Wes Moore's The Other Wes Moore

The Other Wes Moore Quotes

As a child, Wes looked up to his father, (Westley), with wide eyes and a deep longing to become just like him. Alongside his father, his half-sister Nikki also played an inspiring role in Wes’s young life. Nikki’s biological father, (Bill), held a fake desire for her throughout her childhood. After Wes’s father’s death, their family dynamic shifted, potentially for the worse. Nikki seemed to be engulfed through the flame of his death more than anyone. Tragically, it was as if Nikki “had lost two fathers that day” (Moore 15). To both Wes and his father, Nikki was an equal part of the family despite the different backgrounds. Parallel to Westley’s untimely death, “Bill no longer called, wrote, or bothered to check

Your fate is not based upon anyone’s actions other than your own. Both Wes Moore’s experienced a circumstance in which they required a second chance. The decision of how to use that second chance is the vital part to succeeding, for the difficult part learning how to “distinguish between second chances and last chances” (Moore 67). Wes— The author— was given a second chance after joining military school. Although it was originally an unfortunate turn of events, Wes quickly learned the opportunities that surrounded him were to fade rapidly if he did not improve his way of life. This experience is an example of how a single person can set themselves up for success or failure based upon their individual

Where they grew up, kids as young as 8 years old were recruited into illegal operations; Wes and Tony included. Mary tried everything she could, but had lost her sons to the wonder and curiosity that money brings. The important place a mother should hold in her son’s life vanished and she was left to take care of their mistakes. Later in their lives, both boys were caught in a heist that set them up for an entire lifetime in jail. Their arrest sent “cheering responses” from everyone in their community. The boys were not only involved with a robbery, but a murder as well. The word spread quickly about their sentences and a “collective sigh of relief seeped through Baltimore. At home, Mary wept” (Moore 155). Many families go through traumatic experiences comparable to Mary’s situation. The choices her sons made left her alone, parallel to the isolation the boys were experiencing as