Wes Moore Analysis

1. Briefly describe each of the Wes Moore’s. Include information you believe is important to their life path (community, family life, big decisions, etc.).

Wes the author was born in Baltimore Maryland to father journalist and mother who was Jamaican. He watched his father’s death and afterward his mother moved the family to the Bronx. There his grades began to take a plunge and he began to be involved with the wrong crowd. His mother, Joy, took things head on and decided to enroll him to a military academy which assisted in his success today.

The other Wes Moore (Imprisoned) had a fatherless childhood. His mother, Mary, wanted to pursue a higher education but do to funds she was unable to to continue went funding was cut for various programs.

His older brother was trying to lead Wes but do to his drug trade made Wes believe that he was a liar and believed it was fine since he is doing it. Their mother wanted to believe that her sons were not involved with that and avoided taking them head on.

2.

"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." To what extent do you think this is true? What, ultimately, prevented their stories from being interchangeable?

Both characters had grown up in “ghetto” areas not far from one another and had pretty similar backgrounds. Which created the possibility that the author (Wes Moore) could have had the same fate as his incarcerated friend. What assisted in the prevention of the switch of fates would be the fact that we all have the ability to make wise decisions and it is only up to the individual to determine what will be the next step will be.

3. Do you think one Wes Moore had a stronger family unit or a better support system or money while growing up? How can having a strong support system change a child’s

life?

Yes, if there is a strong connection within the family there is going to be more knowledge of what is occurring in their lives and assistance will be apparent within the relationship. This can drastically alter a child’s life since it will show that there is some concern about what they do. Without it a child may feel like their family doesn’t care so they will do whatever they decide to do since there will be no repercussions for the actions. This was apparent with the Author’s life since he had some guidance of what to do and not to do throughout his childhood. An example that stuck out to me was the part when Wes struck his sister and his mother was going to unleash herself after his actions. The explanations from his father allowed him to realize and learn from what he had done. Unlike the imprisoned Wes who pleaded to be released from custody before his mother found out.
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4. “Do you think we’re all just products of our environment?” The author posed this question to Wes who answered by saying that we are all products of others’ expectations that we take on as our own." To what extent do the expectations of others control our outcomes? To what extent should we hold ourselves accountable for our own actions?

Well there is always the fate aspect in everything that occurs in our lives but majority of the outcomes created from the individuals own decisions. It is up to the individual to determine what can occur, if they do one thing then something will be the outcome. A side from that, there is always the possibility of being at the wrong place at the wrong time which can have an affect of on the outcomes of life.

5. The author says to the other Wes, “I guess it’s hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances.” What do you think he

means?

I think what Wes was trying to say is you do not know if a second chance is your last chance. In life you are sometimes given a second opportunity to redeem yourself but there is a possibility that it could have been the last time and there is no going back on the actions that were initiated.

6. Wes Moore the author says, “I was taught to remember but never question. Wes was taught to forget, and never ask why.” Are these things different - how? How do they point to differences in each of the Wes’s upbringings? How might they connect to the differences in their outcomes?

They are essentially the same both were raised to just accept the outcomes and to never question them. Although Wes the author, was told to remember what happen as if what occurred should be used as a future reference. Like the hitting his sister, he didn’t ask why he couldn’t hit women but remembered what his father explained to him. The imprisoned Wes Moore, was told to just forget what happened and accept the fate. Forgetting didn’t allow that Wes to remember what the outcomes were and he his more likely to continue repeating what happened without questioning it.

7. What does privilege mean to you? What privileges do you have in your life? How does the idea of privilege connect to The Other Wes Moore?

Privilege is having an opportunity that others do not have. The privileges I have is being able to go out of state and go to school with a family that supports me back home. The idea of privilege is relevant to the story because Wes the author was given some opportunity that the imprisoned one was unable to be able to have. Wes was fortunate enough to have a mother that didn’t avoid what her children were doing. Also the fact of being in a military academy allowed Wes to be a leader which lead to wiser choices which the other Wes didn’t have the opportunity to have.

8. Rev. Dr. Sherman Hicks asked during Opening Convocation, “What will you do with your life to make a better or more just society?” How would you respond? How does this play into your values?