The book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, questions how two extremely similar lives have completely opposite stories. The author and the other Wes Moore grew up in the same community. One became an accomplished author, while the other ended up in prison. At what point did their paths diverge? Do we turn into “products of our environment?” What drives our judgments and treatments of others? The Author never provides answers to any of these questions. He lets the readers determine their own explanations. The point of this paper is to give my interpretation of some of these questions. We only become “products of our environment” if we do not take a proactive role in our life; our ego and how we control our behaviors influence how we
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When a bully feels that his/her self-esteem is being threatened, generally, the bully reacts and tries to put somebody else down. A great example of this in the book is when Deshawn, “started trash-talking Randy, a lanky Riverdale kid with a mop haircut, after Randy hit a single” (Moore 53). Deshawn did not want to feel inferior to anybody else, so he attempted to upset Randy, which he succeeded in. Recently, my friend's younger sister finished her freshman year in high school. She is an excellent volleyball player, in fact, the best on her team. One of her teammates is jealous of her abilities, so she is always attempting to put her down by gossiping about her to their teammates and spreading rumors. Sadly, sometimes we treat others poorly in order to put ourselves up on a pedestal. Another factor that controls how we judge and treat others is how often we critically think about our present situations. Critically thinking is difficult in the heat of the moment. It is too easy to let our emotions control us rather than us controlling our emotions. When the neighborhood boy punched Wes’s lip, Wes didn’t even take the time to judge the situation. His emotions took control. All Wes could focus on was his feelings. Wes wanted revenge. He did not feel anything else but anger. He was so fixated on hurting this boy that he didn’t notice anything about his surroundings. “His vision tunneled till the only thing he saw was the boy who’d punched him” (Moore 34). Wes did not see nor hear the cop. As a result of not thinking, Wes was arrested just before he tried to slash the boy with his knife. This is also a challenge for me, especially when I am driving. It is easy to get caught up in the moment. When people cut in front of me it is easy to place judgements and assume that person is a jerk or an idiot, but there could be a reasonable explanation for their behavior. They could have just had a
When a bully feels that his/her self-esteem is being threatened, generally, the bully reacts and tries to put somebody else down. A great example of this in the book is when Deshawn, “started trash-talking Randy, a lanky Riverdale kid with a mop haircut, after Randy hit a single” (Moore 53). Deshawn did not want to feel inferior to anybody else, so he attempted to upset Randy, which he succeeded in. Recently, my friend's younger sister finished her freshman year in high school. She is an excellent volleyball player, in fact, the best on her team. One of her teammates is jealous of her abilities, so she is always attempting to put her down by gossiping about her to their teammates and spreading rumors. Sadly, sometimes we treat others poorly in order to put ourselves up on a pedestal. Another factor that controls how we judge and treat others is how often we critically think about our present situations. Critically thinking is difficult in the heat of the moment. It is too easy to let our emotions control us rather than us controlling our emotions. When the neighborhood boy punched Wes’s lip, Wes didn’t even take the time to judge the situation. His emotions took control. All Wes could focus on was his feelings. Wes wanted revenge. He did not feel anything else but anger. He was so fixated on hurting this boy that he didn’t notice anything about his surroundings. “His vision tunneled till the only thing he saw was the boy who’d punched him” (Moore 34). Wes did not see nor hear the cop. As a result of not thinking, Wes was arrested just before he tried to slash the boy with his knife. This is also a challenge for me, especially when I am driving. It is easy to get caught up in the moment. When people cut in front of me it is easy to place judgements and assume that person is a jerk or an idiot, but there could be a reasonable explanation for their behavior. They could have just had a