I think the author meant that a person never knows if something that happens to them is a second chance or the last chance. No one knows if their action will lead to them getting a second chance or if that action was their last chance. The other Wes’s last chance was when he got arrested for the murder of Sargent Prothero. Author Wes’s last chance was when he tried to escape from the military school and failed. The difference in each of the Wes’s use of that chance was that the other Wes’s was on his last chance and the author Wes’s was on his second chance. Other Wes’s didn’t have any other way to go and no reason to change his life until it was too late. Author Wes’s made the decision to start taking military school serious and turn his life …show more content…
They both grow up in a similar environment and was raised by a single mother. Author Wes can see how the other Wes 's life went and saw that there were Decisions and actions that were taken that made them made them into the people they become. American people are always talking about “keeping up with the Jones 's” and “the grass is greener on the other side”, and most people don 't ever know about a person who shared their name and grew up in the same environment. So it makes sense that if a person becomes aware of a person like that, who shared a name and grew up in the same environment, they want to know more about what that person 's life was …show more content…
The lack of education can lead to poverty and poverty can lead to a lack of education, this is a cycle that is hard to get out of. Author Wes mother was able to go to college and get her degree. She wasn 't the first to go or the first two finished. She was able to overcome the situation poverty and found a way to go to college. This desire for college was something she gave to author Wes. She knew the public school was a bad place to be for her son so she did what she had to have the money to send Wes to Riverdale Country School. Author Wes got the schooling that had more of a focus on attending college as an end goal by attending Riverdale Country School. Since he went to Riverdale Country School he got the desire to get a degree that he probably would have never got in the public school in his neighborhood. The other Wes mother 's life was different and she didn 't put that need to get a degree into her
The Other Wes Moore is a novel that shows the different paths of two different men, one successful and the other not so fortunate. Wes 1 was led by his brave, intellectual mother who impacted his life positively through small decisions. Wes 2 was led by his step- brother who had good intentions but never delivered or cared enough to help Wes through the obstacles of his life. Most of us are fortunate enough to choose who will impact our future but we have no control over our family members and whether they will help or hurt
in the same future paths. The author said that both Wes’s grew up without a father under a
The Other Wes Moore is a book talking about two different men with the same name,Wes Moore. They were both raised up by a single mother and live in the same decaying city, Baltimore, where there are surrounded by drug and alcohol. However, the author Wes Moore’s parents completed their education and have a good job while his grandparents also were well-educated. But the other Wes Moore’s parents didn’t graduate from college, his mother tried to get the scholarship but failed, and his father left high school and don’t have a job either. This two Wes Moores both grew up with their mother. The author Wes’s father died for disease while the other Wes’s father left his family. With this situation, they went to the same direction, being absent from
In “The Other Wes Moore”, by Wes Moore, the author takes the readers through his life growing up as well as the life of someone who was a stranger to him during his childhood but turned out to be a huge part of his life later on. His name was also Wes Moore and both he and the author grew up in poverty and did not have the best childhood. Although they grew up similarly, their adulthoods were the polar opposite. The author Wes Moore became the top in his class, a Rhodes scholar, and studied at Oxford University to later become very successful. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore is in prison for the rest of his life for a robbery and murder. How did these two grow up so similarly, yet had completely different adulthoods?
The Mothers in this book play a large influence in relation to importance of schooling for the two Wes Moore’s. AWM mother, Joy, believed in schooling to the hilt and was obsessed with her children receiving the best possible education out there. She sacrificed a lot for AWM to go to the same school that John F Kennedy went to, Riverdale. She "worked multiple jobs, from a freelance writer for magazines and television to a furriers assistant- whatever she could do to help cover her growing expenses" (Moore 47). This woman clearly cared a lot about school and wanted her son to be the best he could be. She was also a college graduate, and before her, her parents. On the other hand, the OWM mother, Mary, did not get a chance to finish college. Ironically she dropped out of Johns Hopkins. This was because her grant was taken away; this might have had an effect on her because she was nowhere near as obsessed with her children’s education as Joy was. It is heartbreaking because Mary grew up in a rough part of Baltimore and she, "Made a pact with herself at that moment: she would get her education and leave the neighborhood no matter what it took" (...
The other Wes’s father was not a good father because he was a drunk, and cannot guide his son better. The author Wes’s father gave positive influence to him, although they lived together just a short amount of time. The author Wes writes “I tried to copy his walk, his expression. I was his main man. He was my protector” (11). After the Wes did not know why his mother mad at him, his father patiently explained that Wes could not hit people especially women and you should defend them rather than fight them. Later, his father also led the Wes apologize to his sister and mother. As a matter of fact, the series of behaviors have deeply affected the Wes. Therefore he wanted to copy his father and become a good man. For the other Wes Moore, The author writes, “Finally, after some more jostling, his father’s eyes cracked open. He saw Wes standing over him. Still squinting, he looked his son in the eyes. “Who are you?” (102). When he met his father on his aunt’s house, his father was sleeping on the couch. At that time, the Wes had not seen his father in years. Therefore, his father did not care about his life. Although the other Wes considered leaving the house, he still intended to say hello to him. As a result, his father said that who was Wes when he woke up. Obviously, the other Wes did not feel any love from his father, and he was not responsible for the Wes’
Education, or the lack thereof, is a major contributing factor to poverty. It could be the very cause that sends someone into poverty, or it could be the wall that keeps them from getting out of it. The article, “Education, poverty, and schooling: a study of delhi slum dwellers”, explains that “if education fails to facilitate poverty reduction, the following generation 's schooling is likely to be adversely affected, thus perpetuating a vicious education–poverty circle”. In Duggan, Jackie is unable to provide financial support for her kids. If Jackie doesn’t have the money to feed her kids, then they would not be able to focus in class due to their hunger. In turn, they would not do well in school, and would most likely not go to
However, living in a low-income area in Chicago, I experienced firsthand what motivates poor individuals trying to make ends meet. What motivated a student to do well in school was imagining a future where they did not have to choose between buying milk and buying bread. They were motivated by the prospective of having a decent paying job that moved them out of poverty and away from danger. They talked about the wealthy neighborhoods and how one day if they worked hard in school they can live amongst them. Students and parents from neighborhoods in Chicago and Los Angeles focus on making a living rather than making a difference in the
The story of two men growing up in the same neighborhood with similar backgrounds with the same name and eerily similar circumstances that leads and ultimately has each character ending up in very different places in life. Taking completely different paths to their futures is the setting of this story “The Other Wes Moore”. The way a person is shaped and guided in their developmental years does undoubtedly play a huge role in the type of person they will become in life. The author Wes does a good job of allowing you the ability to read this story and the circumstances surrounding the character his mother joy played such an important role in his success, while comparing the roll of Mary the other Wes’s mother. Both boys grew up with strong, hardworking black women in their lives and yet it still allowed for two completely different journeys. I think the lack of fathers and having not so good male role models was also a contributing factor.
His brother, Tony, was a drug dealer who wished he could go back in time and make the right decisions and he wanted Wes to be different than him. He didn’t want his brother to end up like him, and even after he tried everything to keep Wes away from drugs, nothing worked and he gave up. As you can see, both families are very different, Wes (the author) has a family who wants him to have a bright future. Most importantly, a family who responds fast because right after his mother saw him falling down the wrong hill, she didn’t hesitate to do something about it. The other Wes isn’t as lucky, as I believe, since his mother already had so much pressure over keeping her job and her son Tony being involved in drugs.
Due to the rising costs of tuition of college, children of parents who are impoverished, begin to be distanced from his or her chance of escaping poverty. With a college degree, someone who has remained in poverty can take the first beginning steps of bettering his or her life. In just four years, this person is able to obtain a higher
Education has been historically considered as an equalizer of society in America, allowing the opportunity for even the disadvantaged to reach success. Race was once the strongest factor in determining future achievement, but today Stanford Sociologist, Sean F. Reardon, says income level has become more consequential (Tavernise). President Barack Obama was one of the lucky few able to overcome the obstacles he faced growing up being both African American and underprivileged, but most children are not as lucky (Rampton , Nawaguna). In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, the Lacks family lived in poverty and struggled to perform well in school, resulting in many of them dropping out even before high school (Skloot). The success gap between high and low income students in the U.S. has increased significantly in recent years (McGlynn). The educational achievement of students is significantly affected by their home life, and those living in poverty are much more likely to fall behind academically than children coming from affluent families.
Education is a big factor when determining if someone is able to rise above a hard upbringing. Looking into the future, education is the foundation of a career and therefore one’s success. Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle, and Liz Murray, inspiration of Homeless to Harvard: Liz’s Murray’s Story, both agree that an education is necessary in order to be successful. Throughout their stories, they both worked hard in school and highly regarded their education. Jeannette’s mother Rose Mary agrees saying, “I’ve always believed in the value of a good education,” (Walls, 265). Many children take their education granted and don’t realize it is a privilege. Without a decent education, it will be nearly impossible to land a suitable job. With no job, it will be difficult to support yourself.
Living in poverty exposes children to disadvantages that influence many aspects in their life that are linked to their ability to do well in school. In the United States of America there are an estimated 16.4 million children under the age of 18 living in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). “The longer a child lives in poverty, the lower the educational attainment” (Kerbo, 2012). Children who are raised in low-income households are at risk of failing out before graduating high school (Black & Engle, 2008). U.S. children living in poverty face obstacles that interfere with their educational achievement. Recognizing the problems of living in poverty can help people reduce the consequences that prevent children from reaching their educational potential.
There are many different factors that affect education. One such factor is, socioeconomic status. Children who attend school in a wealthier community receive a better education than those students in poor communities. In poor communities, student’s education is not only affected by a lack of resources, but also from teaching methods and philosophies. Urban and poor schools’ students do not receive as equal of an education as their more affluent and suburban counterparts do.