The Other Wes Moore

 The Other Wes Moore

Recently I’ve had the chance to start reading a book for my memoir book club called The Other Wes Moore. It tells the story of two children with similar backgrounds and the same name that ended up drastically different. One is now a well known NPO leader, while the other will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

Using this stark comparison, the author establishes the theme of “choices define your destiny”. By starting the story from childhood, he’s able to illustrate how the two Wes Moores started down their paths and step-by-step, created the future that they live now.

However, although their choices undeniably created the person that they are today, they did have several key differences in upbringing. The author’s family was somewhat more put together than that of the other Wes Moore. The author’s mother was very hardworking, and he grew up (although for a very short time) with a strong and meaningful father figure in his life. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore never had this father figure, and instead has his brother as his role model. As his brother was only a few years older than him, and already heavily involved in drugs and violence, his influence wasn’t entirely positive.

The reason that I highlight this is because although these people are seemingly similar, they ultimately had very different lived experiences. While they ultimately have to take the responsibilities for their actions, good or bad, it’s important to remember that not everyone started off at the same place.