“I asked a question: Do you think we are all just products of our environment” (Moore 126)

Throughout the book of the other Wes Moore we see how the two boys shared similar lifestyle and conclusively come out to live completely different lives. However as we really look into their lives we see the small differences which resultantly leads to the two living completely different lives. One of these small changes are the environment. The book demonstrates how a child is a direct product of their environment. The motto you are only as good as the company you keep is exemplified in volumes. At the start of both Wess’ life they faced similar struggles, both young boys from Baltimore, missing a father figure, same community of people. Throughout the times they shared in the same environment both Wes’s act in a similar fashions, at the young teenage age both boys are faced with arrest. Throughout his time in the poorer area's writer Wes is placed on academic and disciplinary probation. However once he was removed from this scene and placed into Valley forge military academy he had a complete character change which led him to becoming a Rhodes scholar. Meanwhile the other Wes Moore remained in that same environment his whole life surrounded by drug dealers and people who had no drive to become something else which led to his persona to be exactly the same throughout the entirety of his life and continue on that same path that everyone around him followed. From personal experience I can relate to the statement of only being as good as the company you keep. My transition from elementary school to high school demonstrated perfectly how I was a direct product of my environment. From elementary school where none of my friends had any drive or desire to strive in life, this had a direct impact on me. Because although I could not see it in myself, I was behaving in the same manner as they were. However with the arrival at Villanova I was brought to a completely different environment. This brought someone completely different out of me, similarly to how Wes had a character change with his arrival at Valley forge. Being surrounded by people who are striving to be better and succeed in life influenced me the same way that Valley forge and Captain Hill influenced Wes. I began to succeed in school and achieve better grades and similarly Wes achieved a academic scholarship. 

In the Epilogue Wes even states how as children we react based on what we see. We do not see anything else so react based on what we see and all we’ve known. We are a direct product of our environments. That is not to say that if your only option is to grow up as a child in the slums then you will only ever amount to living in the slums, all you need to do is surround yourself with people who believe in you and have similar morals. 

Often times in life children’s ideas of themselves can be limited to only what others think of them. At a young age if a child is thought of to not go anywhere or sees no one else succeeding around him they cannot see themselves doing anything more either. Not every child can find it beneath themselves to prove someone wrong or community of people wrong when they are thought of to become nothing. This is one of the leading reasons why people who are of lower echelon of society tend to stay there. The mind is the most powerful item in the planet, it can push you to do great things or it can hold you back. When you are a child from the poorer areas you are expected to do so much less and accomplish so much less. They are just hoping you make it through high school. When you are deemed barely capable of graduating high school your aspirations are way low. Meanwhile, in wealthy areas the children are expected to attend University never mind graduate University. How is that fair? Of course these children are gonna do better, because they have people believing in them and in their minds they can do this. Now in life there always are the exceptions, some children are able to overcome the standards and prove everybody wrong. However it takes an extremely mentally tough child at such a young age to say no to everything they know and have been told and break those standards. The other Wes Moore was a victim to these standards. Although it may have seemed like the other Wes had support from Tony it was not the right one. His standards were simply “do not get involved in drugs and gangs”, what kind of standard is that for a child. Nothing for a child to aspire to what so ever. I can also say that I myself fell into the standards and had someone deem my worth. Although I was always most highly regarded at home and constantly told the sky was the limit, I still had though to myself that I was going to be nothing more than a trade’s men. This was because of my teachers at school in elementary. They did not think I was smart, they did not think I was capable of anything, they did not think I had any responsibility and due to this I did not I was smart, I did not think I was capable of accomplishing anything and I did not think I had any responsibility, Because of this I did not even try in school. I treated it as a joke and thought to myself who cares because I am not going to do well anyways I am incapable. However this was not the case, I was incapable because I thought I couldn’t do it because someone else told me I couldn’t. I know this because when I attended Villanova and people began to believe in me I succeeded. This is a stereotype and standard that children in poverty fall into everyday. It must stop if we want more people to succeed in life and end poverty. If we believe in these children as much as we believe in the wealthy children they will succeed just as much as them. The mind is powerful and we must use that power for good not the opposite. 

The concept of being placed into standards and living up to these standards is a recurring theme in life. We see this in the book of Indian Horse. Saul was the main character of this book and he was also the one who was affected by this issue of standards. Saul was a Native Indian, living in a time where they were said to be insignificant to society. Saul had a gift which separated him from the typical Native Indian. He was a phenomenal hockey player, despite his size he was marvelous, the way he read the ice to make perfect passes and his blazing speed separated him from the rest of the players. Saul was no so good that he was taken on to a team in a league with only white players. Here is he was the best player by far, scoring every game and tallying up assists. Despite being the best player on the team, Saul’s time in this league was cut short. Shortly after joining the team he was cut, not because he did not have the skill level but rather because he was Native Indian and people said there was no way a Native could keep up with him. As Saul progressed through his hockey years he began to fall into the standard of being a Native. People deemed him to not be able to compete with the white players and it slowly began to eat at his game play. Overtime Saul simply quit Hockey and went to work in the coal mines because “that’s what Natives are supposed to do”. Saul was better then every player on the ice, and could have became a pro hockey player. However because people had placed him into the standard of being incapable of competing with white hockey players his game diminished and he quit. Throughout this book it was directly demonstrated that when Saul had someone to believing in him (Father Leboutillier)he succeeded, however once that was lost and he realized he had standards as a Native he plummeted and simply played right into those standard. Similarly the other Wes Moore was also given standards. Because he was a black male, with no money and from a poor area no one expected him to do anything. By society he would always be a lower echelon member. Because of this standard Wes played right into this standard and thought to himself that the drug business was his best option. Ultimately leading to his downfall and road to failure. Both these stories share similarities as they consist of a child who fell into the standards given to them by society. 

Throughout his childhood Wes was faced with these struggles but he could not overcome them, which resultantly kept him immature and undisciplined. Wes continued to be unable to overcome these issues and it continued to lead him down the wrong path filled with uncertainty and trouble. When Wes made the change to Military school a new light appeared. Wes finally found it within himself to overcome his struggles and begin his journey of change and becoming a man. Wes’s ability to overcome his struggles undeniably lead him to into becoming the Rhodes scholar and US military veteran he his now.

The other Wes Moore was unable to ever overcome the struggles of becoming a man like Wes did. The other Wes Moore could not overcome the struggle of the easy money. Even when he was so close after completing the job corps he could not sustain it. The other Wes Moore was simply never able to complete the journey and his fate died off like the boys who do not complete the journey of becoming a man in the Xhosa tribe

The first person narrative point of view allows for a direct insight of their life through the actual eyes of the narrator. This brings a whole new perspective for the telling of a story as we can visualize someone else's memory as if we were in the moment. However it is important to realize that each component of the information in a first person point of view is filtered through the writer therefore it is simply their opinion and may not be completely true.  The book of the other Wes Moore was an extremely particular narration as it took us through his life from his eyes and also other Wes Moore's life from the opinion of that Wes Moore who was serving his life sentence in Jail while he wrote told his story for the book. Although this book through the narrator's eyes gave us a tremendous first person perspective of the book and allowed us to understand how tough their situation was and what their thought process was for their decision making, we must understand that these stories are one sided and possibly not completely true. We also must take into account of these stories are being told from a man who still has not admitted to a crime in which he received a life sentence for. 

“The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that his life could have been mine” (Wes Moore 180)

 Throughout Wes’s constant appearances with the other Wes at the prison, Wes get’s to know how they shared so many similarities other than just their names. Their hometown, their families both having an absent father and etc. These facts led Wes to a realization, the chilling truth that the other Wes Moore’s life could have been his life and vice versa. However I do not find this to be the case. Throughout Wes’s entire life he received the best education. He did not partake in the public school system, he attended private school. He was placed in a much better environment where the best options was not seen as illegal activity.  He was not wealthy however his family was financially stable. More importantly than schooling and money was family, Wes had a mother who was actively involved in his life. She kept up with his schooling and when she had notice his slacking she sent him off to military academy in the hopes that he would change his ways. Wes also had a loving father that from what he can remember of him he admired. The other Wes Moore had a much different situation at home, his mother was not nearly as involved. His mother had been so disappointed and focused on the cut of her education grant that she had almost become depressed. Not to mention the fact that the other Wes Moore had seen drug dealing and gang violence in his immediate family from his father and his older brother. Now, yes the other Wes Moore could have made decisions and choices to put himself on the right path with writer Wes Moore however these were critical differences in their lives which ultimately differentiated the two substantially. This is why I believe that yes they each could have shared each others legacies however ultimately there were many differences between the two which made their similarities insignificant. 

As Wes thinks about his future for his education, he stops and pauses to think of the people who he had admired most. He thought of his lieutenants and captains. Each one had taught him valuable lessons that he would remember and cherish for the rest of his life. However his old friends had never come to mind, the ones who he had admired so much because they were cool and tough had drifted off and become much more insignificant. 

This was section of the book held lots of significance as it demonstrated the complete change in Wes’s character. No longer was Wes another lower income kid with no aspirations. Wes had changed completely and accepted the standards of military students. Wes says it himself that the men who he had trusted most and put complete faith in were all men from Valley Forge. Wes had fully integrated to the Military academy environment. We are able to see in this passage that Wes had become a changed man. After all the struggles he had encountered throughout his journey he had finally joined a community which had properly suited him and helped him . 

This citation occurs to Wes upon arrival at Valley Forge. After only thinking of negative thought about Valley Forge Wes is astonished by the respect Captain Hill receives just by walking into the large foyer with over 120 students. This passage is extremely significant with respect to the theme of environments and how it played into Wes’s development as a character. Prior to attending Valley Forge Wes had only been exposed to one type of environment. The only way he had seen respect been given was through physical violence and gangs. Never before had he seen someone simply be granted respect psychologically. After trying to escape and run away this was the first time that Wes was completely displaced from his natural environment. He had learned that there was much more beyond the bubble of Baltimore and the Bronx. This passage was poignant because he realizes the true definition of respect and being a leader. Wes had never seen the type of respect that was given to Captain Hill before. It was a real turning point because it inspired Wes to become the man he is. His old expectations had been completely flipped, rather than the coolest kids being the slackers, the coolest kids were leaders. This realization is what separated he and the other Wes Moore. Wes was becoming a product of his environment all because it’s what was acceptable in that environment. This was the turning point in Wes’s life which led him on a pathway to success.