In the book The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, Wes Moore swings back and forth between his story of growing up and the life story of another man of the same name. Typically, I would not choose a non-fiction book to read by choice. Even though this is not normally what I would read, I am really glad I picked this book for my summer reading. I read this book in two days. That may seem very fast but I was in a car for a total of eighteen hours so I figured I would get the book out of the way. Overall, I did think the book was very interesting in the way that Wes Moore contrasted his life with the other Wes Moore.
In the middle of the book, Wes Moore includes a memory of when he went to visit the other Wes Moore on his birthday in a correctional institution. Both Moore's reflected on the wrongs of their childhood and where those wrongs had led them. For the author Wes Moore, they had only motivated him to be his best self. He has gone on to be an author, social entrepreneur, and a former US Army Officer. Thanks to the people who led him on the right path, he was able to overcome the obstacles of his adolescence, unlike the other Wes. The other Wes did not have a strong foundation or someone to lean on and protect him from committing crime at an early age. Whilst sitting there with the other Wes, the author says, "I guess it's hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances" (Moore 67). Moore's tone is meditative as he thinks about how it is difficult to tell how many chances you have until you run out. Later in the book, Moore creates a tone that makes the reader feel sympathy for the other Wes. Moore writes, "Wes was tired. Tired of being locked up, tired of watching drugs destroy entire families...He understood that his thoughts contradicted his actions" (138). Through this quote, the reader can see that even though Wes was selling drugs and taking part in criminal activity, he was upset. The other Wes was not proud of what his life had come to and Wes Moore, the author, wanted to reflect this sadness in this book.
This book highlights the brutal city life that both Wes' experienced. Growing up in such a harsh environment can impact how a person turns out when they become adults. This article provides an explanation why teens that grow up in harsh cities are more likely to engage in violent activity or commit crimes. Both Wes Moores' lives were greatly impacted based on the people they were surrounded with and what they were exposed to at a young age. In the article, William Harms writes that the children cope with violence in different ways. They can choose to use those experiences to make them stronger or fail to get out of the dangerous environment they grew up in.
Citations:
Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. New York: Spiegel
& Grau Trade Paperbacks, 2011. Print.
Harms, William. "Urban Youth Cope with Neighborhood Violence in Diverse Ways." UChicago
News. N.p., 02 Dec. 2010. Web. 28 Aug. 2016.
