The effects of Losses

“The Other Wes Moore” shares the life stories of two individuals with the same name but different paths. The two Wes Moore, along with their family members, experience different losses, to differing degrees, throughout the beginning chapters. These losses include the loss of a family member, the loss of youth and innocence, and the loss of freedom. These losses alter the shape of the characters projected path.

We are introduced to the first loss in the book with the sudden and tragic death of the father of Wes Moore. Wes Moore being a young child is unable to comprehend the complexity of death, and it is shown when he asks at Westley’s, his father funeral: “Daddy are going to come with us?” Moore’s innocent question shows how a child like Moore at the age of three unaware and less emotionally impacted by what has taken place. It is only with the benefit of reflecting that Moore can see how Westley’s death influenced his own life. Moore thus shows that we must often make decisions before we fully understand how they will affect our futures. On the other hand, his older sister Nikki was impacted the most by Westley’s death because afterward her biological father Bill stops visiting her or supporting her financially. At an older age from Moore, Nikki can understand the complexity of losing someone and the result it will have in her path from the absence of the two father figures. The death of her two fathers can foreshadow that Nikki will not be able to form close relationships with the men that present themselves in her life as she might think they may abandon her.

The loss of youth and innocence is present in the life of the Other Wes Moore. The Other Wes Moore pertained to a more dangerous environment of drug, alcohol, and gangs. At a young age of eight years old his gang-involved brother, Tony will teach him how to street fight. Tony will always say to Wes that revenge must always be obtained. His corruption of innocence was seen when Wes tried to kill the boy with a knife that punched him to “send a message.” Wes pride and often desires to obtain what he wants creates more self-induced conflicts. It is seen that Wes total youth and innocent is stripped away when he wants to borrow a pair of headphones from a teen drug dealer in return that he joins the drug business. By accepting the offer into the drug business, Wes will no longer be able to have a life where drugs, alcohol, and violence does not control the lives of others. Wes lost his freedom as he is no longer has control over his actions and decisions. Thus he may not be able to mature enough to understand that his wrong choices in his childhood will mark his future path.

Mary, The Other Wes Moore mother, is the first in her family to attend college breaking the chain of hardship. For her college symbolized the freedom from her dangerous neighborhood that has been holding her down from achieving her full potential as she describes college her “golden ticket” to success. When she losses her Pell Grant she is forced to terminate her college studies to be able to provide for her family. Similar to Mary, my “golden ticket” was college as it symbolizes the gain of my independence. Growing up in a strict household I haven’t been able to experience many of the aspects that come with being a teenager and now a young adult who is trying to start making her own decisions and not let my parent's expectations influence it. Due to the financial factor, I wasn’t able to attend a university that was far from home. As a result, I had to sacrifice my golden ticket losing my chance of gaining my independence.