The Other Wes Moore.........One Name, Two Fates

1. The Wes Moore's were a like because they were born blocks apart from each other in similar Baltimore neighborhoods. They grew up fatherless, hung out on street corners with bad groups of kids and ran into trouble with the police at an early age. They also bad grades and struggled with school.

2. A turning point in Wes 1 was his mother shipping him off to military school. She had told him that if he didn't do well in school and stay out of trouble that's where he would be going. He called her bluff and continued to slack off and then he found himself at Valley Forge military school. At first he didn't take it seriously and slacked off there. His fellow troops didn't want him there either because of the distraction he was causing. He realized that his mother had put a lot of money and sacrifice for him to go there. He also realized that going to that school will help him with discipline and take some responsibility for his actions and being treated differently then back on the street corner in the old neighborhood. After awhile he improved dramatically and was enjoying the school very much. 

Wes 2  didn't get a break until later in life where he needed to find a job to raise his kid and take care of his family. He was able to get a job at jobs corps doing carpentry and acquired skills so he could get a decent job when he was done.  After finishing the corps he had crap jobs and couldn't find a job to provide for his family. So he went into drug business because he knew he needed money fast and he knew they would be the only way his family would survive. He was weak to give in so easy and to take the low road. By him going back to "thug-life" he didn't learn anything.    

3. The boys parents had a big affect on their personal development. Wes 1 father died when he was three and he didn't understand really what was going on at the time. He was a good father and husband. The  mother, after her husband had died, struggled with with his death and raising Wes and the other children. She realized she needed to find help and went and took the family to live their grandparents. She also wanted the best for her children. The neighborhood was falling apart and becoming dangerous, so the change was good. Wes's mom did her best to keep her son out trouble and to do well in school.

Wes 2 had a different life. His father was ghost from when he was born. He met his father later at his grandmothers and he was a creepy drunk. The mother struggled to raise her kids as best as she could. Wes 2 did have a father figure around and the closest thing to one was his older half brother Tony who was a drug dealer from the age of ten. So Wes already in the bad surroundings at an early age and seeing the way his brother dressed and acted, to Wes, Tony was a "gangsta". Tony did try and tell him to stay in school and that he wishes he could have a due-over. Because the life he lives is terrible and dangerous. 

4. The book showed two different types of human behavior. Wes 1 started off on the right track and then introduced to street life and getting into trouble. He slacked off in school and had a run in with the police. His mother always being on his case and doing all she could to keep an eye on her son is what kept him from going down the toilet. The military school was a big help in his self help becoming a man. 

Wes 2 from the start of the book was in bad surroundings had no one really that looked out for him. He had a older half brother that was a drug dealer that was the closes thing he had to a father/ role model. He was taught by his brother not to take peoples crap and to leave a impression that they won't ever bother you again. He took that to heart and he listened to him. He was in and out of trouble with the police from when he was young and now a convicted murdered. I feel that if he had some guidance other than his druggie brother he might have had a chance.

5. I like the booked very much. It reminded me of when I was a kid and the people I hung out with and how I had some in common with the Wes boys. I wasn't big with school and I am still not. No clue of what I wanted after high school. My dad did the best he could to raise my sister and I. Keeping a good eye on us to make sure  we weren't doing the wrong thing. Staying involved in our lives was probably the best thing he could have done. Now a days kids parents drop them off at the day care or are always away so they have to be watched by a sitter or nanny. Spending time with your kids will definitely change who they are when they are older. Having guidance in their lives is important. Going into the military made me mature a lot faster than my friends because of the discipline and strict rules and attention to detail. 

I know I'm blabbing along here but book shows how different you life could be with the decisions you make throughout the course of your life. The choices Wes 1 makes are great and the choices Wes 2 makes you shake your head especially when for a small chance you think he may have found a way out of the awful life he was leading. But he gets pulled back in.