Wes Moore Environmental Influences

Being products of evolution, nearly all living things are, in essence, products of their environment. The environment influences which traits are successful and get passed on. Before long, those organisms are directly products of their environment. This phenomenon chiefly occurs when the environment holds all the power over the organism. When it comes to humans, however, we are social animals, we influence and are influenced by those around us. Because of this, humans are not solely products of their environment but they are strongly influenced by those around them, especially their role models. This very idea is demonstrated in The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore through the ways both boys learn the behaviors of those around …show more content…
His lesson on violence came when he was an elementary schooler, but it still impacted his lated decisions nonetheless. This Wes, the one in jail, was taught by his older brother Tony that violence was necessary and that most importantly, to answer disrespect by “send[ing] a message so fierce that they won’t have a chance to do it again”(p33). These teachings informed his reaction to the punch he received after playing football with some neighborhood boys (p31). After the punch Wes thought of what Tony taught him, causing Wes to seek to send a message. A message in the form of a long kitchen knife that Wes intended to use on the boy. Fortunately the police intervened saving both boys from greater harm yet after Wes was arrested Tony re enforced his lesson by getting Wes out of jail without him receiving any real punishment. According to Kohlberg's stages of moral development, morality, at Wes’ age then, is defined by punishment and reward. So by helping Wes avoid punishment for his actions, Tony is reinforcing that behavior for the rest of his life. The acceptance of violence and the need to escalate it, resurfaces in Wes’ life during his teenage years. One night as Wes was saying goodbye to a girl he was physically, yet not quite romantically, involved with, he was confronted by the girl’s boyfriend. Enraged at having caught his girlfriend with another guy, the …show more content…
However, Wes immediately ran into trouble with his superiors(p.89) even attempting to run away on four separate occasions(p.90). Chafing with his environment, Wes continued to cause trouble until he found a role model, Cadet Captain Hill (p. 97). Wes began to climb the ranks “with the support of people like Cadet Captain Hill”. And he soon was thriving there. Wes’s initial trouble and eventual success due to the help of those around him, illustrates how a person isn’t simply a product of their environment but they are molded by the people around them, most of all the people they look up to. An empowering thought, considering we cannot choose our environment, yet we are able to choose who we surround ourselves