Wes Moore Essay

993 Words4 Pages
Two Distinctive Paths In the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, the author writes about himself and another man of the same name, who lived near him as they grew up and who also happened to have the exact same name as he. The author becomes a successful man, while the “other” Wes Moore ends up being a convicted murderer, serving a life sentence. Wes Moore states, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” Throughout the book, Wes tries to figure out why their lives turned out to be so different. The most crucial ingredients in determining the different outcomes between the author Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore are the parenting, guidance, and direction each one had from his respective mother. Considering the challenges, Joy the authors mother, does provide her son with positive parenting, and this guidance helps him become the successful, achieving, influential person he is today. Joy is strict and tough while raising Wes. She monitors his behavior regularly and does whatever she can to be aware of what is going on in his life. She notices that Wes has the potential to succeed; the only thing he needs is a boost. One day, while in the car, she challenges his idea that he is incapable of learning by noticing he can memorize rap lyrics. By the age of 14, she calls him out and decides to make the drastic decision of sending him to military school. Joy gives her son goals and sets high expectations for his behavior and his achievements in school. She insists that he needs to remain in military school, despite his protests to the contrary. She also insists that he can do better than C’s and D’s on his report card. As a caring mother, she deliberately changes his environment and sends him to a private school to help him avoid negative influences. Although the change was
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