The Other Wes Moore

"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." In The Other Wes Moore, the author - Wes Moore - introduces his topic by telling his readers about a newspaper article he read in the Baltimore Sun in late 2000. The article was about an armed bank robbery that had resulted in a police officer's murder and a 12-day manhunt. All five perpetrators of the crime were apprehended and later, charged with first-degree felony murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. One of these criminals was also named Wes Moore. The author Wes became understandably curious about the man who shared his name and age and who had grown up in the same neighborhood, just a few blocks away, yet whose fate was so totally different than his own. Questions and emotions continued to haunt Wes about the man who was now in prison for life, while he became the recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and went on to study at Oxford University. What had separated himself from turning out like the other Wes Moore? Where had the other Wes Moore gone so astray to lead him to his current imprisonment? Where had he gone right to take him to where he was rather than in prison? These questions and more continued to go through Wes's mind until he did something rather unexpected - he wrote a letter to the other Wes Moore in prison and, a month later, received a reply. This was the beginning of a years-long relationship that has lasted to this day, continuing in the form of many more letters and of face-to-face visits in the prison. This relationship resulted in this book, The Other Wes Moore, in which the author shares important stages of his own and the other Wes Moore's life, showing how they got to where they are today.

After reading this book, there are several points that warrant consideration and greater contemplation. First, what is it that compels the author to see the existence of the other Wes Moore as more than just an interesting coincidence? Why is he driven to initiate contact with the other Wes Moore? Why does the other Wes Moore reply? What does each of them gain as the relationship develops? The author's life was not spotless academically or socially, just as the other Wes Moore's was not. He had done very poorly in elementary and middle school, and had managed to be arrested (though not tried) at a very young age. A turning point in his life was when his mother sent him to Valley Forge Military School. Though at first he was insubordinate and resistant, he eventually grew to love the military school and to thrive in its highly structured and respectful environment. However, when the author read the article about the robbery, perhaps one of the reasons it troubled him so much was because he could see how close he had been to being that young man in prison for life. Their beginnings were very similar, their childhoods shared many of the same places and environments...as the author so strikingly states at the beginning: "The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." Perhaps he is driven to initiate contact out of a desire to find where the primary differences in their stories laid. Perhaps he wanted to reach out to someone who could've so easily been himself. As far as the other Wes Moore's reply, perhaps he was struck as well by their close lives, circumstances, and environment. Perhaps he became similarly haunted by the idea that he could've been like the author - an enviable place to most people in the country, and especially to a man in prison for life. There is a time in the life of each individual when we are forced to look back on our lives and wonder what we could've done differently. Perhaps the other Wes Moore saw this letter and this man as a real-life example of the greatness he could've aspired to. Instead of becoming angry, jealous, or defense, he became curious and replied. This is simply conjecture and may be far off the actual reasons or motives, but these thoughts are worth considering, in any case. The final question - what does each of them gain as the relationship develops - is a little harder to answer. I think the main thing each of them gains from this relationship is perspective and an understanding of how their choices led to their respective lives or "fates", if you will. Through the life of the other, each Wes Moore could see what they could've become, for better or for worse, given just a few different decisions than the ones they actually made. Perhaps this idea was more useful to the author since he could remember it in the future and be cautious of the choices he makes, whereas the other Wes Moore is in prison and will never really get the chance to make his choices for the better in order to change his circumstances. His circumstances must necessarily stay the same; however, perhaps his state of mind and his understanding can be changed.

Second, what role did education play in the life of each young man? In the life of the author, education helped turn him from the destructive path he was on. In being sent to military school after failing numerous classes and engaging in a wide range of wrong behavior, he was placed in an environment which, through the actions, words, and expectations of both his peers and leaders, managed to turn his life around. In contrast, education played a much smaller role in the life of the other Wes Moore, whose school attendance ceased to be even somewhat regular in middle school and dropped completely two years before graduation. It was more the lack of an education that had an impact on his life, as it kept him in ignorance and gave him ample time to get involved in the drug game.

Third, in response to the other Wes Moore's statement that we are products of our expectations rather than our environments: I think that I would agree. Yet I would add that in some ways our expectations are formed by our environment, and in that way, we are indirectly products of both. People often say that if we expect ourselves to fail, we will, and if we expect ourselves to succeed, we will. This is directly applicable to the other Wes Moore's statement. In the neighborhood and circumstances in which the latter grew up, his fate was foreseeable. Most kids ended up in the drug game; most kids ended up dead or in prison. These were the expectations they were held to. However, it is worth noting that it is possible to defy the expectations, going against the odds to achieve greatness. The author is an example. He grew up in the same environment as the other Wes Moore and was held to the same expectations. At first, he seemed to be fulfilling these expectations, but after going to military school, these expectations changed and he excelled to reach a level that no one would have expected given his background. As a result, we can see that, though expectations certainly have a great part in influencing us towards certain behavior, we are not caged in by them and left without a choice or an opportunity to change. Just because people expect us to be apathetic, this does not mean we must be. Just because people expect us to fail, this does not mean that we will. So, though expectations can create an attitude of complacency in the life we have, it is possible to fight against these expectations and succeed.