The Other Wes Moore is the true story of two boys who shared the same name and hometown, but very different futures: while one found success in business and academics, the other is serving a life sentence in prison for murder. The book is divided into three sections that tell the stories of how the Wes Moores's paths diverged in such dramatic ways. The first, "Fathers and Angels," focuses on each Wes's childhoods in Baltimore, where they had similar family situations: each had an absent father, a hardworking mother, and were close to their grandparents. The title "Fathers and Angels" is appropriate for the author Wes Moore's purpose as it demonstrates his feelings about the role that family had in his and the other Wes's childhoods.
The title "Fathers and Angels" emphasizes the role of the mother in each Wes's development as a child. Although the title could be interpreted to reference the dead people who have influenced each boy's life, such as the author Wes's father Wesley, Sr., it finds a deeper meaning in the use of the word "angel" to represent their living mothers. Instead of the traditional juxtaposition "fathers and mothers," two words that are often seen next to each other, Moore uses "angels" as a replacement for "mothers," thus signifying that they share certain characteristics. Throughout the first three chapters, the author's purpose is clear; to show how both mothers in the story attempt to support and care for their sons as best they can. Joy, the author Wes's mother, attempts to hold the family together after her husband dies unexpectedly. Moore writes that she sleeps downstairs in the living room-- in part to avoid the memories of the room she once shared with in, in part to protect her children from the trespassers that had begun breaking into houses around their neighborhood. Her vigilance brings to mind the image of a guardian angel, who waits by the doorway in order to protect her charge. Although Joy is experiencing difficult times of her own, she still puts her children before herself to make sure that they are safe and happy. The other Wes Moore's mother demonstrates her role as an angel in slightly different ways. Unlike Joy, Mary Moore has never had a good relationship with men, including Wes's father-- an alcoholic, he spends more time looking for beer money than trying to learn his child's name. However, she does what she can to give Wes the best future possible, moving her family to a suburban area called Northwood in an effort to get as far away as possible from the poverty-stricken, gang-ridden center of the city. Moore says, "Tony had already joined [the list of high school dropouts]; Mary wanted to keep Wes away from that same fate" (57). Mary's move is prompted in large part by the better schools in Northwood, where she hopes that Wes will be able to find success. Here, just like a guardian angel, she consciously changes her family's lives in order to give them better opportunities. In effect, she lifts them out of the impoverished Cherry Hills apartments and into the well-groomed suburbs; an angelic salvation that she hopes will be enough to sustain young Wes's future. The first three chapters, for both boys, are the story of attempted salvation as both mothers do all that they can to help their sons.
The first section of The Other Wes Moore is written primarily to show the power of both Wes's mothers in shaping their childhoods. "Fathers and Angels" thus refers to the angelic qualities of Mary and Joy Moore, who work to fill the role of an absent father and move their families to places where they will have the best opportunities possible. However, not even guardian angels can change the future: while one Wes will eventually find success, the other will spend the rest of his life in jail. Through the first three chapters of his book, Moore comments on the power of family and how it affects the way that children grow and develop-- but also on the different between the free will of a mother and the fate, however unjustified, of her son.
No comments:
Post a Comment