The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

In The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore I found that there were major turning points in both of their lives that contributed to the outcome of their lives so far.  The author of the book Wes Moore had two parents who graduated college while the other Wes's parents did not.  Also the author's dad didn't live with him when he grew up because he died when Wes was young, but the other Wes's dad didn't care about being there for Wes.  So there is a difference in the mentality of the two Wes's  where their dads are concerned.  The other Wes had to live knowing that his Dad didn't care about him which is much worse than knowing that your dad would be there if he could be like is the author's case.


Another thing that made a difference in the outcome of the two Wes's lives was that the other Wes got involved with drugs and crime at an early age while the author did not.  I think the reason for this is that the other Wes was exposed to this by his mom using and that his brother Tony was high up on the drug "game" ladder.  While the author was never exposed to these things.  


Thirdly I found that the author's mother did more to keep her son out of trouble for example moving the whole family to the Bronx, sending her son to private school that she couldn't afford, and even sending Wes to Military School.  This largely contributed to the author not getting involved in drugs.  While the author was in Military School, the other Wes dropped out of High School, was dealing drugs, and had kids.  


I think that having kids really put the other Wes over the edge because he entered a job program and passed through it very fast.  He was able to get a job as a carpenter.  But it payed very low, less than he made was he was dealing drugs.  He wasn't making enough money to support his children, so he then went back into the "drug game".   


I think that these are only several of the things that set the two Wes's apart in how their future played out.  Though the sad part is that the bad things that set them apart could have been prevented.