Chapter 4 The Other Wes Moore

The Other Wes Moore Chapter 4

 

Theme: when given second chances, we often don't respect them and end up making the same mistake twice.

“The cops gave us a gift that day, and I swore I would never get caught in a situation like that again. A week later, Kid Kupid was on the loose again, adding my tag to another graffiti-filled Bronx wall.”

The cops in this part of the book were nice enough to give Wes and his friend Shea a second chance to redeem themselves after they were caught spray painting the walls of the Bronx. Wes did not take this second chance meaningfully however, and he ended up on the streets again not even a week later. People often get second chances and don't realize it at the time. It is only after they mess up that second chance that they realize that they could have made something out of it. People should be grateful for second chances because they don't happen all the time. When you get another chance to do something that you messed up that the first time, you should cherish it and try to your best of your abilities to fulfill it.  

“Tony was exhausted. Tired from the beating he just gave Wes. Tired from repeating himself. “If you won’t listen, that’s on you. You have potential to do so much more, go so much further. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink, right”

Tony always told his younger brother Wes to be nothing like him because he thought Wes could really go somewhere in life. Tony never really had a second chance. Once he was in the game, he was there to stay. He replaces his second chance with making sure his younger brother does well. If Wes messes up, it's almost as if Tony has lost his own second chance. He doesn't want Wes to make the same mistakes he did. This relationship is very similar to the relationship that many parents have with their children. Parents can  sometimes either children as their second chances. They want to make sure they succeed because if their children succeed, they succeed.

Theme: the love you have for someone may blind you from seeing their true intentions.

“It was the story he’d used with Mary, and she’d bought it whole. Maybe because she really believed him. Maybe because she really wanted to believe him”

Mary didn't want to believe that Wes had become a drug dealer. She loved her son so much, that it blinded her from seeing the true story behind his actions. Often times when a person that we know and love begins to have a tainted reputation, We often take up for that person. We love them so much or think we know them so well that we believe they are incapable of doing what they are accused of, even if there's obvious evidence in front of our faces. It is harder for one to see the truth when the truth will change your opinion of a person you consider dear. Unless there's solid proof that this person did what they are accused of, you won't believe they did it because how could you believe in someone when you know they did something terrible?

Theme: role models help shape us as people, whether there influence was good or bad.

“Wes had to a role model. But the more he tried to be like his brother, the more his brother rejected him. The more he copied him, the more Tony pushed back. Wes wanted to be just like Tony. Tony wanted Wes to be nothing like him.”

This quote relates back to the theme in the Other Wes Moore that role models help shape us as people because the only person Wes had to look up to was Tony, his older brother. Tony was not a good influence on Wes, but Wes didn't realize it. Sometimes people in our lives influence our behavior in negative ways even when they don't mean to. When they do something bad and then tell you not to do it, it won't be as effective as them not doing it themselves. This can lead to you doing the same things and making the same mistakes as the person you look up to. 

“Hip-hop had begun to play a special role in my life. It wasn’t just music and lyrics. It was a validator. In my struggle to reconcile my two worlds, it was an essential asset”

Unlike the other Wes, this Wes' role models we're people he never actually met. The rappers he listen to on the radio were what gave Wes a bridge between his two very different worlds. People often look to music and their favorite artist to help them cope through situations of bad times, celebrations, triumph, and anything else. Music can be just as big of a role model as a person can. The listener can have a real connection with the lyrics or background story of the artist that made the song. Listening to others who are singing about problems or emotions that you actually feels gives you the feeling they know what your going through and can help you through tough times, just like a person can. 

 

My Shakespearean style poem for The Other Wes Moore

The Other Wes Moore:

A filthy that from which we speak
Impolite was this Wes
He spoke the language of the street
Thy's slang was at its best
His family hath tried to keep them safe
His friends were all good boys
To outsiders, quick to taketh a blade
West felt this gaveth him joy
For he hath a short temper
And must always beest respect
Wes is not prepared to enter
A world where his actions he will regret
Though the man's absence was never bothered
I'll 80 pounds of Wes is a reflection of his father

Wes Moore the author:

He speaketh like a man from a university
This Wes Moore from Brooklyn
When talking about his great adversity
He describes all the ills that befell him
When one hears of his pros
"Tis like music to thine ear
Much as if he knows
A learned man is near
Secure by the protection
By his mother of him
Dismayed by the detection
That with friends he cannot fit in
Wes Moore the author shall ever be,
One's bookish appearance for all to see

Chapter 2 The Other Wes Moore

 

The Other Wes Moore

Theme:
Once appearance is put aside, we can expect people for who they really are, and not just for their physical differences.

Quote:
“Despite clowning him about it, they loved him. Wes would always say, “The only thing white about him is his skin. Everything else is black. He’s a real black dude.”
Analysis:
This quote relates to the theme that once appearance is put aside, we accept people for who they are because even though White Boy was white, he managed to make great friends with black people because they weren't afraid to look past his skin color. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, especially when it comes down to people. It's this problem that has already caused a lot of issues for America. We need to be able to look past the physical attributes of someone, and instead look at their intentions and personality, for it is these things that make up a person, not what they look like.



Theme:
Anger is apart of life, but we still need to learn how to control it.

Quote:
“The police officer yelled at Wes: “Put down the knife.” Wes didn’t hear him. Wes continued to move toward the boy. His grip on the knife handle tightened. His forearms flexed."
Analysis:
Wes doesn't control his anger very well, and it shows in this quote of a scene from the "Other Wes More". In the end, this doesn't exactly help him get out of the situation that he is in. Balancing anger with reason and punishment is an important thing to learn how to do. To be angry and not control it properly can lead to danger, for the others around you, but also yourself. You may be caught up and heated in the moment but after you release your anger, your thoughts may clear and you may regret the actions you just did.




Theme: family is not only made up of those who you are related to.
Quote #1:
“We were all enclosed by the same fence, bumping into one another, fighting, celebrating. Showing one another our best and worst, revealing ourselves—even our cruelty and crimes—as if that fence had created a circle of trust. A brotherhood.”
Quote #2:
 “I played hard, lost pretty bad, but enjoyed every minute of it. These kids were different from my friends back in Maryland. I quickly started to pick up on their lingo and style, the swagger of my new teammates and neighborhood friends.”
Analysis #1:
 This reminded me of the theme that family is not just related by blood because all of these people from different parts of Brooklyn came together on the basketball court to challenge and befriend one another. And in that moment, they were all brothers. You don't have to be literal brothers for two to feel a bond that makes them family. The common interest in basketball, is an example of an activity that forms life long friends out if two complete strangers.

Analysis #2:
Like the last quote this expresses the idea that family is not only made up of those who are related to you. Wes felt at home with these people. He hadn't known them for any longer than a few hours and felt more comfortable with them that he had with his friends for years in Maryland. The people on the basketball court have become his friends and his brothers. Similar to how anyone moves to a new place, was didn't know anyone other than his family. You know when you can connect to others when you don't know them for that long and still feel like you have been their friends all your lives. This connection forms friends that you don't loose. Friends you would consider family.




Theme: you can appreciate things more when you know what you're missing.
Quote:
“But a family where the father lived with the mother, happily? This was new to Wes, and he liked it.”
Analysis:
 This quote relates back to one of themes in the book that you appreciate things more when you understand what your missing. The other Wes never had the opportunity to have his entire family together, so be cherished going over to his friends and being in the family environment. When somebody has something you want or need, and they give you the chance to experience it, you value it more than the person who owns it because they don't know what it's like not to have it. There is a sense of fullness that you get when you obtain something or are around something that has been taken from you, or even something you've never had. This especially applies to family. A father figure in a young boys life is important. To be around someone who is supposed to love you and teach you who to be is crucial to developing into a moral person who can love others just as much as that person loves you.

 

Chapter 1

      

     One theme that was in chapter 1 of "The Other Wes Moore", was that single mothers must be the role models that their sons look up to you once their fathers are no longer around.

1) "Bernard hadn't found a steady job. He spent most of his time searching for himself at the bottom of liquor bottles."

    Bernard is the second Wes Moore's father. He is not a good influence on Wes, but that wouldn't matter much because he was never around to take care of him. If there was any hope of Wes becoming a well mannered person, it would have to come from his mother's teachings. She took care of him when his father didn't.

2) "'Get up to your damn room. I told you, don't you ever put your hands on a woman!'"

    This is an example of one of the lessons that the first Wes Moore's mother enforced strictly. Because Wes's father died when he was very young, his mother, Joy, had to enforce rules that she saw fit to mold Wes into a decent man.

3) "I tried to copy his walk, his expressions. I was his main man. He was my protector."

    This quote is from the perspective of Wes, talking about his father. Unlike Bernard, this Wes' father was a decent man who loved Joy and his family. Before he died, Wes would imitate him for fun. What Wes didn't realize was that subliminally, his father was teaching him who to be when he grows older. With his main role model now dead, West must rely on the little that he's learned from his father to understand the behavior in which his mother wants him to behave. 

 

Another theme that's in this chapter of "The Other Wes Moore" is that education is the key to getting where you want to be in life. 

 

4) “Her heart jumped when she received her acceptance letter. It was a golden ticket to another world—but also to the dizzying idea that the life she wanted, that she dreamed about, might actually happen for her.”

    This is a quote about Mandy Moore. She is the mother of the other Wes Moore. Education is her one ticket to the world she wants to be a part of. She grew up poor, so school is the only way she could make her way up in the world to make money that will give herself and her son a fighting chance to support themselves. 

5) “But with that grant now eliminated, it wouldn’t be enough. The next day she called Johns Hopkins and let them know she was dropping out. That part-time job at Bayview would become permanent.”

    Because Mandy's Grant got terminated, she was no longer able to complete school. She was at still point in the world because her education couldn't continue.