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The Other Wes Moore

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Submitted By madavis13
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“This is a story of two boys living in Baltimore with similar histories and an identical name: Wes Moore. One of us is free… The other will spend every day until his death behind bars...” (Moore, XI) In The Other Wes Moore, the author, Wes Moore, and the other Wes Moore both grew up in similar, yet different, circumstances and had completely different outcomes. This captivating narrative demonstrates how the choices you make, make you. In the introduction, the author Wes Moore validates this statement by saying, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore XI) The author, Wes Moore, shows the readers that a person’s environment, circumstances, education (or lack thereof), choices/decisions, and many more important factors can determine one’s success or failure.
Society holds great power and influences the choices you make, and eventually the paths you decide to take in life. Two people with the same name grew up in similar backgrounds and similar neighborhoods, and yet had different fates all because of the choices they decided to make. The author Wes Moore, born to a poor family, struggled academically and was sent to a military school. While there, he was forced to adjust to the change of environment. In the end, the author Wes Moore grew up to be a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of John Hopkins, a Rhodes Scholar, a veteran, a business leader, and a White House Fellow while he namesake did the complete opposite. The other Wes Moore, who ended up in prison for the rest of his life, took a turn for the worst despite sharing a similar childhood with the author Wes Moore. The other Wes Moore didn’t have the same support or the “push” from home as the author did. He had an older brother, Tony, that he looked up to and influenced the majority of his decisions. Although Tony was trying to push the other

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