moore was a lot luckier than the other Wes Moore, because he had his grandparents to help raise him. With the support of his grandparents, Wes had someone to look after him and also help steer him in the right direction if needed. His grandparents gave Wes and his sisters a set of rules and chores to do every single day. Compared to the other Wes Moore, he did not have any sort of discipline or rules to go by in his house due to the fact his mother and brother were never really at home. Furthermore, with the other Wes Moore, he only had his mother and his brother Tony, who both were not a good influence on him at all. The other Wes Moore looked up to his brother and wanted to be exactly like Tony. For example, when Wes got into a small
In The Other Wes Moore, both Wes and the author, Moore, faced challenges because of things such as poverty, housing, and education. In terms of Wes, he had it much worse. In the first chapter of the book, when Wes is talking about his father, he says, “By Saturday afternoon we found out that he had died from acute epiglottis, a rare but treatable virus that causes the epiglottis to swell and cover the air passages to the lungs. Untreated because of the earlier misdiagnosis, my father’s body suffocated itself” (Moore 15). This is the first big event that occurred in Wes’s life that definitely influenced the person he turned into.
Many factors come into play when we assess the lives of both Wes Moores introduced in the short novel The Other Wes Moore some of these factors are the expectations that shaped each man’s life. “The expectations that others place on us help us form our expectations of ourselves” (Moore126) some people are able to help encourage free minded individuals that are able to discover for themselves how to better judge their actions in society for a more positive outcome. Expectations from others have a strong impact on the choices an individual makes, and both Wes Moore’s choices were strongly influenced by the expectations of their role models and mentors. Although, both Wes Moores lived in the ghettos of the east coast and encountered bad influences
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 other Wes Moore took a different path later in his life. Even though his role model and older brother, Tony, encouraged him to stay in school and to stay out of the drug game; Wes did not listen. Although he tried to better himself by enrolling himself into a program and trying to get back into school, “Wes went back to school immediately after leaving the juvenile detention facility, the Baltimore County Detention Center in Towson” (Moore 110), he still did not accomplish what he wanted. Wes just wanted to be able to support himself and his family but “Wes found it almost impossible to find a job to support
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
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,
Wes 2 remembered that his mother liked to go out dancing and partying with her friends at clubs. She showed herself to be a bad role model several times. One thing she did was going from one abusive relationship to the next. By the end of the book she had three children with three different fathers. She even had her last boyfriend, who was married to another woman, practically living with her and her sons. She would say with her words that she was against using drugs, however, when Wes 2 found the marijuana in her pocket he found out the truth. He also found himself trying to emulate and prove himself to his older brother, Tony, who was also a walking contradiction. Not only did Tony deal with drugs, he dropped out of school, and taught Wes to solve problems with physical force. His words were of encouragement for a better future for his brother, but his actions proved that he didn’t believe better was possible. The author writes “Wes didn't think Tony was a hypocrite exactly--he knew why his brother felt obliged to warn him off. But it was clear that Tony didn't have any better ideas or he would've made those moves himself” (Moore page 71). Wes 2 was learning through what he saw being lived out through his mother and
4. Adam’s decision was made by his subjective ability to reason. There is no way for a scientist or other being to take apart Adam and physically analyze Adam’s ability to reason. Since choices and reasoning are not at all physical, they cannot share a physical cause and effect relationship, and have nothing to do with determinist’s causal relationship philosophy.