Chapter 7 : The Land That God Forgot ~ 1997

Chapter 7 : The Land That God Forgot ~ 1997 : Theme Tracking

Quote 1 :"I looked around at who'd had the biggest impact on my life"Analysis : He stresses the importance about the people. They changed his life.  A role model is very important and near necessary for certain people. Wes would most likely not have been nowhere near as successful as he had been without the role models and their positive influence and drive on his life.

Quote 2 : His quick success had Wes thinking differently about his life"
Analysis : The importance of education is an idealized thing today as well. In the book Author Wes is displaying how book smarts is not the only important trait of an educated person. In today's society many people would not think Wes is smart because he solely has a GED. On the contrary the author and Wes himself are showing the importance of education as a will to work.

Quote 3 : "... Powell gave me another way... to think about my own life." 

Analysis : Powell opened up a door for him that no one else could have; Wes did not just have to stick to what he had always thought he would do, now he was actually thinking about what he wanted. This new thought process of his was further expanded by another role model of Wes', Colonel Bill Murphy, who during his departing speech from Valley Forge, brought up that having a meaningful life was one of the most important things to accomplish before dying.

Quote 4 : "My next decision was clear. I wanted to stay at Valley Forge.... I wanted to lead soldiers" 

Analysis : Which was the defining moment for Wes getting to where he was in the aircraft.  All of this shows how Wes was able to find role models at his disposal during his toughest times.  Even when he did not know it, he was finding role models, which is something that people have difficulty with.  In times of need it is natural to look for someone that can help with the problem or just with advice, but it is not always easy to do so.

Quote 5 : "In both places, young men go through a daily struggle trying to navigate their way through deadly streets, poverty, and the twin legacies of exclusion and low expectations."

Analysis : The above passage highlights both the similarities and differences between the life that the author Wes has experienced and that of the other Wes Moore. Wes is talking about boys who have undergone the ritual manhood ceremony in Africa and how this affects the way they carry themselves and how they are seen in society-- how while their increased pride and confidence is seen as a good thing in their home villages, it is something to be feared in the United States. 

Chapter 6 : Hunted ~ 1994 and Title Justification Essay #2

Chapter 6 : Hunted ~ 1994 : Theme Tracker

Quote 1:“Seventy-six percent of high school students who began high school in Maryland completed... But in Baltimore City, where Northern High School was located, it was a dismal 38 percent.”

Analysis of Quote 1:This quote shows a theme of the importance of education, and the way that Baltimore lacked teens that felt that intelligence was important. This quote shows that though in other places in Maryland there were high graduation rates, in places like Baltimore full of poverty, crime, and drugs this was not necessarily the case. People felt that joining the workforce or doing things that were illegal like selling drugs, would benefit them more than actually going to school and furthering there education.

Quote 2:“Woody thought about White Boy, his boy from the neighborhood, who picked up a job working at a restaurant called Poor Folks. He was tired of school and decided joining the workforce was a better option.”

Analysis of Quote 2:This quote shows a theme of life choices, those choices being  leaving school to join the work force. Though "White Boy" was a student at one time, with the growing poverty of the city, and his mother's condition, he had made the choice to provide for his mother in order for her to survive. Showing that though these teens were young and very naive, they still withheld the ideal of going to work and making a honest living.

Quote 3:“Wes returned to Dundee Village six months after being locked up for the incident in which he shot at Ray.”

Analysis of Quote 3:This quote shows a theme of life choices, those choices being that though Wes was just released from prison he felt that going back to the streets would be the only way that he could provide himself and his family.

Quote 4:“At their peak, his team brought in over four thousand dollars a day. He wasn’t one of the main players by any stretch, but he was not doing badly in relation to others in the neighborhood.”

Analysis of Quote 4:This quote shows a theme of crime. this crime being drug dealing. This shows that with the growing poverty, and lack of good mentoring in the inner city teens felt that crime would be the only way they would ever survive in the world.

Quote 5:“The even more devastating piece of news was that Justin’s mother was dying.”

Analysis of Quote : This quote shows a theme of overcoming obstacles, this obstacle being the growing illness of a family member. This shows that Justin would soon have to overcome the obstacle of soon having to go through life without his mother. Which is arguably a death that is the hardest over all deaths that a person can experience. He would soon have to overcome an obstacle that most people never are able to conquer.

Title Justification Essay #2

Over the course of the chapters in The Other Wes Moore, many things occur with the author and the non-author Wes Moore. Including the author Wes Moore going through life with the obstacles that come from being in military school, to The Other Wes Moore going to jail, and also finding that his short-term current girlfriend is pregnant. Which leads to explaining, why this collection of chapters of chapter 4 to chapter 6 is titled "Choices and Second Chances".

With the title of the chapter being "Choices and Second Choices", this is appropriate given what occurs throughout the chapters. Such as the way that the author Wes Moore had many times to get his act together in school and do better in classes in attempt to overcome his learning disability, while he instead let it over take him and he gave up in the process. Which then drove his mother to feel that taking him to military school would be the only way to resolve Wes's problems. With  explaining what occurs to one Wes Moore,  the other has to be explained as well. From the author Wes Moore going to military school and having to overcome many obstacles, the non-author Wes Moore also went through many things that were the events that followed his bad choices. Such as him stabbing someone and also selling drugs as a "full-time drug dealer". This would then lead him to a life of crime resulting in him going to jail and being arrested twice. Although the fact that he is a minor it is not counted in real court, and therefore goes to a juvenile detention center. When he is released he then is given a form of a "second chance", by the way that not only is he released from prison, but also that he is now a father and is able to in a way make up for the time that his father never spent with him. Thus seemingly showing a theme of mentors, in the way that hopefully Wes will protect and care for his child in the way that his father never did.


Therefore, based on the author's purpose for writing the novel itself, it seems appropriate that this collection of chapters be titled "Choices and Second Choices". By the way that both Wes Moore's go through many obstacles that were caused by there choices. As well as the way that in society, both are given second chances.  Such as with the pregnancy of Wes's girlfriend, to him becoming a "full-time drug dealer"

Wes Moore Shakespearean Sonnets

Wes Moore Sonnets

The Author Wes Moore Characterization Sonnet

Doppelgänger thou hath been in life.

Devastated by death.

Full with strife been this young life.

Took time thou didd and took breaths,

To bleed thou needs,

To take the pain and send.
To plant the seed.

Strive thou did in the end,

Thou needed aid.

Thou needed love.

For the sorrow had cut him open like a blade,
But fly thou would soon like a dove.

So listen now for you may see,

That like this Wes Moore thou can always be who thou want to be.

The Other Wes Moore Characterization Sonnet

Thou hath been the heir,

Without a fatherly king.

Twas the blow of deathly air,

Twirled it thou had like string.

Full of fuel.

Full of lies.

Life was too cruel.

Crime thou saw in eyes,

Sought to put it in fruition.

Went to the streets,

But lacked the ancestral permission.

Reach thou tried such a great feat.

But don’t be fooled for they all tried,

But this Wes Moore cast them all aside.

Chapter 5 : Lost ~ 1991

Chapter 5 : Lost ~ 1991 : Theme Tracker

Quote 1: “This was my first morning at the military school.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 1: At this point Wes Moore is explaining what he went through his first morning of being in military school.

Analysis of Quote 1:This quote shows a theme of overcoming obstacles, by the way that at military school Wes Moore would now have to start following the orders of this above him. Instead of just being able to do what he pleased when he wanted to.

Quote 2: “The final straw came one evening while she sat downstairs... Bad grades, absence from classes, and an incident with a smoke bomb were just some of the reasons ..."

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 2: At this point in the text the author is explaining the things his mother went through, while contemplating what to do for her son.

Analysis of Quote 2:This quote shows a dual theme one of overcoming obstacles and also of life choices, by the way that Wes Moore had choose to do the things he did without thought of the consequences. Also, the theme of now overcoming obstacles was present by the way that now he would have to overcome the obstacle and burden of going to military school.

Quote 3: “She walked into my room, tired from her long day at work, disappointed by the conversation she’d just had with my dean, and furious after seeing her youngest with a split lip... She simply pulled her right hand back and slapped me.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 3: At this point in the text Wes Moore the author has just punched his sister in her lip, and she's running to tell her mother, intent on getting Wes in trouble.

Analysis of Quote 3:  This quote shows a theme of single mothers, by the way that Mary had to do what it took to make sure that Wes understood what was completely right. Even if she didn't know the whole story, she felt that she would have to go on and continue to take care of the rest of the family.

Quote 4: “She was losing her son, and she was not sure how to turn the tide.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 4: At this point in the text the author Wes Moore is explaining the things that his mother went through before sending him to military school.

Analysis of Quote 4: This quote exemplifies a theme of single mothers, by the way that at this point in Mary's life she feels that she as a mother can do the things for her son the way that a father could help in this particular situation.

Quote 5:“Within two months of their meeting, Alicia told Wes that her period was late. Four tests and eight matching plus signs later, it was confirmed. They were going to be parents.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 5: At this point in the text the author has just explained to the readers that Wes Moore #2 is going to be father

Analysis of Quote 5: This quote symbolizes a theme of life choices,specifically, the choice to have unprotected sex as a teenager, and what they will do now that they know they are pregnant. Whether it is getting an abortion or giving the child up for adoption.

Chapter 4 : Marking Territory ~ 1990

Chapter 4 : Marking Territory ~ 1990 : Theme Tracking

Quote 1: “Dude, I am going to ask you one more time. Where did you get the money from?”
Summary of Events Leading to Quote 1: Wes Moore #2's brother has just returned home and has noticed a significant change in his room and belongings.
Analysis of Quote 1:From this above quote it is shown that Wes's brother knows that Wes has been committing crimes in order to purchase these things, thus giving a theme of crime specifically drug dealing.

Quote 2: “She’d asked Wes about the shoes when they started to multiply, but after her first inquisition, she’d left the subject alone.”
Summary of Events Leading to Quote 2: At this point the narrator is telling the reader of Wes Moore #2'smother and how she questioned him about the "leaning tower" of shoes in Wes's room.
Analysis of Quote 2: The above quote shows a theme of single mothers, by the way that it says that she had questioned him and then left the subject alone. This shows that she felt that his answer was enough and thought that she wouldn't need to analyze it anymore, and then needed to do other things that her family were dependent on.

Quote 3: “Tony had now spent over a decade dealing drugs and knew how much money could be made in the game.”
Summary of Events Leading to Quote 3: At this point in the text the narrator has explained Tony's, Wes Moore #2's older brothers experience with making money with drugs.
Analysis of Quote 3: This quote shows a theme of crime, by the way that the narrator examines Tony's experiences with crime and how he knows how Wes is purchasing all these extravagant products.

Quote 4: “Mary knew her younger son was no innocent. In addition to the knife fight when he was younger, Wes had been arrested a few years back after being caught stealing a car.”
Summary of Events Leading to Quote 4: At this point in the text there has just been a fight between Tony and Wes, and there mother has just overheard the situation.
Analysis of Quote 4:This quote expresses another theme of life choices, through this Wes feeling that me would never amount to anything great, and with the lack of a fatherly figure to guide him, he resulted to a life of crime feeling that it would be the only way that he could and or would ever provide for himself.

Quote 5:“Well, your grades obviously aren’t bad because you can’t pick this stuff up or because you are stupid, you are just not working hard enough,” my mother said, her voice rising into the epiphany.”
Summary of Events Leading to Quote 5: Wes Moore, the author has just explained to the readers his experiences in school.
Analysis of Quote 5: This quote exemplifies a theme of overcoming obstacles. Unlike any other it attempts to shows that a person can do what they put their mind to no matter what type of obstacles stand in their way.

Chapter 3 : Foreign Ground ~ 1987 and Title Justification Essay #1

Chapter 3 : Foreign Ground ~ 1987 : Theme Tracker

Quote 1:"Crack was different from the drugs that preceded it. It was crazily accessible and insanely potent and addictive."

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 1:In the above quote, the author Wes Moore shows the reader the way that drug have taken over the streets.

Analysis of Quote 1:This quote was used by the author to explain the theme of crime, this crime being drug addiction and selling. It shows that when the drug "crack" came on the streets it immediately took power over the people of the streets being it from the extremely poor and in poverty to the rich people living in luxury, until they became completely addicted.

Quote 2:"We laughed at the panhandler on the block, but he wasn’t just an object of ridicule, he was an unsettling omen."

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 2: In the above quote the author Wes Moore is with one of his friend and they watch as a homeless man attempts to help him to get money, which they suspect will be used for drugs.

Analysis of Quote 2: The quote above has a dual theme, that is drugs and poverty. This was done through the utilization of the homeless man to exemplify the way that  through the use of drugs a person from any type of background once exposed to drugs, can become completely addicted. Which can lead to them doing and or giving up something as large as their home and family for the drug.

Quote 3:"Always keep your money in your front pocket, never in your back pocket. Know where the drug dealers and smokers are at all times. Know where the cops are at all times."

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 3: In the above quote the author Wes Moore is explaining the "do's and don'ts" of his walk home and how to avoid being robbed or pursued in any type of way.

Analysis of Quote 3: This quote exemplifies the theme of crime, that crime being robbery. The character Wes Moore feels that with the people in his neighborhood and the crime rate that is present in Brooklyn, he must follow this list in order to protect himself from any of the harm thats possible to come from walking home at night. 

Quote 4:"Tony was now full-time in the streets, he was a veteran of the drug game at eighteen."

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 4: In the above quote the non-author Wes Moore is explaining to the reader, what happens in the daily life of his brother Tony. 

Analysis of Quote 4:This quote shows a dual theme, that theme being crime and poverty. The author shows this theme through showing that with the growing poverty of the character Tony's surrounding he saw that the only way that he would be able to survive and prosper would be to sell drugs. Which thus prompted the young Wes to strive to be like him, "walk like he walks, and talk like he talks".

Quote 5:" ...he remembered this story. The headset now fit perfectly. There was definitely money to be made."

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 5: In the above quote the non-author Wes Moore, is showing the reader his thoughts about the future and how he will play a card in making money.

Analysis of Quote 5: This quote shows a dual theme of poverty and crime. This is done through showing that with the experiences that this Wes went through, with his family and surrounding, that he felt that with the given state of his well being, he felt that being like his brother was the only thing that he could do. With his extremely low grades and high temper he felt that he would never be able to amount to anything which then caused him to believe that he had to pursue this career in drugs.

Title Justification Essay #1

Fathers and Angels 

In the chapters of 1-3 the readers are introduced to a complete set of characters all with different backgrounds and personality. From the college progress of both Wes Moore's to the drug dealing tendencies of the character Tony. Although above all would be the gruesome deaths, and movement of families from place to place. With the title of the this section being "Fathers and Angles", in a way it fits very well.

With the title of the chapter being "Father and Angels", this is appropriate given what occurs throughout the chapters. With the death of the author Wes Moore's father and the "revival" of the non-uthor Wes Moore's father, it is shown that with these two figures and their deaths they represent a way  to protect their children. In a way it is shows that with the death of the author Wes's father he guides him to do better, and be a better person. Although in a way with the non-author Wes's father being alive, he is unable to react to the circumstances in a way that is healthy and mature. Through this,   non-author Wes Moore was unable to resist the temptation of drugs and crime, while like the title says there is "one name and two fates".

In conclusion, the title of this section "Fathers and Angels" fits well with the given chapters. With the fact that the "dead" fathers, either do or don't act as guardians to their children. Which then effects the characters and their reactions to given circumstances. This why the author Wes has better reactions than the non-author Wes in their lives.