Chris Wang

Dr. Danielle Morgan

October 16, 2017

CTW-1A

The Other Wes Moore Rhetorical Analysis

Wes Moore is a best-selling author who grew up in Baltimore in the midst of drugs and

drug addicts but somehow managed to escape that environment to become a Rhodes Scholar and

the next CEO of the largest nonprofit charity on Wall Street called Robin Hood. One of Wess

best-selling books is called The Other Wes Moore. In the Other Wes Moore, Wes takes the time

to look back and interview an incarcerated man also named Wes Moore, who grew up in a

similar environment with the same circumstances, but yet one outcome is so drastically different

from the other. In the book, the author Wes Moore takes time to reflect upon the quote, The

chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have

been his (180). The book takes us back to the youth and early adulthood of both the author and

the incarcerated Wes Moore where we see two young innocent boys growing up in a

neighborhood where drugs are so easily accessible and widely used. It illustrates how this sort of

environment dramatically affected these two men in different ways. Throughout the book, it is

obvious that the environment in which one is raised in is very important, and that a single

stumble down the wrong path, or a tentative step down the right one (Moore xiv) will determine

ones destiny. The concept of escaping this kind of environment was proven very unlikely

through statistics: the local high school in Baltimore City had a dismal [graduation rate of] 38

percent (Moore 108).

 The author utilizes logos, ethos and pathos in a way that both he and the incarcerated

Wes Moore have been through these situations first hand which gives the book a lot of credibility

and emotions. To add on to the credibility and emotions, Wes also uses statistics to provide

supportive evidence for the readers. Parenthood is a very difficult task especially as a single

parent. Both Wes Moores grew up without a father, paying a toll on their emotions and social

development. Due to these circumstances, both Wes Moores struggled in making the correct

decisions. Unlike the incarcerated Wes Moore, the author Wes Moore had different role models

to look up to and at the same time different peculiar benefits than the incarcerated Wes.

Although the author Wes Moore grew up in the same environment as the incarcerated Wes

Moore, the people that guided the author Wes Moore was his mother Joy. Whereas the

Incarcerated Wes Moores mother Mary was too afraid to admit that her son was dealing Drugs,

the author Wes Moores mother, Joy, saw that her son was dealing drugs and made a sacrifice to

help her son.

Moore analyzes the situations allowing readers to understand the sacrifices of single

mothers. The passing of the author Wes Moores father, Joy, deduces that moving in with her

parents was the best course of action. She needed help only her parents could provide (37).

Parents usually give the best moral support. Thus, the sacrifice of leaving Baltimore to the

borough of the Bronx. Moving to the Bronx, the author Wes Moore was faced with many house-

hold rules that were set by his grandparents. However the environment was drug-filled and

abandoned. With the multitude of negative influences, Joy sent Wes to a prestigious high-school

in New York in hopes of setting her son back on the right track. Though sending Wes off to a

private school was thought to be the best way to bring him back, Joy was later faced with a Wes

who had forgotten how to act naturally, thinking way too much in each situation and getting
tangled in the contradictions between my two worlds (Moore 54). Suspensions, bad grades, and

negative incidents plagued Wess life at the private school. However, Joy was going to keep

persevering and bring Wes Back.

Military school had become Joys last stretch for Wes. Wes was going down in a dark

path and needed to have his priorities straight. Joy relied on a strict learning environment to

bring Wes back. The military school could be analyzed as the fatherly figure that more lacked as

a child growing up. After struggling to escape military school, Wes realizes that the journey I

took was never mine alone (171). Wes had many people behind his back, supporting and

making sacrifices to help shape and mold Wes to the man he is today.

The less fortunate Wes Moore, who also was raised by a struggling single mother, Mary,

felt as if it was his ultimate duty to become the man of the house. His older brother, Tony, was

his only role model growing up. Wes wanted to be just like Tony. Tony wanted Wes to be

nothing like him (Moore 72). Tony was the closest thing Wes had to a role model. (Moore

72). At a young age, the incarcerated Wes Moore has set his older brother Tony, who is in the

drug business, as the closest thing he had to a role model. Although Wes saw his brother Tony as

a role model, Tony in a way abhorred the fact that his younger brother looked up to a drug

dealer. It is clearly obvious in the book that Tony tried very hard to change Wes. After a beating

that Tony gave Wes, Tony told Wes, If you wont listen, thats on you. You have potential to do

so much more, go so much further.(Moore 71-72). Wess situation progressively declined. Tony

had been completely devoured by the drug trafficking in the city. Thus, Mary moved the family

to Dundee, Baltimore in hopes to prevent Wes from following in the same path as Tony. As

money rushed to Tonys fingertips, Wes became more envious of his brother. Using excuses

such as DJ-ing to cover up his tracks. However, Tony knew his baby brothers true intentions.
Mary discovering the horrific news of her second son dealing puzzled her. Making her consider

Who is to blame for this? Tony, the neighborhood, the school system, Wess friends? She put

them all on trial in her mind (75). Throughout the book, we see that Tony tries to be a role

model, and to guide the Incarcerated Wes in the right path, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson says,

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. A role model can tell someone to

behave a certain way or to do a certain thing, but a role model is a person who is looked up to as

an example not by words but by their actions. Their actions are to be imitated and that is what

makes one a role model.

Fatherhood is a huge responsibility that the incarcerated Wes had to provide at a young

age. His irresponsibility led to the pregnancy with Alicia. Not being able to accept the reality,

Wes decides to hoe around with another girl, Cheryl. However, this newly kindled love soon

causes trouble for Wes resulting in him getting arrested again for attempted murder. Serving time

in prison shaped Wes to become a better person. Coming out of prison, Wes decides to go to

school to support his newly born child. With a good friend encouraging to finish his education,

Wes becomes a carpenter, making a final sacrifice for the good of his family. Being the only man

in the house, supporting his family became an issue. Wes became unsatisfied with his life and

income. The bad overcomes the good in Wes as we see him fall back into old habits. Wes

partakes in an armed robbery with his brother Tony, which eventually plots him for life in prison.

Its hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances (Moore 67). A

man can have many chances in a life time, but those chances will come to an end. Never take a

second chance for granted because it may be the last.

The difficulty of making the right decision and appropriate sacrifices plays a huge factor

in both Wes Moores. Moore Capitalizes that lifes impermanence is what makes every single
day so precious (133). Everyday could be your last day and the fact that we see the sacrifices

that each family has made for their Wes more resulted into a different outcome. We see that the

people and nature that you surround yourself with determines who you actually are. Whereas Joy

persevered to bring Wes back, we also see Mary give up and fall into hopelessness. At the

prison, Wes continues to improve himself and those around him. As a religious leader in prison,

Wes finally learns how to make sacrifices.

Citations:

Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. New York: Spiegel & Grau

Trade Paperbacks, 2011. Print.

Wes Moore. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2017.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/wes-moore.

Brody, Leslie. Author Wes Moore Will Be CEO of Robin Hood Nonprofit. The Wall

Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 25 Apr. 2017. Web. 16 Oct. 2017.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/author-wes-moore-will-be-ceo-of-robin-hood-nonprofit-

1493092800