The Other Wes Moore Summary

When Your Mother Hits You, Do Not Strike Back There are those who believe in fate and hand over the steering wheel whether or not there exists any greater power waiting to take it, and there are those who believe in the causation held in their own palms. Two paths diverged in a yellow wood; one boy grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar serving America, another aided in murder and is now serving a life sentence. Both share the same name, both grew up in similar environments, but neither ended up like the other. The lives of people are controlled by their choices. This or that, him or her, red or blue; every moment is a decision. In The Other Wes Moore, the jailed Wes Moore said, “‘We do what others expect of us[.] 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’” (Moore 126). In response, the author Wes Moore said, “‘True, but it’s easy to lose control when you were never …show more content…
The author initially had a strong family unit: mother, father, and two sisters. After his father’s death, some of the security that went along with that disappeared, and changes had to be made. His mother was still made of strength, and she was determined to see only the best in her children’s future, willing to sacrifice as much as needed to follow through. The other Wes Moore had a deadbeat dad, a young, struggling mother, and an older brother setting a poor example. His father had no positive role in his life, his mother was barely keeping their heads above water while still trying to live a life she could enjoy, and his brother-on-a-pedestal was notorious for all the wrong