The Other Wes Moore: The Impact of FamilyMany people would state we are all merely merchandises of our environment. For two immature male childs from Baltimore. this could non be truer. In “The Other Wes Moore: One Name. Two Fates. ” written by Wes Moore. two fatherless. immature male childs turning up in the same vicinity with the same name. stop up on two wholly different waies of life. The writer becomes a Rhodes Scholar. college alumnus. veteran. and much more. while the “other” Wes gets profoundly involved with the drug game and spends most of his life in problem with the jurisprudence. When these male childs come from such similar backgrounds. how is it that they take such different journeys in life? The ground why one Wes Moore became assorted up with drugs and the jurisprudence. and why one became successful. is because of the household each grew up with. The outlooks that each household held their Wes to put the tone for the manner each would populate the remainder of his life.
The author’s female parent sacrificed what she had to in order to do certain her boy wouldn’t become involved with drugs. while the “other” Wes’s female parent told him non to. but she was in fact utilizing drugs. They each grew up without a male parent. but for different grounds. Wes’s male parent. peace-loving with a stable calling. died when Wes was merely three. while the “other” Wes’s male parent. who was alive and good. take non to be a portion of his son’s life. Wes’s parents made a positive environment for their boy. while the “other” Wes’s parents left him to endure in the environment he was born into. The sum of outlooks each household put on their Wes was. in bend. the sum of outlooks each Wes had for his hereafter ego.
The actions of each Wes’s female parent played a big portion in their lives. The writer. Wes’s. female parent. Joy. was really ambitious and finished college ( Moore 8-9 ) . She raised all of her kids together. and she worked multiple occupations to direct all of her kids to private school ( Moore 48 ) . When Wes started to fall buttocks in his categories. she decided to direct him to military school ( Moore 87 ) . This is where the difference between the two Wes’s female parents is outstanding. The “other Wes’s female parent. Mary. ne’er finished college. and her older boy lived with his pa ( Moore 18. 26 ) . She wasn’t every bit concerned with how her boy did in school. but when he failed 6th class and had to reiterate it. she decided to travel her household to Baltimore County ( Moore 57 ) . Just before that. Wes found her “stash” of marihuana in her cupboard. and after smoking it. made the determination to get down selling it ( Moore 59-62 ) . Where Joy made every attempt to maintain her boy out of the drug concern. Mary was straight related to her boy acquiring involved with drugs. She made them available to him. and was the beginning of his first drugs. She is the ground he chose to get down selling drugs. Their female parents led by illustration. which in bend. directed them onto the life waies they took.
Their male parents besides affected their lives in the same manner as their female parents. Wes’s male parent. Wes. was a strong. peaceable adult male who had a stable calling. He passed off when Wes was three. go forthing Joy with their three kids ( Moore 15 ) . He still had a positive impact on Wes’s life. though. He was a positive function theoretical account for Wes even after his passing. The “other” Wes didn’t have it rather every bit good. nevertheless. His male parent. Bernard. was still alive and good. but left Wes with Mary. and didn’t attention to hold a relationship with his boy. One of the few times Wes interacted with his male parent was when he went to his Mamie’s house. His Mamie was his father’s female parent. and his male parent merely happened to be intoxicated and passed out on the sofa at her house ( Moore 23-25 ) . Wes was seven when he met his male parent for the first clip. The difference in engagement between their male parents besides plays a portion in their future self-expectations. Wes was successful. and therefore his boy wanted to be successful. Bernard was no illustration of a male parent figure to Wes. During his first brush with his boy. he was rummy and kiping on his mother’s sofa. Tony. Wes’s brother. was more of a male parent figure for Wes than Bernard could of all time trust to be. He was ever at that place seeking to assist Wes. but he was every bit much of a dissembler as Mary was. He set a awful illustration by being involved in the drug trade.
Their parents put the outlooks for their lives. which is why one Wes was successful and the other was a condemnable. Wes’s parents held him to higher criterions than the “other” Wes’s parents did. Joy and Wes were both college alumnuss who had steady callings. They were ambitious people. and that can be seen in the manner they raised Wes. He has graduated college. travelled. and worked in some of the most interesting topographic points. That is because he had an thought of how to populate life from the illustration his parents set. The “other” Wes’s parents set him up for failure. Mary did drugs. doing herself a dissembler that Wes wouldn’t listen to. Bernard didn’t even care adequate to do himself a portion of Wes’s life. Wes was surrounded by a female parent who did drugs. a bibulous male parent. and a brother who was involved in the drug concern already. Wes had barely any opportunity of wining in life.
Each of the boys’ household state of affairss had a monolithic impact on who they each became in the hereafter. Wes. who had positive function theoretical accounts. became a successful citizen. whereas Wes. who had drugged and bibulous parents. became a felon. The environment in which we are raised has a large impact on our hereafter. but it has been made apparent that the household state of affairs in which we grow up in besides influences our hereafter. slightly more than our environment. In “The Other Wes Moore: One Name. Two Fates. ” each Wes came from the same environment. but now leads a wholly opposite life from the other Wes due to their households influences on them.
