The Other Wes Moore Life

In the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates the author, Wes Moore, and his counter part began in somewhat similar environments, but as the story developed the two men began to lead entirely different lives. However, it was decisions made by the people that effected their environment that made the outcome of these two men’s lives so different from one another. Both of these men began their lives in what would be considered by most people unstable homes. Yet, both of these men ended with entirely different life stories and outcomes. I asked myself, how this could be possible? I concluded that it was the people in their lives that were effecting their environment that made a difference in the outcome of their lives and the unavoidable …show more content…
The only way that this changes is if someone forces them to change by altering their environment. For this reason, I believe that it was Joy’s final decision to enroll the author into military school that ultimately made the biggest difference in the life of the author. Likewise, I believe that it was this decision that set the two men’s lives on opposite paths. Despite first fighting this life altering change, the author Wes Moore eventually realized the worth of academics and the structure that was being provided for him. “Just as military school had slowly grown on me, so had academic life” (130). On the other hand, the other Wes Moore was left in his environment and repeated a life of violence and gang relations. In order to provide for his family he was forced to go back to the gang world even after completing Job Corps because “Wes realized the only consistency in his employment was inconsistency. That, and the fact that none of these jobs paid over nine dollars an hour” (144). The drug world was the only world that Wes knew how to make a profit. In consequence, he reentered the drug world which eventually led him to being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of …show more content…
Like them, I too am a product of my environment. I was raised in a stable home with both parents. This gift that I am alway grateful for has allowed me to grow up without worrying about money or food. My parents emphasized education over everything which instilled within me a love of learning that I still have today. “‘We will do what others expect of us,’ Wes said. ‘If they expect us to graduate, we will graduate. If they expect us to get a job, we will get a job. If they expect us to go to jail, then that’s where we will end up too. At some point you lose control’” (126). In my opinion, I thought that this quote itself embodied what the author was trying to get the reader to understand through his book. My traditional, stable parents expected me to eventually graduate college and to become a successful, independent adult ever since I was born. Consequently, their influence to achieve at my highest potential has set me on the path to do so. Unlike the other Wes Moore, the author Wes Moore and myself included were set on the path to succeed because of the strong influence of our parents’ wishes for our futures. In the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, these men had the same names and similar beginnings. Ultimately, these men led completely different lives due to the environment they were exposed to. At a certain point there is only so much that our loved ones can do for