Wes Moore: A Famous African-American Writer

One of the most well-renowned authors, Wes Moore, took his life struggles of growing up in an extremely unprivileged neighborhood --where the chances of living a successful life are very scarce--However, In Moore’s inspirational memoir called The Other Wes Moore, he compared his life to another man who lived through the same unfortunate circumstances, but Moore defied the odds and became an influential figure in the African - American community.

The Other Wes Moore is an autobiographical novel that is told from the heart of author, Wes Moore, while showing an illustrative purpose. One section of his book, in the epilogue, shows Moore diving into a more personal note on the roller coaster of a life he has lived, thus far. He uses his tone and diction to reflect on how the environment people grow up in can influence the ways they act and to explain that the people closest to you can change the opportunities you may have later in life, while using imagery and parallelism to show that no matter who you are or what background you come from, it can’t restrict or confine you from doing extraordinary things.

In The Other Wes Moore, the author expresses the striking similarities between him and another man with the same name. The two men are so similar, in fact, that there are very few elements of their lives that set them apart, such as their family histories and personal choices. In writing his book, the author has several target audiences in mind, from young black men to young adults pursuing higher education and people in positions of power. Despite his multiple target audiences, the author has one overall purpose for his book: to show what happens when a person full of potential gives up hope. The story also goes further, showing the importance of both family history and personal choice in the shaping of a person’s future.

The true memoir, The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, describes the lives of two young boys- one boy being the author himself- and the life decisions that they have made which allows them to be in the positions they are currently in. The human thought process, the environmental factors, and the human interactions are not exactly similar in these two males lives and that is simply the differentiation between the author Wes and the imprisoned Wes.

I first learned of the Other Wes Moore in the autumn of 2014, during the first few months of my sophomore year of high school. My English teacher had assigned the class an essay to write on a nonfiction book of our choice, so I read the back covers of half a dozen books in order to choose one. Even though I did not end up picking the Other Wes Moore, I was still interested in reading it one day. The question “How, then, did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence?” is posed on the back of the book, and I wanted to know the answer (Moore Back Cover).

Throughout the span of the novel, The Other Wes Moore, the two Wes Moore, unfortunately, weren’t the only characters that suffer from society’s oppression. As a matter of fact, one can argue agree that most characters’ social class did impact their storylines. Take, for example, the other Wes Moore’s mom, Mary Moore, who due to the termination of the Pell Grant had to leave behind her education at Johns Hopkins University. Having already been socially isolated from her peers because of the “color of her skin”, Ms. Moore at this moment lost her opportunity to succeed. She lost the ability to earn a degree and henceforth, her ability to reach social mobility.

Thesis: In the memoir “The Other Wes Moore”, by Wes Moore, the author uses poverty to show how this societal issue impacts his education and the environment growing up.

In the book, The Other Wes Moore, the author deliberately talks about the viability of two young individuals who share the same name and went down the same road, but ended in dramatically different paths. Both Wes’s were from Baltimore and came from low income families. They both grew up in a single parent home where they only had their mothers in their lives but not their fathers. The reasons for their fathers not being in the picture are immensely different though. Similarly, they come across critical moments or events that lead to the different circumstances they end up in. Also, the impact that their families had on them was quite different and the way the families reacted to their behavior was nothing alike. I believe the environment in which one is raised in and the people who surround someone has a lot to do with the way one turns out to be. While one of the Wes’s prospers in life and becomes a successful person, the other falls in the hands of their environment and finds the easy way out of it by being in the drug business.

The Other Wes Moore documents the true life stories of two Black males named Wes Moore that both grew up in broken families located in disadvantaged neighborhoods, but regardless of their similar backgrounds one Wes Moore became a Rhodes Scholar while the other is incarcerated (Moore, 2010). In similar vein, I saw the same parallels with the Wes Moore’s in my own life with having a half-brother with the same name as myself who was incarcerated. Although we were directed toward different trajectories we were only houses apart from each other with an abusive father that simultaneously maintained two families. It could be argued the trajectories were mere coincidence, but my twin sister and I both sustained the same experiences from birth, yet

In the memoir titled The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore the author shows us throughout the book the conditions that both Wes Moores have gone through. In their early childhood, they lived in poverty stricken neighborhoods with a mother that tried to do everything she could to better her children's lives. It is through these conditions that they were presented with their own set of opportunities and choices. Though, both Wes’s were given a multitude of chances they both took their separate paths. From public vandalism to dealing drugs on the street. It is through these conditions and paths they have taken that shaped them into the men they are today.The author's purpose for this is to inform us that our choices and paths

Wes Moore was born in Washington DC in what was a perfect household. Wes life took a turn for the worse when his father died when he was three from acute epiglottis. His mother didn’t take his father death very well, forcing them to move from DC to the Bronx the town his mother grew up in. Because the public-school system had become so terrible and Wes was getting involved in crime, his Mother enrolled him in military school. Military School changed Wes, he soon became a platoon sergeant and a star basketball player. After high school Wes went to Junior College to complete the requirements to become a second lieutenant in the Army’s reserved. Later, in his life he went on to attend John Hopkins University, interned for the mayor of Baltimore, became a Rhodes Scholar, studied at Oxford University, and a New York Times Bestselling author.

In Wes Moore's New York Times Best Selling book, The Other Wes Moore we follow the stories of two young men of the same name. One man is consumed by the life of crime and selling drugs that he was surrounded by as a Baltimore city youth then ends up at the mercy of the law and another man who also begins life in a not-so-good neighborhood in Baltimore but through hard work escapes the fate that many in his situation succumb to and becomes a highly respected, successful member of society. The story of these men have been spread throughout the globe and it teaches the lesson that certain decisions can change the outcome of your life drastically and challenges people to make good choices.

“The Other Wes Moore” written by Wes Moore is an autobiography that tells two stories. Two unrelated humans with two different lives. Both kids grew up in Baltimore and had many similar life experiences. Even though the two kids with similar background and identical social class had nothing to do with each other, their life choices definitely affected their futures.

Throughout a child’s life, they encounter several challenges that require them to make a choice. These decisions, which can affect them throughout their lives, can be impacted by various things such as school, friends, and familial presence. This concept is discussed in The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore. Through both structural disadvantages and personal choices, these challenges had a significant impact on both main characters, the author Wes and the convict Wes.

How can two people have the same name and not realize it? They both grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and they both had similar lives growing up but their futures were completely different. One Wes Moore grew up to be successful while the other one landed himself in jail. They both had a similar childhood. They both grew up without a father and they both got themselves into trouble a lot. They grew up in the neighborhoods where a lot of drug deals and violence went on. Each of their mothers wanted the best for them and they made sure they tried as hard as they could to make that happen. In the book, The Other Wes Moore, both Wes Moore’s face similar challenges but one turns out successful and one ends up in jail.