The world's first autobiographer and Roman poet, Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace), states, “life is largely a matter of expectation”. The idea that success comes from high expectations has been evident since 65 B.C., and is still a common argument in 2017. When Wes Moore is meeting with his incarcerated acquaintance, who is also named Wes Moore, the two are discussing where their life stories diverged. Both had similar upbringings, neither with a father figure, but with different support systems. The author Wes Moore, who was sent to military school as a teenager, is now a successful and highly regarded entrepreneur. The other Wes Moore, who is now serving his life in jail for a conviction of murder, was neglected the same opportunities for a second chance. …show more content…
This quote is powerful because it claims that humans are mind over matter. Whatever you think will be, will be. Author and Rhodes scholar Wes Moore was reassured in military school that he should be respected, so he respected himself. The other Wes was constantly being told he was a delinquent, and so he acted like one. Wes also claims that humans “will do what others expect of [them], agreeing with Horace’s statement that how humans live life comes from what expectations are projected on them (Moore 126).
From being incarcerated, the other Wes Moore becomes less than a human being. Moore writes, “I didn’t know this man. He was simply an address” (Moore 126). The metaphor of a human being described as an inanimate object dehumanizes him. This dehumanization highlights the idea that from his mistakes, Wes was thrown into jail and is cast off as a citizen. This simple but powerful choice of his writing creates a harsh reality of how the prison systems make a person less