President Mark Keenums statement about the other Wes Moore was completely true when he said “That’s what [The Other Wes Moore] is all about. Two people with virtually identical lives, the only difference between them being the choices they made. Their choices made all the difference” (Keenum). The Other Wes Moore is a novel about two people that grew up in the same neighborhood, however, had completely different outcomes. The Author, Moore had the better outcome in the story and the other Wes Moore did not turn out so well. Throughout the novel, each off the Wes Moore’s had a tough tragedy by losing their fathers at an early age, they also both received second chances at a young age, and they …show more content…
He had the opportunity to play at a very high level because of his football athletic ability. When Wes was eight years old he got into an incident with some neighborhood boys when he was playing football, it ended with Wes running home and grabbing a knife. After Wes grabbed the knife the cops were called and he and the other young boy were both put into handcuffs. When Wes was young he also got involved in selling and taking drugs. When he was fifteen years old his older brother noticed, Wes had a collection of nice sneakers and was wondering how we was getting them. Wes told Tony the same lies he told his mother that it was from Djing. Wes’s mother finds drugs in his room and throws them out. Wes freaks out and yells at his mom saying “Ma’ do you know what you just did?” (73). This quote is showing a great deal of emotion because you can feel the tension and frustration coming from Wes when he asks his mother if she knew what she had just done. Wes was very angry that his mother could do such a thing. Wes was extremely angry at his mother because he lost money that he did not have to pay back people back for. Wes let his opportunities go to waste because of his bad actions in the drug world.
Throughout Wes’s young life he had plenty of shots at second chances. He did not realize a second chance only has a reason if you use it. He wasted his second chances. His biggest second chance was when he was selling drugs and then moved out with his mother. His mother was giving him another chance at how to be a good kid and stay out of trouble. This did not work because Wes went back to selling drugs shortly after he moved away with his mother.