Brittany Anderson

English 101
Professor M. McCampbell
18 December 2015
One Name; Two Fates
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther
King Jr. In the book, "The Other Wes Moore" The author Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore
shared similar lifestyles growing up but took different paths as they matured. Wes 1 struggled as
a child growing up due to early academic and behavioral struggles in his life but because of his
mother his life took a turn for the better and ended up being very successful. Wes 2 faced similar
experiences in his childhood but didnt have the right guidance or self-knowledge which later
resulted in him spending his life in prison. The Other Wes Moore's foolish and irresponsible
choices led him to having an unsuccessful life because of his family structure, the impact his
surroundings and environment had on him, as well as his financial stability.
In the United States today, the traditional family structure is considered a family support
system involving two married individuals providing care and stability for their children in the
same household. "Before he met Woody, Wes had never really seen a father around. Singleparent households were the norm in his world" (Moore 30). Wes 2 was genuinely happy that
Woody had a father that lived with him and he got to see him every day. But Wes would feel an
urge of conflicting feelings and become deeply envious of Woody because he will never get to
experience what it would be like to have a father figure. Although his mother was around she

never correctly disciplined him and showed little concern in Wes's life when it came to his
education and the people he involved himself with at such an early age.
Children grow up learning what their parents teach them and from what they see in their
environment. Early exposure to drugs or alcohol by adolescents can set them in the wrong
direction for failure later in life. In a study published online by the journal Psychological
Science, Duke University psychologist Avshalom Caspi co-authored the report with his wife and
colleague Terrie Moffitt. They are part of a group of researchers who found that after tracking
nearly 1,000 residents from birth to age 32 that people who began drinking and using marijuana
regularly prior to their 15th birthday faced a higher risk of early pregnancy, as well as a pattern
of school failure, substance dependence, STD'S and criminal convictions that last into their 30's.
Since Wes 2 had to grow up in an unstable environment being surrounded by drugs and crime
while also having an older brother who was in a gang and also a drug dealer, he was more
susceptible to that lifestyle due to the negative influences around him.
Money plays a role in just about every person's life. To Wes 2, money was a priority to him
since he came from a low income household with basically nothing. Wes 2 acquired his money
from selling drugs and that was able to buy him things his mother could never afford for him to
have. The Johns Hopkins researchers did a study on nearly 800 kids in Baltimore from first grade
up until their late 20's and found that a child's fate is in many ways fixed at birth determined by
the family strength and the parents' financial status. After having a daughter Wes 2 knew that he
had to step up and find a way to support her. After his graduation from Job Corps he had several
temporary jobs where he was just not making enough money. "One day, after completing his
shift chopping vegetables, Wes took a detour on the way home. He went by his old West
Baltimore neighborhood to pick up a package" (Moore 144). Before he knew it Wes was back to

selling drugs and being involved with the wrong people. It was the money that Wes 2 was
focused on. That motivated him to keep doing what he had to do even if he knew it was not the
right decision.It wasn't long before Wes 2 got arrested for the murder of a police officer in an
armed robbery and is now spending his life in prison.
The things that really make the difference between prison and college, success and failure,
life and death, are money and family. Both of those factors are what determined the author Wes
Moore and the other Wes Moore's destiny in life. " The chilling truth is that his story could have
been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." said the author Wes Moore.

Works Cited
Bates, Karl. "Early Exposure To Drugs, Alcohol Creates Lifetime of Health Risk". Effects Of
Adolescent Use Linger Into The Thirties. 16 October 2008. Web. 21 October 2015
Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore. New York: Spiegle & Grau trade publishers,2011. print.
Summers, Juana. "Rich Kid, Poor Kid: For 30 Years Baltimore Study Tracked Who Gets
Ahead". NPR Ed. 10 August 2014. Web. 21 October 2015

I choose to revise Essay 2 because this was the essay that I enjoyed the most to write about
and I felt as though this was one of my stronger essays. I could connect to the book because I
also grew up in Baltimore City and witnessed many incidents that occurred in the story. To me it
was not just about writing about a character in the book, but connecting that book to what is
going on in our world today and seeking how much but then yet again how little things have
changed. In my essay there were minor mistakes that I needed to correct and revising it for a
second time helped me to correct those mistakes while also adding more crucial information.