The Other Wes Moore: Literary Analysis

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In the book The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, Moore talks about his life experiences and the experiences of another man who is also named Wes Moore. The author states, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his,” is true up to the extent in which they had different support systems involving family and friends (Wes xi). Both men had many similarities, but they had differences in their support systems that lead each one to make different choices. They are around the same age, live in the same neighborhood, and both were raised by their single mothers. The author had a great support system, and many opportunities in his life. The other Wes was constantly surrounded by a negative …show more content…

The author’s mother Joy realized that she needed to make the best choices for her children and help them stay on the path for success. Joy created “ a fund that would provide equipment and training,” for paramedics to deal with, “respiratory or cardiac arrest,” something that could have saved his father's life (Wes 36). Instead of complaining about their lives she created something to prevent others from having the same fate. This shows, the type of personality the author’s mother had could have been the reason why he succeeded in life. Joy always looked out for him and she was constantly worrying about his future. For example, when his performance in school was poor she would notice. When she noticed he was singing along to a song he had just hear two days ago, Joy told him you are not learning the work because you can’t it is because “you are just not working hard enough,” (Wes 76). His mother was constantly watching over his actions in order make sure her son was growing up to be a successful person. In addition, his grandparents watched over him. They used the money they saved to visit their family in Jamaica and helped their daughter, Joy, send him to Valley Forge Military School, where his life changed. On the contrary, the other Wes Moore’s mother Mary acted quite differently towards Wes’s absent