Themes:
1. Life Choices
2. Importance of Education
3. Overcoming Obstacles
4. Prison
Quotes
Life Choices
1. "Wes's attendance became sporadic, and once his first child was born, he just stopped going"(P. 110).
Wes 2's decision to drop out of school was a huge life choice that he made. His decision to drop out of school will most likely have a negative affect on his life. With a criminal record and lack of a high school diploma, it is hard for Wes to find a job, which steers him deeper into the drug business, as it is his only way to make money. By choosing not to finish attending school, Wes will have very few job opportunities and will turn to criminal activity in order to earn money, which will most likely only get him into trouble and ruin his life.
2. "All that mattered was that he was here. He had accomplished his mission of completing high school" (P. 109).
Unlike Wes 2, his good friend Woody, had decided to push through high school and graduate.This decision to earn his high school diploma, may turn out to prove very useful for Woody in the future. Unlike Wes, Woody will have a lot more job opportunities having earned his high school diploma and might even go to college to pursue a high-paying job. Above all, Woody's decision to complete high school will most likely help him steer away from entering the drug business and getting himself into trouble. In the short term, Wes is earning more money than Woody by selling drugs, however Woody's decision to finish school will most likely lead him win in the long run by living a life without being involved in the violence of the drug game or being locked up in prison.
Importance of Education
3. "They made it clear that they cared if I succeeded, and eventually so did I" (p. 115).
At Valley Forge, Wes 1 begins to care more about his education and takes it more seriously. Because he is surrounded by people who support him and want him to succeed, he himself is motivated to succeed in school. In the past, most of Wes's teachers discouraged him and did not seem to be very supportive in his success. In fact, earlier in the book one of the teachers told him not to come to school because he was a disruption to the classroom. Wes had never been exposed to a learning environment where the teachers were so supportive of him and truly wanted to see him do well in school. Because Wes 1 is at a school like Valley Forge, where the staff is encourages him to succeed, he begins to take his education more seriously and works hard to reach his full potential.
Overcoming Obstacles
4. "I thought about my mother and how she would feel if this escalated any further... I told Dalio we had to get back to campus by a different route..." (Pages 121-122)
Although Wes 1 is angry after being embarrassed by the group of boys who called him a n****r and threw a glass bottle at him, he overcomes this anger and makes a wise decision. Instead of trying to fight back against his attackers, he wisely chooses to go back to school. This must have taken a lot of strength for Wes to suck up his pride and not retaliate. Evidently this was an obstacle that Wes successfully overcame because he managed to stay level-headed and make the wise decision not to let a bad situation get worse.
Prison
5. "Getting arrested started to feel routine" (P. 114).
For Wes 2, going to prison is becoming a regular event. Wes's life has begun to spiral out of control because he keeps committing crimes. Wes does not seem to have learned from his prior experiences of going to prison that he should not continue making the same mistakes and going to jail. At this point, the real question is if Wes 2 will ever shape up and stop getting into trouble with the law. Will he ever learn to stop committing crimes and going to prison? Wes's situation and trips to prison will only get worse unless he changes his life. If he does not stop committing crimes, he may find himself in prison for a very long time and it might get to a point where he will have run out of chances to change his life or he might get stuck in jail for ever.
Title Justification Paper #2
The second part of The Other Wes Moore is about the adolescent lives of both the Wes Moores and by the end of the chapter, both of the Wes Moores are close to reaching adulthood. Part two of the book is titled "Choices and Second Chances". Part 2 of The Other Wes Moore is titled "Choices and Second Chances" because of the life altering decisions the Wes Moores make and the multiple second chances each of them receive after making mistakes.
Both Wes 1 and Wes 2 make life altering choices in part 2 of the book. The biggest life altering decision made by Wes 2 was when he decided not to listen to his brother Tony, and enter the drug game. Despite Wes's older brother Tony trying his best to steer Wes away from entering the drug business, Wes refuses to listen to Tony and Tony realizes that " 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink...'" (P. 72). Both Tony and Wes's mother Mary believe that education is the key to a brighter future for Wes and encourage him to do well in school, however they know that Wes is the only person who can force himself to succeed. No matter how hard other people try to steer Wes onto the right path, it ultimately comes down to whether he wants to succeed or not and the decisions he makes. In this part of the book, Wes receives his final warning from Tony and still decides to enter the drug game. This decision will prove costly for him in the future because it will lead to him going to prison multiple times and dropping out of school. Wes 1 also at the end of part 2 seems to have made a decision to take his education more seriously and strive to succeed in school. These two decisions the Wes Moores have made are what set them apart. Wes 1 decided to take his education more seriously and succeed in school, which will certainly benefit his future, while Wes 2 decided to enter the drug business, which will prove to hurt his future. During this part of the book both of the Wes Moores make mistakes and receive second chances. What sets the two boys apart is how they react after they are given second chances and what they do afterwords. For instance, after Wes 1 was nearly arrested for vandalizing public property, he realized that "The cops gave [him] a break that day, and [he] swore [he] would never get caught in a situation like that again" (P. 84). After nearly being arrested, Wes 1 realized that he was lucky not to go to jail and decided to never make a mistake like that again. Wes 1 did not take the second chance he received for granted, and decided to shape up and stop committing crimes or doing things that would get him into trouble with the law. Contrary to this, "Getting arrested was starting to feel routine" (P. 114) for Wes 2. This illustrates that despite being arrested multiple times before, Wes 2 had not learned from his mistakes and took the second chances he received for granted. At one point, he was close to being convicted for murder but he caught a break because the person he shot did not die. Instead of realizing that he had been granted a huge second chance to turn his life around, Wes 2 continued to participate in the drug industry and continued to go to prison. The main difference between the Wes Moores in this part of the book, is the decisions they make and how they adjust themselves or fail to adjust themselves after being given second chances. Part 2 of this book is titled "Choices and Second Chances" because both of the Wes Moores make huge life- changing decisions in this section of the book and each of them receive second chances after making mistakes.
Part 2 of The Other Wes Moore is titled "Choices and Second Chances" because of the life altering decisions the Wes Moores make and the multiple second chances each of them receive after making mistakes. It is likely that the climax of the book will occur in the third part and the audience will begin to see how the choices of the Wes Moores', made in part 2, will affect their fate in part three. Does everyone deserve a second chance in life?
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