The Other Wes Moore Bad Influences

The Negative Influences in the Other Wes Moore's Life

The Other Wes Moore By Wes Moore is a non-fiction coming of age story, about the path the Other Wes Moore goes in life that leads him to prison. This story is about two guys that have the same name but end with two different outcomes in life. While one Wes Moore ends up becoming successful, the other Wes gets caught up in the drug trade and gangs and is currently in jail for life. Due in part to the negative influences from his family and living in a community where he is surrounded by poverty and the drug trade, the Other Wes Moore ends up in a life of imprisonment.

First, Wes’s brother, Tony is a bad influence on Wes because he is a drug dealer and tells him advice that can lead

When Wes and Tony decided to stop by at his aunt's house one day, they saw Wes’s father sleeping on the couch. Wes decided to wake him up and say hello considering the fact that it was his father. “He saw Wes standing over him. Still squinting, he looked his son in the eyes. ‘Who are you?’ (Moore 89). This interaction was hurtful and embarrassing for Wes. He had an absent father who chose not to acknowledge and be there for him. A father has a big impact in their child's life, so the fact that Wes’s father couldn't even recognize his son tells us how absent he really was. This goes back to the point of how having an absent father negatively affected Wes because in the future, Wes becomes an absent father himself when he ends up in a life of imprisonment. Wes repeats the trauma he endured by doing the same thing to his

Wes knew that school was not for him and that he wanted to be a rapper or professional football player when he grew up. He rationalized himself saying that in the meantime he could make some serious money by dealing, not knowing the negative impact it would have on his life. “As he lay in bed, he realized how time seemed to stop when he was high, how the drug—smoking it, feeling its effects, recovering from it—made him forget everything else. And he understood, faintly, how addictive that feeling could be, and how easy it would be to make some money off selling that feeling to people who needed it.” (Moore 51). The drug trade was very strong in his community. Wes knew how drugs made people feel and that in a poverty stricken environment; he realized how easy it was to deal because there would be many people that he could ultimately profit off of. This impacted his decision to drug deal, because he knew it would make him a lot of money and it would be a successful business for him.
Lastly, Wes was negatively influenced by being in a gang in his community. After Wes was beaten up by Ray, he let his anger take over him and he knew he had to ‘send a message’. Wes and his friend chased down Ray and ended up taking things way too far. “As they ran, he and his friend pointed their weapons in Ray’s direction and began taking shots.” (Moore 88). Wes was attempting to kill Ray and his friend was beyond