Wes Moore's Duplicated Individuals Diverging

Duplicated Individuals Diverging
The tale of the two Wes Moores start the same, but different paths take one to Oxford and the other to prison for life. Both born in Baltimore these souls will have similar childhoods. As the tales of these two individuals play out, decisions made differently changes the outcome of their lives. The fate of these two men are decided by themselves and their community around them. The advice that they are given, the choices their parents made and the choices they made are what shaped their future.
The criminal, Wes Moore, was greatly influenced by the advice of his older brother. Tony Moore, Wes’s older brother, was a drug dealer before the age of ten, so his advice would not be the most reputable. Tony had

told Wes to always stand up for himself and if he were to ever get injured Tony proclaimed he should retaliate by “Send[ing] a message” (Moore 34). This advice would stay with Wes his entire life and would inevitably get him arrested twice. However, Wes, the author, was given his own advice at a young age. A police officer had caught him vandalizing but felt sympathy for him. He had explained to Wes that if he does not “...get smart…” (Moore 83) that he would certainly see him again. This news frightened Wes and at that point he vowed to never be caught in a situation like that again. The advice that was given to the two boys would stick with them and effectively influence their lives.
Wes, the criminal, had only a few altercations where he met his father.

The last time Wes had seen him would be the last for a reason. His father was laying on the couch and he looked up at Wes and said “‘Who are you?” (Moore 102). When his father had left him as a baby and decided to never visit him little did he know he was setting his son up for failure. Not knowing how to be a father Wes had 4 kids in result led him back to the drug community and back to the drug game. Moreover, Westley, the author, had a different experience with his father. Wes’s father died when he was young but the middle name that he gave Wes really empowered him through many situations. The name “Wantande” (Moore 7) which meant “‘revenge will not be sought’” (Moore 6-7) would be a perfect foreshadow of Wes’s personality. He would be verbally assaulted and physically assaulted but his restrainment would keep him safe and away from trouble. Both of the parental decisions shaped the diverging future of these

men.
Both Wes’s made decisions of their own to reach the point where they are today.

Wes, the drug dealing criminal, had made wrong choices early in his life by getting involved with drugs at a young age. When Wes “Placed the headset over his freshly cut fade” (Moore 62) he sealed his fate in the drug game. This decision he made by himself would eventually lead him to sell drugs and inexorably be incarcerated. Furthermore, the author Wes was a basketball player in his childhood years. The fence around the court he played on created a “circle of trust” (Moore 45) and the people he played played with gave him a sense of “A brotherhood” (Moore 45). This environment had stalled Wes’s intermingling with drug use and supported the reason to not need them. Both of these choices made the Moores who they are

today.
The community and the two Moores themselves had impacted their future as the well seasoned author and the druggy conman they turned out to be today. The advice from an older brother and a cop would shape the lives of these two young boys. The mother and the father of these men would make choices that would stay with them forever. The choices that they had made also effectively made them who they are. Although the Moores were very similar when they were young their surroundings made their lives diverge.