The Other Wes Moore: Problems and Choices

“I guess it’s hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances”. A strong theme in the book The Other Wes Moore. It all starts with a wide open future for both Wes Moores. Both moms had big influences on them, along with their own choices. People don’t ever stop developing or improving and the two Wes Moore’s are no exception. All through both Wes Moore’s lives, they are continuously changing and in some parts giving orders. One chose correctly, and one did not.

The Mothers in this book are a huge influence in relation to the significance of schooling for the two Wes Moore’s. The Author Wes Moore's mother, Joy, believed in schooling completely and was very concerned with her children receiving the finest possible education. She gave up a lot for TAWM to go to the same school that John F. Kennedy went to, Riverdale. She 'worked multiple jobs, from a freelance writer for magazines and television to a furriers assistant- whatever she could do to help cover her growing expenses' This mother obviously cared a lot about school and wanted her son to be the best he could be. She was also a college graduate, and before her, her parents were also. On the other hand, The Other Wes Moore’s mother, Mary, did not get a chance to finish college. Ironically she dropped out of Johns Hopkins. This was because her grant was taken away; this might have had an effect on her because she was nowhere near as obsessed with her children’s education as Joy was. It's heartbreaking because Mary grew up in a rough part of Baltimore and she, 'Made a pact with herself at that moment: she would get her education and leave the neighborhood no matter what it took”. Her parents before her did not finish college either. This is probably a fundamental difference in the lives of the two Wes Moore’s. Education plays a huge socioeconomic role and there are many examples of that within the story. We find out that their mothers’ views on school affected people around the two Wes Moore’s.

Mary and Joy also had different ways of raising their sons taking into account their environment. Joy was much more strict on her son and tried to teach him well, even from an early age. One example of this is in the start of the book, TAWM hits his sister and does not notice what he did wrong, making him scared of his mother being angry at him. Moore's mother yells at him, 'Get up to your damn room... I told you, don’t ever put your hands on another woman!'. Later he learns his mother had been abused by her last husband. But his mother is very smart to teach this to him from such a young age, as some parents might not care as much as just use the excuse that they’re just kids. The author does indeed grow up to have a great respect and care for women. TAWM was always aware that his mother was the in charge, which he is not always pleased with. However, Mary was far less strict with TOWM and her older son Tony. TOWM wanted to be exactly like his older brother. But Tony wasn't the best person in the world, and this has something to do with his upbringing. Mary did like going out at night and some may get the impression she likes to sweep things under the rug as if they don’t exist. She refused to believe it when she found out from Tony that TOWM had begun selling drugs, and it was only after forcing herself to go through his shoe boxes did she find the truth. There is also the matter of lack of concern when TOWM began mixing with drugs and alcohol. In fact, he finds her weed stash and smokes it and gets drunk at the same time. 'Well, at least now you know how bad it feels an you will stay away from drinking'. But she says this with a laugh, with no seriousness and no punishment. This may be another example of her brushing things off because maybe she doesn’t want to deal with it. In actuality it is at that moment that TOWM realizes he can make good money off of selling drugs. Maybe if she had disciplined him he wouldn't have come to that conclusion.

While it is true their mothers play a big role when it comes to school, it is also the choices they both make regarding their dedication to their education that has a huge impact. Later we learned that TAWM was sent to a respected school, but he did not try very well to get good grades, and he did not care about the things his mother had to give up for him. He felt very out of place, Moore recalls, 'I was becoming to 'rich' for the kids from the neighborhood and too 'poor' for the kids at school'. Because of his feelings of being an outsider, he began to skip a lot of school and show no interest. This is when Joy sends him off to military school and at first he resisted and fought back and showed no interest in his education once more. But the military eventually broke him down and this is where he chose try again and make his life better. TAWM started to enjoy it and was motivated to be better. That choice he made for himself lead his path. Unfortunately, TOWM didn't even give himself a chance to turn things around while he was still young and in school. He made the choice to not only start selling drugs, which stops almost any kind of success, but he also had unprotected sex, multiple times. His first child caused him to drop out of high school that he then followed with three more, severely crippling his chances at ever going back. Another choice he made was to engage in violence and fight fire with fire. He got into an altercation with another male and his mind was set, 'Send a Message'. He ended up shooting at this person with a gun, which made him end up in prison. That period of time in his life was just bad decisions leading to even more bad outcomes. First it was the drugs, then the children, and then the violence. The sad part is that he put himself in those situations, he made that life for himself. Choices are a huge theme in this book, and the two men will continue to make them later on, meeting their destiny.

They were both led to different paths that started with their mothers, and this led to their influences and mentors they meet that help guide them. TAWM had many mentors that included Paul White, who helped him see he was Johns Hopkins material when he didn’t even believe he had that potential. It also didn’t hurt he was the assistant director of admissions, which helped earn him a spot. Mayor Schmoke was also a person who gave him confidence, this time in regards to the Rhodes scholarship. Moore remembers that he “found out years later that it was Judge Robert Hammerman and Senator Sarbanes who gave him the confidence to apply”. One successful man was paying it forward, in the hopes that TAWM might one day too. This is why mentors are crucial in helping push potential youth to new heights. TOWM also had positive mentors at the Job Corps that helped him see his potential and a good future. He was so inspired he even built his daughter a house. Unfortunately, whether the program wasn’t strong, or by his flaws, it did not work for him and he ended up back in the drug game.

All in all, these men were different and similar in so many ways. There are a lot of times where they could've ended up in each other’s shoes. Many things during their lives led them to different places. The choices they made for themselves and their mothers were a huge part in what happened to them. However circumstances are only half the battle. If you want something good in this life, you’ll have to make the right choices. TAWM did, and TOWN did not.

Works Cited

• Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010.