In Part II of The Other Wes Moore, the
readers can get a glimpse of how their mother actions and lead their son to the
current path they are in. From the previous chapters, it was seen that Joy and
Mary are mothers who try to protect their children from the dangers of the drug
dealing, alcoholism, and violence environment. The difference between both
mothers is the naiveness and lack of action from Mary in which has affected the
Other Wes as he is a drug dealer and has been incarcerated.
The Other Wes hasn’t had the right role
models to look up to as his older brother Tony is a drug dealer and his mother
Mary is a drug user. Tony has always told the Other Wes to do what he says and
not do what he does. Tony has always been telling him to stay away from drugs,
alcohol, and violence, yet we see Tony being involved in shootings and selling
drugs as well as teaching his brother how to fight. Tony’s lack of action to
keep his brother from repeating his same mistakes pushed the Other Wes to
follow his same path. The Other Wes is only familiar with Tony path. Thus he
follows what is familiar to him. Mary unintentionally is the one that leads the
Other Wes to his current reckless path by not accepting early on that her son
is repeating Tony’s actions and lively hood.
In chapter 4, we learn that the Other Wes has been making money from
drug dealing and he explains his cash flow and expensive purchases by telling
Mary he had become a successful DJ in the neighborhood. Mary believes him and
does not ask further questions. By not taking additional steps into
investigating her son increase of cash flow she is showing carelessness for
what her son is up to. Knowing that they live in a neighborhood where money is
scarce especially legal cash flow, she rejects the thought that her son is
lying. Mary may have believed him because subconsciously she no longer wanted
to be a mother because of the responsibilities that come with being the parent
at a young age. Tony and the Other Wes took her youth years and were not able
to enjoy it. She no longer has to worry to provide for his needs as he is
capable of doing so independently. In a sense, her loss of the Other Wes was
her opportunity to regain her partial freedom from motherhood. Mary lack of
action to prevent her son from a treacherous path entirely drives the Other Wes
to drug dealing and jail.

My mother embodies the character of Joy.
She does not let any circumstances prevent her from giving my sisters and I the
tools to succeed. Up till sixth grade, I was attending public schools in which
she did not see the system was benefiting me to obtain a subpar education. With
the financial help from family and friends, she was able to enroll me to a high
academic profile school. Like the Author Wes, I struggled in the beginning as
the new environment expected more from me and pushed me to achieve my full
potential. Not knowing if I was going to be the student they wanted me to be I
was able to successfully pass their standards as Author Wes did in military
school. Having someone who cares about your future like Joy does help guide the
person on the right path.
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