The Outside Influences In The Other Wes Moore

People, places, and physical items can have life-changing influences on people throughout their life, ultimately deciding their fate. In the novel The Other Wes Moore written by Wes Moore, the two main characters share the same name, but very different destinies because of the difficulties they have experienced through the course of their childhood. In The Other Wes Moore, the characters demonstrate that outside influences directly affect the actions they take throughout their life. Wes’s actions throughout the book influence how he saw the world and his future. From the very beginning of the novel, the reader is introduced to two characters, the author Wes Moore, and the other Wes Moore who share the same name but very different realities.

Tony, Wes’s older brother had been involved in the drug game from a very early age. Tony, being around Wes when their mother was not around allowed Wes to experiment and begin to get into the game with Tony. After being involved in the drug trade for a while, Wes acquires nice shoes and other expensive items which worries Tony. Tony interrogates him and demands to know where he got the money all while Wes tells him it is from djing at local neighborhoods. Knowing that he is lying, “Tony grabbed Wes's shirt collar and pulled him in close. ‘How many times do I have to tell you to leave this stuff alone, man?’ His tone was low and serious….’” (70) Tony shares how dangerous it is to sell drugs at such a young age which does not phase Wes. Later on, when Mary locates Wes’s drugs under his bed, she is shocked and can not believe what she has found. Realizing how clueless she has been,“She sat paralyzed on the bed for fifteen minutes before springing up, suddenly decisive. She took the boxes into the bathroom, lifted their tops, and emptied their contents into the toilet….A few hours later, Wes walked into his room and saw the two shoe boxes. His heart plummeted” (73) Mary did not realize the consequences that throwing away these drugs could have had on Wes. This action was in an attempt to help Wes, but in turn, just got him more involved later on. Another major influence on the other Wes Moore was growing up in the Bronx. In the late 1900s, the Bronx was an extremely dangerous, poverty-stricken place with a very graduation rate. The effect this had on kids growing up was extremely damaging and it exposed them to many dangerous situations. Comprehending his reality, the other Wes describes the crime in the Bronx “...drug game was everywhere, with a gun handle protruding from the top of every tenth teenager's waistline.” (27) With