Socratic Seminar Reflection Kite Runner 2

Socratic Seminar Reflection Kite Runner 1

Socratic Seminar Preparation 4

Part 1: Summarization:

In Book Three of 1984, Winston is put into prison where he is starved, beaten, and both physically and mentally tortured. He is put through a process of reintegration where he has to reshape his entire processes of thinking to match that of the Party's. Eventually, he betrays everyone he knows and comes to believe, and even love, Big Brother; a feat that he believes has finally ended his suffering.  

Part 2: Question Development:

Level Two:

1)      Why does Winston believe that physical pain is worse than psychological pain?

Winston has lived a life filled with psychological pain; he experienced it from early childhood after being separated from his family and in the emptiness that filled him throughout Party life. However, he able to survive this pain because inside he knew who he was and what he believed and as miserable as he could be made, these couldn't be taken away from him no matter what psychological torture they inflicted on him. However, once the physical torture begins, O'Brien feels in so much pain that he believes they could make him say or do anything so long as it would make the pain go away. At the start of Book Three, Winston believes that he would ask for an increase in pain to save Julia, but by the end he realizes that "Never, for any reason on Earth, could you wish for an increase of pain. Of pain you could wish only one thing: that it should stop." (Page 213). The powerless of his mind to compete with the whims of his body makes Winston believe that the physical torture is worse than the mental one he was forced to endure.

2)      Why does Winston continue to love and trust O'Brien even after O'Brien tortures and torments him?

Winston continues to love and trust O'Brien even after the torture probably for one or both of two reasons. The first of these reasons is that Winston has grown to see O'Brien as a confidant or friend throughout this novel. Whenever he is in trouble, he looks for O'Brien to save him, whenever he is lonely, he searches for O'Brien's voice. This is most likely a psychological contraption that Winston invented to keep himself sane. Winston knew that he would be caught whether he trusted O'Brien or not, so he chose to trust O'Brien simply because he needed to do so to survive. He needed to create a being that understood him and loved him because no real being existed. Another reason could be what we see in modern instances of kidnapping where after awhile the kidnapped persons do not even attempt escape when given the option because they have been psychologically manipulated to believe that their kidnapper is helping them. O'Brien is the only one who can give Winston the things he needs - food, water, shelter, etc. so it is easy for Winston to not see that O'Brien is causing his suffering because he is so dependent on O'Brien to survive.

 

3)      Why is Winston "cured" after he wishes Julia's death over his own?

Before the rats incident, Winston had proven that he was mentally manipulated by the Party; however, it is not until now that he has shown it to take over his emotional side. Winston sees himself as above the Party because although it controls his thoughts, it cannot control his feelings. At one point he even says that he believes death would be a triumph because it would mean that he died with his heart still set against the Party. It's like O'Brien says: it's not enough to believe Big Brother, but Winston must love Big Brother to be set free of his prison. When Winston betrays Julia, betrays the one promise he made to himself and betrays who he thought he was, he loses his emotions and gives way to the Party to save himself. He no longer wishes to be with Julia; he wishes only to be safe and under the Party because it is simpler and less painful at this point, and pain has become a major fear for Winston.

4)      How does the Party view reality? Is this accurate? 

Party members have a warped sense of reality that lies entirely in what they believe. While torturing Winston in the Ministry of Love, O'Brien continually asks him what 2+2 equals and waits for him to say 5 after telling him that's what he wants Winston to say. Winston is driven mad by this exercise; he finally screams that it is 5 just to stop the pain, but O'Brien says it's not enough because Winston has to believe that it's 5 because the Party says it is, and he can tell Winston is lying. On Page 222, it says, "But I tell you Winston that reality is not eternal. Reality exists in the human mind and nowhere else...Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party."  This vision of reality is centered around humans rather than natural laws of the world, shown by when O'Brien states that the Party could move the planets if it wanted to. I do not believe this is an accurate view of reality because there are certain scientific truths that are real and just because we bend our minds to think of them differently does not change the ways in which they work. For instance, in the period of the Reformation, many Christians denied that we lived in a heliocentric universe because the Church had always taught that we lived in an Earth-centered universe, and they did not want the Government to gain power by asserting this new truth based on scientific proof versus mere supposition. What people claim as reality is a form of power and being able to control this reality and what is "normal" and "true" is the real goal of the Party in showing their ability to twist the truth. The Party does not care about true reality; in fact, O'Brien has explanations for historical events like archeological discoveries (biologists "made up bones") and The Inquisition ("a failure because it spurred more instead of fewer heretics.) The Party controls not only thought, but also a falsified version of "reality."

5)      Why does Winston continue to dream of his shooting even after he is free?

Winston dreams of being shot because now that he has been brainwashed by the Party, he has no reason to live. After seeing Julia, he realizes that the only things in life that used to give him meaning (fighting against the party, having sex with Julia, the concept of joining O'Brien and the Brotherhood) are all gone and he is left as one of the Party's minions whom he used to feel sorry for. As Winston dreams of being shot, he says, "But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother." (Page 266). Before his arrest, Winston feared death because he saw his rebellious life as important and as a force to end the Party's rule. However, now Winston is no longer afraid of death or the Party because he loves Big Brother and knows that whatever happens is for Big Brother. Winston is most likely depressed as well as brainwashed, and lacks even the most basic desire to continue living life the way it now will be.
 

6)      How has Winston's thoughts about sanity changed in these chapters?
 

When Winston was reading the Brotherhood's book that O'Brien gave him, he made a statement that sanity was not statistical and just because most men followed the Party did not mean that it was the sane thing to do. However, after he is arrested, Winston starts to become brainwashed by O'Brien and says, "Sanity was statistical. It was merely a question of learning to think as they thought." (Page 247). Winston is bombarded with punishment every day after his arrest, including beatings, starvation and emotional abuse and because of this, he comes to think that everything he believes must be wrong. He concludes that he must be insane because everyone else is able to believe the Party and able to live peacefully within it. The pain he endures calls him to question his own sanity and whether majority rule was right. One could argue Winston changes his view on sanity because of the torture he endures; we may never really know if he changes to avoid pain or embrace what is easier.

Rhetorical Appeals: In these questions, I used mainly emotional and logical appeals. For emotional appeals, I questioned character's motives and used words like torment, torture, and brainwashing to instill fear in the reader. For logical, I talked about thought processes and why Winston's views on things may have changed due to his changing environment.

Level Three:

1)      Are speed cameras in America a form of totalitarian control?

 

I think that speed cameras can be both positive and negative. While speed cameras have helped to catch speeders who have caused accidents and have encouraged safer driving, they have also been wrong before and have caused accidents as people slow down for the cameras, jamming on their breaks and causing unsafe driving conditions.  Big Brother in the novel watches over people with telescreens in order to catch people committing Thoughtcrime, and thus, keeps Oceania safe. This is the same argument that speed camera supporters use, however in reality this is not always the case.

2)      Is torture an ethical or effective way to get information?

I think that torture is never an ethical or effective way to get information. I cannot believe that there is ever a time where torturing another human being (whether mentally, physically, or emotionally) is appropriate. In some ways, torture is even worse than the death penalty because your life is being sucked away from you while you are being forced to live. However, beyond that, torture is simply an ineffective means to get information anyhow. When one is being tortured, one would say anything to get away from being tortured, including (as Winston did) making things up. This leads to false information, which can be detrimental by wasting time and causing improper actions to be taken to combat whatever the information was supposed to assist in. Torture is a popular means of interrogation today in may countries, including the U.S. (see: waterboarding scandal, Guantanamo Bay issues, etc) but developed countries, as a whole, are moving away from torture for many reasons, including its ineffectiveness and the negative way it makes a country perceived.

3)      Can love overcome betrayal?

I believe that love can overcome betrayal if the love is true. When Winston and Julia betray each other after being tortured, they can not stand to see each other afterward, as demonstrated by their awkward and emotionless meeting in the park. I believe that this is because they never really loved each other and were so consumed by lust and because they so easily betrayed each other, they realize this. However, when couples who really care for each other encounter betrayal, often times they can find it within themselves to forgive the other person because they can't imagine their lives without them. With cheating for example, some couples are unable to move past it while some are. It really all depends on the couple, the strength of their love, and the reason for the betrayal. Love can overcome betrayal when the love is predicated on truth and a desire to be a better person as part of the couple, but it cannot overcome betrayal with a shaky foundation.
 

Rhetorical Appeals: In my first question, I used mainly logical appeals to show that totalitarian control can exist in many different shapes and sizes apart from the novel. In the last two question, I used emotional appeals to make the reader feel fear about torture and betrayal.

 

Part 3: Tracking Evidence:

1)      “'Who denounced you?' said Winston. 'It was my little daughter,' said Parsons...'I don't bear her any grudge for it. In fact I'm proud of her. It shows I brought her up in the right spirit, anyway.'" (Page 208).

2)      "Their real weapon was the merciless questioning that went on and on hour after hour, tripping him up, laying traps for him, twisting everything that he said, convicting him at every step of lies and self-contradiction, until he began weeping as much from shame as from nervous fatigue." (Page 215)

 

3)   "If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man. Your kind is extinct; we are the inheritors." (Page 241).

 

4)   "Don't give up hope. Everything is cured sooner or later. In the end we shall shoot you." (Page 244).

 

5)   "In the eyes of the Party there was no distinction between the thought and the deed." (Page 216).

 

6)   "His mind shriveled as he thought of the unanswerable, mad arguments with which O'Brien would demolish him." (Page 231).

 

Socratic Seminar Reflection 3

1984 Socratic Seminar Reflection 2

1984 Socratic Seminar Reflection 1

Othello Dramatic Reading Video

Title Justification: Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled

-both Weses follow what they had set out to do in the first chapter: Other Wes is going to make a change and does the job corps- other people's exectations of Wes are fulfilled, to a point, so are Wes' own

-Author Wes: took of path finishing military school but taking big leadership position in charge o 700 cadets, internship with mayor, met with Hopkins guy, got accepted/$$, expectations fulfilled also because he always thought he was going to do great things- he may not have played in NBA bt he set goals from early on (different than Other wes) and met them

What is author's purpose?
-he wants to show how the choices that the diferent Weses made determined their diverging paths which in turn determined whether their expectations were fulfilled

Thesis should prove purpose and lead to your examples in body.

Chapter 8: Surrounded

Theme: Responsibility

 

1) "She felt terrible about the death of the police officer. She prayed her sons were not responsible." (Page 149).

 

 Mary, Other Wes' mother, thinks this as she learns via television that her sons are being charged with the murder of a beloved policeman. When Mary says she "felt terrible," it shows that although she empathized with the deceased's loved ones, she never felt responsible for her part, however indirect, in the situation. She never looked at the situation with remorse or regret, but instead only vainly hoped that her sons were not a part of it. One could argue that the way in which she raised her children allowed them to continue down the dark path they were going, a path of drugs, thievery, out of wedlock pregnancies and irresponsibility, and without intervention, it is arguable that Mary set her children up for this crime; that in itself is worth taking responsibility for. Mary could have looked for the boys or thought of where they could be, but instead she passively "prayed" for them and watched their inevitable arrest occur. This is yet another occasion in which Mary refuses to accept her responsibility in her children's poor upbringing, which subsequently led to this crime, and her children's responsibilities in committing it.

 

2) "If you knew where they were, would you tell us?"

Mary finally snapped at them. "Look, I just found out that my sons are wanted for killing a police officer. If I find anything out, I will tell you, and I will cooperate however I can, but right now, I don't need to be questioned like I did something wrong." (Page 150).

 

This quote is from when the policemen investigating the crime arrive at Mary's home with a search warrant. The policemen ask Mary if she knew that her children were both on probation and then asks if she knew where they were now. Mary suddenly feels overwhelmed, perhaps because she is now being forced to face the reality that she is a part of this murder, however indirectly, and that she had a responsibility that she didn't fulfill in seeing that her sons followed their probation, and knowing where they were. These questions make Mary uncomfortable and she finally breaks down and tells the police officer to stop treating her like she did something wrong. Even faced when the horrific nature of what her sons may have done, she does not take any responsibility and snaps at the police officers defensively, trying to shift the blame off of herself (a defense mechanism often used by the guilty). Many would assert that Mary did do something wrong in her mismanagement of her boys' childhoods, and the policemen are not going to let her reject her responsibility in bringing her sons forward, for their responsibility is to bring justice for one of their own. They do not care if Mary is annoyed or hurt by their questions because they feel their responsibility is not toward her but to their fallen colleague. When her children were younger, Mary was not as responsible a parent as she arguably should have been. Now that her children are over 18 and the age of her legal responsibility has ended, she seems to reject her role even more, which plays out to serious consequences for both her and her sons. In contrast to Author Wes's mother, who throughout Author Wes's life continues to play her role by helping Author Wes to mature and make good decisions through her choices to send him to military school and introduce him to reading by respecting and developing his positive interests, Mary is pretty absent in her sons' lives, and thus she does not feel her responsibility as strongly. This is a bit ironic because Mary lived in the same city as her sons, and yet she was more distant to them than Joy (Author Wes' mom), who lived hours away from Author Wes. This quote exemplifies the concept of responsibility in that the parties who seem to embrace it see positive results, and the parties who do not seem to be left with negative results.

 

3) "The sentence was indeed life in prison without the possibility of parole. The guards placed their hands on Wes and shuffled him away. The hands of the state would stay on him for the rest of his life." (Page 157).

 

Other Wes's trial ends with this declaration, when he is given a life sentence without parole. Other Wes had many chances and second chances to prove himself and show that he had taken responsibility for his actions and choices and was willing to make a change, but these chances weren't used wisely, and thus he proved himself to be unable to show responsibility for himself. When Other Wes gives up this responsibility, he forces the state to take it upon themselves and be responsible for him so that others are not affected by his poor choices any more than they already have been. The state could no longer trust Other Wes with additional second, third, and tenth chances because his character was detrimental to society, and he had not proven responsible enough to handle the setbacks in his life and to make any changes. Trust goes hand and hand with responsibility because the more responsible one proves oneself to be, the more trust one is given. In the case of Author Wes, as he proved that he was willing to make a change, accept the stringency of military school, and improve his grades and test scores, colleges trusted him to keep improving despite his rough background and thus accepted him despite him not necessarily having the qualities other applicants possessed. However, in Other Wes's case, his continued failed attempts to take responsibility for his actions lessened the state's trust in him, and thus they were forced to lock him up forever with no more chances to make things right. Responsibility is elastic, and can certainly change depending on one's age, environment and experiences, but it is in no way permanent and should not be taken for granted, as this quote shows.

 

4) "I knew that landing admissions at Hopkins would be a stretch at best. So after filling out the application, I put it out of mind. But months later, I got the large package in the mail. Not only was I accepted, but I would receive scholarship money. I read the letter aloud to my mother over the phone, and she screamed in excitement." (Page 160).

 

This quote is said after Author Wes decided to apply to Hopkins and was then unexpectedly (at least to him) admitted with a scholarship. Author Wes showed his willingness to be responsible for his future not only by his continued academic and athletic successes, but also by his interest in seeking out the right colleges and working hard to get accepted, do well, and continuing to put his life back on a positive track. Author Wes took his future in his hands when he completed his job working with the mayor, and this opportunity only paved the way for more opportunities, as the mayor was the one who set Author Wes up with the Hopkins representative. Because Author Wes had taken this extra step in taking this internship, he was able to gain the tools to get into a good college, and thus pave the way for an exciting and bright future, which shows his responsibility to continue his self-improvement. While both Weses definitely attempted to take responsibility for their lives, there were some clear differences which help to explain why one succeeded and the other did not. Author Wes needed only to be responsible for himself and thus he had the ability to spend a lot more time focusing on his goals, his future, and what he needed to do to ensure that he got the most he could out of life. Other Wes did not have this luxury, and he was responsible for that fact. By having four children with two different mothers (one of whom was a drug addict), he had to worry about being responsible for his large and disconnected family. While going out, doing drugs and joining his crime-ridden crews began to seem to Other Wes like the irresponsible thing to do, he also felt he was not being responsible by taking the minimum wage job after his Job Corps program, which would not allow him to support his family adequately. Thus, he was unable to stick with his goals and his financial responsibility for his family outweighed his responsibility for his future, which led him to get back into crime. Author Wes, however, had the luxury -due to his responsible choices- to be able to stick with his goals, and thus, he showed responsibility for himself, which allowed him to prosper. Responsibility increases exponentially with more people involved in any situation, particularly children, and that is a key factor in the divergent paths the Weses' lives took.

 

5) "It made me think deeply about the way privilege and preference works in the world, and how many kids who didn’t have ‘luck’ like mine in this instance would find themselves forever outside the ring of power and prestige." (Page 160).

Author Wes ponders the circumstances of his acceptance to Hopkins here. Author Wes believes that because of Paul White's recommendation, he got into the school despite his lower-than- average scores, and that this means he is lucky because of his fortuitous meeting with White. However, this is not the case. Author Wes put himself into a position in which he was able to be lucky. Author Wes took responsibility for his future by choosing to stay in military school, taking a job with the mayor, applying for admission at Hopkins and staying close with his family. Thus, although his acceptance was fortunate, it does not mean that he was given something he had not deserved. Other Wes would have never had the opportunity to get this scholarship and acceptance because he did not take the same responsibility for his life and thus, was not in a position to receive luck. Author Wes's life choices and responsibility in making those life choices are what led him to get the help he needed and live the prosperous life that awaited him. The concept of luck is fluid in that some people believe (like Author Wes does at this point) that it is truly random; others believe one’s ability to put one’s self in particular situations leads to “luck”, which is what responsibility brings. This is clearly demonstrated by the acceptances and accolades Author Wes is now receiving.

Chapter 7: The Land That God Forgot

Theme: Discipline

1) "He embraced the progress this nation made and the military's role in helping that change to come about." (Page 131)

This quote is said when Author Wes is realizing that his sports-oriented dreams are not realistic, and he starts to think about what he may do next. He soon realizes that the answer is right in front of him; he was going to join the military. Author Wes wanted to have the same strength that supported his nation and that kept his nation alive, which up until he arrived at Valley Forge, he did not have in his life. He started to realize that the only way to make something of himself was to step into this position of order. Before his time in military school, Author Wes thought that the way to gain power was to be "cool" and to defend himself in his neighborhood. Now, however, he sees that by being disciplined and by following a code of honor, he can achieve more than he ever dreamed of in his old Bronx life. This is a turning point for Author Wes because although he has many dreams involving sports and money for his family, he believes that a career that follows the path of the people he admires and the actions he admires is the way that he will not only become a man, but finally find something makes him feel like he had a purpose that others applauded instead of derided. This was also a time when Author Wes started to step back and look at the big picture; it was no longer just about his Bronx life or the sports that he would play. It started to become about his nation and his country, and he started to have aspirations to become part of the bigger solution. This showed his growth and maturity, and how he started to consider the growth and well-being of others instead of just fast money or defending his "hood."

2) "Powell in his pragmatic way wanted what I wanted: a fair shot. A place to develop himself. A code that would instill discipline, restrain passion, and order his steps." (Page 132)

As Author Wes was discovering the possibilities of his future, he turned his thoughts to some of his most acclaimed role models. He found these role models through literature and history, primarily introduced to him by his mother, who bought him a book about his favorite basketball stars. This transcended simple sports adulation and prompted Author Wes to seek out further opportunities to read about greatness, and subsequently follow the people he read about. In following with the theme of discipline, Author Wes' mom definitely had a strong influence on the events in his life through her quiet and subtle disciplinary actions; she followed through on her threat to send him to military school in he first place, and even then emphasized the discipline of reading, education and opening Wes' sights to new possibilities. However, other Wes' mother's household was more chaotic and may not have had the conduciveness to provide such guidance and discipline for her son, accounting for Other Wes' lack of vision and lack of overall discipline to overcome the challenges in his life. Author Wes uses Powell's idea of "developing himself" to explore the path he wanted to follow for his future instead of just thinking short term, as he had been, which is a hallmark of a lack of discipline. In this quote, Author Wes talks about wanting a code to follow to make his life follow a journey that would lead him to his goals, rather than living by an unplanned, undisciplined, fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants scene of chaos. This chapter makes clear some of the major causes of the split between the two Wes Moores. Arguably, these two major causes are the discipline of one's mother and education. While many factors, both controllable and uncontrollable, affected these two men, this chapter demonstrates the positive epiphany Author Wes has and sticks to, which is largely due to his mother's influence, and contrasts what we later learn about Other Wes, who has a similar change of heart but does not have the education or discipline to make the change permanent.


3) "Aside from family and friends, the men I most trusted all had something in common: they all wore the uniform of the United States of America." (Page 132)



4)  "He understood that his thoughts contradicted his actions; he had long since accepted that. It was just that this tolerance of his own hypocrisy was wearing thin." p. 138 (Other Wes)

This quote is said by Other Wes when he discovers the mother of his third and fourth children high on heroin when she is supposed to be caring for the kids. As a leader of his drug dealing team in Baltimore, he never had to experience the hardship of addiction he was providing for others, because he was smart enough to know not to become addicted himself but to merely make money off of other people's weaknesses. He only saw the monetary gain he earned from his business and never really cared to pay attention to the lives of the people that his chosen career path was affecting. Until this point, this was only a niggling thought in the back of his brain but it was now coming to the forefront because of Cheryl's proximity to him. When he sees Cheryl, the reality hits him as he sees the impact of what drugs have on not only his community, but his own family. He started to realize that this wasn't the way that he wanted to live; it wasn't providing him with the order and discipline in his life that made him feel as secure as it once did. He starts to feel the chaos and disorder that his choices have brought upon him, and begins to, after some reflection, crave a system of discipline that his life so desperately lacks. Without a system that would discipline him and not give him the choice to stray away from the program, Other Wes didn't see a possibility to make the changes he so wanted to make until he spoke with his friend Levy, who told him about Job Corps. Job Corps was a way to use the thoughts and morals that Other Wes had deep down and put them into action so that his hypocrisy, that he so desperately did not want to be a part of him, no longer existed. Before Job Corps, Other Wes had none of the institutionalized rules in place that Author Wes had from his experience at military school; his mother was struggling to support the family, he now had a large family of his own and he was starting to feel he weight of the responsibilities he was not fulfilling on his shoulders. He knew that he had to make a change in order to successfully support his children, which had somewhat unexpectedly become a major concern for him. Like a child, Other Wes has found that what he has fought against for so long is now what he most desires: discipline and order.

5) "He stayed at the Job Corps Center so he could provide a better life for his kids. He stayed for his mother, who sat home watching Tony continue moving in and out of the criminal justice system. He stayed at the Job Corps Center for himself." (Page 144)

This quote is said as Other Wes is staying in a program to get his life on track to where he wanted it to be through vocational guidance and GED help. This quote emphasizes the fact that he chose to stay in this program because he knew that he could thrive and grow on the discipline it provided. For the first time in his life, Other Wes did not want to just skate by or con his way through an experience that he knew could change his life; he wanted to take advantage of this program and so he went above and beyond what was asked of him by producing a playhouse for his daughter that blew everyone away, including his instructor. (It is interesting to consider that houses usually represent safety, security, discipline and support, all of which Other Wes didn't have but wanted to provide for his daughter.) Building this large project was cathartic for Other Wes in that it did what, up until now, no one or no thing had one: brought discipline to himself and his children. This proves that an environment of discipline really can promote growth of an individual, and can bring out his/her best qualities, which is what Wes needed because of his chaotic life before entering the program. This discipline didn't just allow Other Wes to survive; it allowed him to thrive. In Other Wes' life, survival was something that wasn't even guaranteed, so being able to thrive and progress was a luxury and a beacon of hope for his future. However, once he graduated the program and left the cocoon of discipline his old life had been lacking, he soon fell back into old habits when he found that he was unable to get a well-paying job, despite his high success rate in the program, due to his record and lack of formal education, even at a lower-school level. This beacon of hope that had been give to Other Wes was now shattered and he felt that all this work he has done, without he same orderly lifestyle and disciplined environment, was going to be undone due to the temptation and proximity of the drug dealing lifestyle he was now thrown back into. Overall, though Other Wes was proven to succeed under a disciplined environment, it was not enough to protect him from the familiar undisciplined temptations that were his home, his occupation and his very upbringing.

Title Justification: Choices and Second Chances

The Other Wes Moore is a novel about two young men with similar circumstances who grow up with two very different fates. The novel is organized in three parts, each consisting of 2-3 chapters. The second part, Choices and Second Chances, encompasses the chapters "Marking Territory," "Lost," and "Hunted." The first chapter shows the negative choices that both of these boys made, the second chapter shows the second chances they were given, and the final chapter shows the impact that what they did with these second choices had. Overall, this is the portion of the novel where the two boys' lives truly split over their choices made with all of their chances, and thus this is a very fitting title.

This part of the novel examines how fate and free will both played a part in the diverging outcomes of the lives of both Weses. In the first chapter, Other Wes is beginning to get involved in the drug game and Author Wes is out on the streets of the Bronx tagging with some friends from the "wrong crowd." These are choices that both of these boys made, but what would come in the next chapter was fate; circumstances that would provide these boys with second chances to change things. Author Wes was sent to a boarding school, and Other Wes's family moved to county life in Dundee Village. Both of these changes were set about by their concerned parents, but only one had the desired effect. Before the chapters even begin, there is an excerpt from one of the exchanges between the two Weses in which Other Wes says, "if the situation or context where you make the decisions don't change, then second chances don't mean much, huh?" (Page 66) While Author Wes's school rules forced him to change his attitude, Other Wes's move didn't change how he thought about life or what he needed to do to survive. This second chance didn't mean much because he didn't realize how to make a change from his first chance, and so he didn't do anything differently. Author Wes did however, and thus his future would be irrevocably different. In this same exchange, Author Wes says, "I guess it's hard to distinguish between second chances and last chances." (Page 67)

Chapter 6: Hunted

Theme: Security

1) "They would work together, fight together, stay together. An unbreakable bond united the crew. For many members it was the only support system they had. It was family." (Page 111)

Other Wes says this quote in reference to his drug corporation. Everyone in this corporation had a role: hitters who dealt with the money, corner boys who watched out for cops, housemen in charge of distribution. This system, which ran analogously to a Fortune 500 business, provided these boys with structure, rules, and a community, which helped them to feel safe and a part of something, and group identity is a common tenet of security. The ways in which the members of his drug crew worked together and supported one another, even jumping to violence to protect each other, gave Other Wes a false sense of security with this hierarchal system. He thought that the system would protect him and give him that "family" environment he lacked at home. The problem with this is that this environment, the only environment where Other Wes felt safe and protected, was the environment that was landing him in such insecure situations (such as later in the chapter when he is arrested for dealing). Other Wes may have felt that this lifestyle was his only option, and thus he may have persuaded himself into believing this false security. Other Wes had given up on school because after missing so much due to his six-month arrest and the birth of his first child, he felt that he was too far behind to catch up; this insecurity in his educational future led him to seek other avenues to feel secure. Since Other Wes did not feel secure at school, he thought that the drug corporation would be a "safer" option, despite all the known risks. Security is a relative concept, and it means different things to different people. To Wes, true security never really existed in his family, school or social lives, so he invented, rationalized and most importantly, convinced himself of the concept of security in what is largely considered one of the most insecure trades in the world: drugs.

2) "It was a risk and Wes knew it. But taking risks is at the heart of the drug enterprise and scared money didn't make money. " (Page 113)

This quote is stated when Other Wes is choosing to deal drugs to a man whom he inwardly believes is a cop, or at least someone who is out of place and could potentially make trouble for him. Wes understood how dangerous his actions were, and what they could lead to, but because of the aforementioned security he felt within his drug dealing crew, he didn't fully grasp what the consequences could be. Even if he did understand the possible results, like many teenagers, Other Wes had a feeling of invincibility in which he believed that he could never be caught. This invincible attitude goes hand and hand with Other Wes's unevidenced sense of security. Another aspect of Other Wes's conception of security was the idea that money would give him safety. Other Wes knows that because he is not attending school, he won't be able to get one of the higher paying jobs that requires an education. He may deep down know that his lack of education is an insecurity, and thus he is overcompensating by getting so deep into this drug trade. He is placing the energy he would have put into his education and security that this education would have provided, into a trade that gives him the same feeling of security, even if this feeling is false. Now that Other Wes has a child, he may be beginning to feel panicked and insecure about how he will care for this child, so the idea of the money that he can make with the drug trade allows him to feel secure. This can explain the poor choices he made with the policeman who was pretending to be a druggie because although Other Wes saw the signs that this potential deal was a farce, he overlooked them because he wanted the safety the money could provide, and he never thought that the business that made him feel so secure could land him in that much trouble, and thus, shatter his finely tuned but ultimately false sense of security.

3) "But it is important that you understand that the chances are not in your favor, and you have to have some backup plans." (Page 116)

This quote is said by Author Wes's uncle after Author Wes shares his goals of making it to the NBA. Author Wes believed that this was a totally attainable goal due to the recruiting letters he was getting from colleges, but when he shares this goal, his uncle begins to gently explain that this may not be the best plan. His uncle goes on to break down the numbers and probability of Author Wes actually achieving this goal, and thus begins to break Author Wes's security in his future plans. Like Other Wes, Author Wes has this sense of invincibility in which he creates a false sense of security in obtaining what he wants from life, shown through his practicing of draft day handshakes and interview quotes, all of which contributed to his fantasy world of a secure, star athlete future. When given this news, Author Wes partly understands what his uncle is saying to him, but he knows that if he accepts this reality, his manufactured security in his future would disappear. Thus, he mostly brushes this advice off by trying to get another game going, but this dose of reality does resonate with him. In this way, Author Wes is different than Other Wes because at least he sees the burgeoning wisps of reality and knows that eventually he will have to face it and come up with a "backup plan," whereas Other Wes continues to believe in his false security of the drug-dealing lifestyle and thus, ends up in big trouble when that plan falls through due to yet another arrest. The ideas of security and backup plans effectively highlight the stringent dichotomy between the two Weses in both the way they create their senses of security, and how they deal with the obstacles to achieving that security.

4) "I felt like being at military school was keeping me in a bubble, ignorant of what was going on with my people on the outside...This uniform had become a force field that kept the craziness of the world outside from getting too close to me, but I wondered if it was just an illusion." (Page 118)

This quote is said by Author Wes after receiving a letter from his Baltimore friend Justin in which he hears news that Justin's mom is sick and, consequently, Justin's grades and school life had been slipping. He also learns that a kid, whom he had previously gone tagging with, had been arrested on drug charges. This letter comes as a shock and a reality check to Author Wes whose time at military school had blinded him from the issues back home that could have easily been his own. When he put on his uniform, it was not just a piece of cloth, but it was a shield that symbolized all of the principles of his school and his new life that made him feel safe and a part of something so secure. It truly was a force field in the sense that it kept away all of the dangers that had previously plagued Author Wes. However, when he received that letter, it made him realize that he may be secure, and his school may be secure, but that doesn't mean that anything back home had changed. Life there was still as dangerous as ever, and it only made him feel worse about the family and friends that he wasn't there to protect since he was living in this "bubble" of safety. Author Wes started to wonder what this security really meant if it was only safe for himself, not the people he loved and cared for. Author Wes wasn't sure if this was security or, as he said above, merely an "illusion."

5) "Years earlier, I had run through these same woods with all of my might, looking for safety, trying to get away from campus. Tonight, I ran through the same woods looking for safety, but in the other direction." (Page 122)

This quote is a clear example of the irony that demonstrates how deeply Author Wes's perception of security has changed through his experiences in military school. At the start of his time in military school, Author Wes was very rebellious and attempted to run away many times through a path in the woods. Back then, all he knew was the Bronx life, and however dangerous it may have been, it was his home and the place he felt the most safe; thus he was running from the military life that was new and frightening back to his home which was known and comforting. However, now he was running from a possible fight (something he never would have done in the Bronx) back into the security of his school that was now his comforting home. If Author Wes had continued to grow up in the Bronx, he probably would have fought with the man who had called him the n-word because it would have seemed like the safest thing to do to defend his honor. However, now that he's in this military school, Author Wes has to think much more about the consequences and what it would mean for his future. Before running away, Author Wes talks about what his mother would say when she found out, whether he could get kicked out of school, or what his father intended his life to be. These are things that Author Wes never would have considered before because they didn't play into the security of his future. With his changed perception of his world and what his future would be came a changed perception of Author Wes's security and how he would attain and keep this security.

Other Wes Characterization Sonnet

With a ghost for thy father,
Forced to mature aye too soon,
T'was best role model thy brother,
Whose drug dealing made thy mother swoon.

Pick'd up thou's brother's habit and
Whilst suspect mother did not,
Booming business brought money to thous't hand,
Until with Tony thou t'was caught.

Filled with fear thou mother was
Thous't was far down the sullen path
Moving she hoped would be a cause
Of changing the foreseeable aftermath

T'was it fate or some misfortunate twist?
That t'is downward path would soon persist.

Author Wes Characterization Sonnet

Was a man like thy father,
Strong and brave - things thoust shared.
Till one day fate was a cruel bother -
For his death, no man was prepared.

Moved to Bronx thoust family did,
Escaping pain was thy plan.
Spoke farewell to Baltimore and hid.
Made mistakes as thy 'tempted to become a man.

Challenged by the pen which teachers did grade,
Wonder'd what happen'd to her son did Joy.
Took to the streets with Shea and practiced new trade,
Thought would never he be caught, that foolish young boy.

Choices unpunished do not often show -
Caught on did police, and thy life was woe.

Chapter 5: Lost

This chapter follows the themes of Absent Fathers and Life Choices. Author Wes, after making poor life decisions, is sent away to a military school where his choices get him embarrassed and begging to go home within a week. Other Wes's life choices have even worse consequences with them leading to him impregnating a girl and getting into a fight with gun violence as only a teenager. Someone could argue that these poor life choices stem from these boys having absent fathers. Other Wes doesn't understand what he will be faced with once Alicia gives birth because his own father was never there for him, and Author Wes's mother feels forced to enlist him in this school because his father isn't there to help her make sure that Author Wes stays out of trouble. Overall, this chapter explores these two themes and how they interact with the events of this chapter.

The first theme explored is the impact of absent fathers. As a teenager, Other Wes and his godbrother Red met some girls on the school bus. One of the girls, Alicia, and Other Wes began to see each other and soon after, Alicia discovered that she was pregnant. At this point, Other Wes's brother Tony had just had a baby and his mother was pregnant. When Other Wes told Tony about Alicia's pregnancy, Tony laughed and thought it was hilarious his child, their mothers baby, and Other Wes's baby would all be the same age. However Other Wes felt a bit different: "The idea of becoming a father depressed Wes, but he wasn't sure why...he wasn't overly stressed about the responsibilities of fatherhood - he didn't even know what that meant. But in some unspoken way, he did sense that he was crossing a point of no return." (Page 100). Other Wes never had a father around, so the idea of becoming one did not affect him as much as it arguably should have. However, he did realize that this meant that he was no longer just toying around with his decisions, but that his life was now headed down a path he felt he could not turn back from. After Other Wes finds out Alicia is pregnant, he continues to see other women and shows no evidence that he plans to help out with the child and raise it along side her. Other Wes didn't understand what he was supposed to do in this situation, because his own father did nothing: "Wes's nonexistent relationship with his father probably contributed to his seeming indifference about becoming a father himself...he had no idea what his role would be in this new situation - he wasn't even sure he had a role." (Page 101). Author Wes was also significantly impacted by his absent father, as it affected where he moved as well as where he went to school. When his mother felt that she could no longer look after Author Wes and make sure he stayed out of trouble herself, she made some serious sacrifices and sent him to military school where she felt he would be safe. Overall, this chapter shows just how much of an impact the absence of a father has on these boys.

The other theme expressed in this chapter is that of life choices. Author Wes's mother did not take the decision of sending Author Wes to Valley Forge Military Academy lightly, but his actions leading up to her decision forced her to make this change. Author Wes had been making some poor life choices by skipping class, getting bad grades, tagging graffiti, and more leading up to his mother's breaking point: "The final straw came one evening while she sat downstairs on the phone listening to my dean from Riverdale explain why they were placing me on academic and disciplinary probation." (Page 87). This same night, Author Wes punched his sister, and his mom was so worried and angry and disappointed that she slapped him across the face in silence and left. These choices are what led Author Wes to be transferred to military school. While at this school, he continued to make poor decisions and misbehave. On the first day, he refused to get out of his bed which angered his sergeant greatly: "His angry face broke into a devilish smile. Just as quickly as he'd come into the room, he walked out. This was my first morning at the military school." (Page 87). Later, he was given some payback when the sergeant gave him fake instructions to run away and then embarrassed him in front of his entire plebe class. All of these events in Author Wes's life are an act of cause and effect. His choices led the way of his life and impacted him in so many ways. Other Wes also experienced the impacts of life choices. One day, an ex-boyfriend of the girl Other Wes was sleeping with showed up at Other Wes's house and beat him up. Other Wes grabbed a gun and chose to handle it in a violent way: "As he left his room, he shoved a clip into the gun and cocked the slide hammer back, fully loading the weapon...Wes could only see red. He was blind with rage. Instincts kicked in. Tony's words rang through his mind. Send a message." (Page 104). Other Wes let his emotions rule his actions, and this would have serious consequences. The chapter ended with him in the back of a police car, and the reader can only imagine what is next in store for him. Overall, this chapter is used to show just how impactful bad life choices can be, and what they lead to.

Chapter 4: Marking Territory

The themes expressed in this chapter are those of crime and the struggle of single mothers. Author Wes gets into big trouble when he gets caught by the police tagging a wall. He was getting involved with the wrong crowd and being heavily influenced by them. His mother is very worried about him and even threatens to send him to military school, a threat which will prove to be true. Meanwhile, Other Wes digs himself deeper and deeper into the drug game. He runs into some roadblocks, but he is able to continue down this path by lying to his mother who is oblivious to what he is doing.

While Other Wes was getting further into the drug dealing business, he had to find ways to explain his new source of income to his mom, who was single and very distracted by trying to support the family financially. She was easily convinced of his explanations, but his brother, who himself understood the drug game, was not: "Wes stuttered out a story: he'd become a popular DJ in the neighborhood and was making incredible loot Dj-ing parties. It was the story he'd used with Mary, and she'd bought it whole. Maybe because she really believed him. Maybe because she really wanted to believe him." (Page 69) Mary had so much going on and was already so worried about her son Tony that the thought of Other Wes slipping into this lifestyle scared her, and she dealt with this fear by pretending these problems didn't exist. When Tony tried to explain the situation to his mother, she responded in denial and defended Other Wes, which prompted Tony to question her involvement in her son's life: "Hearing this, Tony pulled back his anger at Wes and turned it on his mother. 'Are you serious? You really believe that? Are you blind?" (Page 71) Finally, Mary discovers the drugs in Other Wes's shoeboxes and becomes distraught: "She wasn't only upset about the drugs, she was upset about the lying...Both of her sons were drug dealers." (Page 73) She confronts Other Wes, and he apologizes, but her attention to his life does not increase because of all her other worries, and thus he simply continues his business with a new headquarters at the house of his girlfriend. Mary's life choices led her to be forced to be a single mother, and her inability to watch closely enough over her sons led them to become involved in crime and go down rough paths.

Author Wes also begins to get involved with crime during this chapter. His friend Shea, a "runner" in the drug dealing business, invites Author Wes to come tagging (graffiti) with him. Not realizing what the consequences of his actions would be, Author Wes agrees. They are caught by the police and hauled into the back of a police car in handcuffs. Earlier in the day, Author Wes and his mother had been arguing about Author Wes's involvement in school and the fact that he had been skipping classes, and he was now about to have to tell her all of the trouble he was going to be in: "A thought raced around my head- my mother was going to have to pick me up from jail. She had just finished talking to me about my grades, and now this. My relationship with my mother was in a strange place. My desperation for her support was in constant tension with my desperation for independence and freedom." (Page 82) Author Wes wanted his mother's approval and for her to be proud of him, but he was also trying to figure out where he belonged and what his role in life was, and it was hard to accomplish both of these goals at the same time with the tumult in the neighborhood and being surrounded by crime. This chapter only foreshadows what would be many more bad decisions leading to a life of crime and problems: "The cop shook his head and pointed his right index finger in our direction. 'You kids are way too young to be in this situation. But you know what, I see kids like you here every day. If you don't get smart, I'm certain I will see you again. That's the sad part.'" (Page 83) The cop must have felt sympathy for the two boys, because he let them go and whispered to Author Wes that he hoped Wes had listened to his warning. Unless Author Wes could turn things around and get out of this crime-filled life, he would be right back in that police car. He promised himself he was done, but one week later he was back tagging, despite his earlier thoughts about making his single mom's life easier.

Overall, Author Wes and Other Wes both struggle with staying out of the crime scene, and don't have as much support from their single mothers as some children with both parents receive; making it that much harder to dig themselves out of the holes they've created.

Title Justification: Fathers and Angels

The Other Wes Moore is organized into three parts, each of which contains 2-3 chapters. The first part is entitled "Fathers and Angels." This part encompasses three chapters which explore the parallels between the two Wes Moore's lives in regard to their absent fathers, single mothers, and setting in which they grew up in. The title chosen for this part is very fitting because it takes a classic saying "fathers and mothers" and replaces the word mothers with angels. This is because all of these chapters show not only the impact that the absence of fathers leaves on these boys, but also how hard their mothers worked to compensate for this. Their mothers were like their guardian "angels" and thus this title is fitting.

In the very first chapter, we already see some of the sacrifices that these mothers took for their children. After the death of Wesley Moore Sr., Joy Moore does everything she can to keep the family together. She sleeps downstairs to protect them from possible break ins and she moves the whole family in with Author Wes's grandparents when she feels like she's not stable enough to care for them on her own. Even though his father has passed away, Joy Moore is Author Wes's angel who keeps their family together. Mary Moore, Other Wes's mother, takes similar measures to protect her family. When her Pell's Grant falls through, she gives up her college aspirations in order to maintain financial security for her family. Since Other Wes's father isn't in the picture, she understands that she is the sole provider for her family and thus she takes up multiple jobs in order to keep them afloat. She also moves her family into a better and more expensive neighborhood so as to give Other Wes a better education at Northwood. She tries her hardest to compensate for the lack of a father figure in Other Wes's life.

Overall, the title "Fathers and Angels" is used for the first part of this novel because this part is the introduction where the author uses the two biggest similarities in the Wes Moores' lives - their angel mothers and absent fathers - to introduce the story of how their one name produced two very different fates. The ways in which the lack of fathers affected the boys had obvious similarities: the lower income, the ways in which they rebelled and acted out, where they lived, etc. However the ways in which their mothers compensated for the lack of fathers was what truly overlapped in their two lives: their mothers made huge sacrifices to help their sons survive in the rough neighborhoods they grew up in. All three chapters in this part begin to address these similarities, while the next part will show where these similar lives took a split and how these boys ended up with such different fates: one in prison and one a Rhodes Scholar.

Chapter 3: Foreign Ground

This chapter explores the themes of drugs and the impact of life choices. The theme of drugs is explored in this chapter because Other Wes falls into the drug game after being tempted by the money he could earn by doing so. Other Wes also exemplifies the theme of life choices because choosing to take part in this dangerous business as a means to earn the money he desired would lead him to face serious consequences in his future, and the fact that his older brother was also involved in this dangerous game, which Other Wes witnessed but chose to ignore, speaks to the power of life choices. Author Wes shows the theme of life choices as well as he chooses to let his insecurities lead him to take part in a fight with his neighborhood friends and school friends.

When Other Wes was beginning to slip into the drug world, he began to make excuses for his behavior: "But Wes rationalized. I am not actually selling drugs. All I'm doing is talking into a headset." (Page 58) He was making life choices that would lead to his eventual lifetime sentence and he used these justifications to try to make himself feel better and tell himself that he wasn't really doing anything wrong. Drugs and life choices were linked in Other Wes's world, as he started to stop making excuses for himself and simply went with the direction that he felt his life was headed, just as Tony, his older brother, did. With his mother, his supposed role model, doing drugs, it seemed an almost natural thing to do and was easy to rationalize: "He had just found his mother's weed stash. After a moment to think about whether he should take it, he came to the obvious conclusion: he was going to turn this barbecue into a real party." (Page 59) At that party, Other Wes tries the drugs for the first time and gets sick, but he sees the appeal in doing them because of how they made him feel, which was to forget things in his life he did not want to deal with. When his mother and her boyfriend saw how sick he was, they laughed it off and did not take action. Other Wes started to see the possibilities of what he was doing and made further choices to continue: "He understood, faintly, how addictive that feeling could be, and how easy it would be to make some money off selling that feeling to people who needed it." (Page 62)

Author Wes also makes life choices in this chapter that will affect him later. Author Wes, arguably more so than Other Wes, saw the reasons not to become a part of the drug game or crime scene in the Bronx. His mother worked very hard to make sure that he got the best education possible and the exposure to a new world outside of his homogenous and often dangerous neighborhood; however, sometimes Author Wes wasn't sure where he belonged: "Every time I looked around at the buildings and the trees and the view of the river, I was reminded of the sacrifices my mother was making to keep me there. And every time I looked at my fellow students, I was reminded of how little I fit in." (Page 52) Author Wes struggled internally with whether he should make choices that propelled him to fit in with his more familiar Bronx life, or his richer and more educated school life: "I was becoming too rich for the kids from the neighborhood and too poor for the kids at school. I had forgotten how to act naturally, thinking way too much in each situation and getting tangled in the contradictions between my two worlds." (Page 54) It all boiled up at the baseball game his uncle organized when the two worlds clashed and Author Wes felt caught in the middle.

Overall, the themes of drugs and life choices were explored in this chapter by showing how they connected to each other and led the Weses to make further poor decisions. When the Weses get involved in the drug game or crime scenes, they start to question their decisions. However, they ultimately continue to go down their respective paths which would lead them to two very different futures.

Chapter 2: In Search of Home

The second chapter of The Other Wes Moore, entitled In Search of Home, examines the themes of Crime and the Importance of Education. The chapter opens with the Other Wes's brother encouraging him to focus on school and not make the same mistakes that he had; however, then Other Wes skips school to play football with his new neighborhood friends. Other Wes then gets into a fight with one of the boys and when the fight escalates and weapons get involved, Other Wes and his friend Woody get arrested. We then learn that Author Wes is moving with his family to a new neighborhood which turns out to be filled with drugs and crime. Both Weses are victims of their environments.

The first theme examined is the importance of education. Other Wes's brother, Tony, had become involved with drug dealing at his father's projects, but at the same time wishes that his brother go down a better path than he had: "Tony felt his brother’s life could be saved, even if he felt his own had already, at age fourteen, passed the point of no return.” (Page 27). Tony is uneducated academically, but is also uneducated about the opportunities available. He is only 14, yet he sees no way out of the hole he has dug for himself and consequently, digs that hole deeper in the form of drug dealing and gang membership. This does not stop him from advocating for his brother to make different decisions, telling his brother in reference to school, "‘Yo, you need to take this shit seriously, man. Acting stupid ain’t cool!”(Page 27). Author Wes chooses to include both Other Wes's and Tony's experiences in order to express how important education is. These brothers understand why they should be going to school, but the application of these idealistic morals is sometimes hard to execute under their environmental circumstances. Tony shows that it's much easier to preach what is right than to do it yourself and that just because you know what you should be doing doesn't always mean you do it.

The other theme that is shown is the prevalence of crime. While skipping school, Other Wes gets into a fight with one of the boys he plays football with, and decides to get his knife out in order to defend his honor. Honor was everything in these neighborhoods: "Nothing else was on Wes' mind or in his sights, not even the policeman who had just stepped out of his cruiser…Send a message.” (Page 34). Other Wes was only eight years old and he was already headed down the pipeline to prison. He was so angry because of the neighborhood in which he grew up; he had been exposed to violence as the only way to deal with his anger and therefore chose to show the kid who punched him who was "boss." The fact that at only eight years old Other Wes had no sense of fear of cops or jail, or that he was willing to risk it all just to get back at this boy, shows that he was already headed down a dark road. Other Wes's mother was not much help because with the lack of a father figure, she was forced to work all the time, and seemed to miss many of the problems going on at the time: “It was years before Wes’s mom found out her son had been arrested that day. By the time she did she had bigger things to worry about.” (Page 35). Had Other Wes's mother had the resources and ability to step in at this early sign of problematic behavior, then perhaps his whole life could have  been turned around. Author Wes was also forced to endure an environment infested with crime. After the death of his father, his mother became too depressed to support the family effectively, and so they moved in with Author Wes's grandparents. The neighborhood was much different than they thought it would be; they had expected to move into a safer place, but over the years following the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination riots, the neighborhood had become a cesspool of drugs and violence: "I heard my grandparents talk about how drugs and violence had slowly crept in. Fear and Apathy had become the new norm in what had once been a close-knit community.” (Page 40). 

Overall, this chapter expresses how crime can be a product of either the support and resources one has (or does not) as well as the environment in which one grows up in. It also shows how key education is to growing up and understanding what other opportunities are available outside of the "gangsta" life.

Chapter 1: Is Daddy Coming With Us?

The main theme addressed in this chapter is that of absent fathers. The author, Wes Moore, uses the similarities and differences in the absence of his father, and the other Wes Moore's father, to illustrate a point of how a lack of a father figure affects people differently. On page 15, the author writes, "While I knew something bad had happened, I still wasn't sure what it meant...I heard that my father had 'passed on' but had no idea where he'd gone." Wes was so young when his father died that the whole thing was just very confusing to him. His father had been so important to him and such a big part of his life that it was impossible for him to grasp the severity of what had just occurred. Once Wes did understand what happened, he began to realize the injustices of it. He begins to get angry with the hospitals treatment of his father, and believes the hospital didn't treat him as well as other patients because of his disheveled appearance and unfamiliar name; "The hospital looked at him askance, insulted him with ridiculous questions, and basically told him to fend for himself. Now, my mother had to plan his funeral." (page 14). The loss of his father forced Wes to grow up much sooner than he should have, and made him question the fairness and safety of the world he lived in. However, the other Wes's experience with a lack of a father was much different. Wes's father had left his mother before Wes had even been born. As it says on page 23, "Mary was left with two alcoholic, abusive men who shared the DNA of her two children but no husband or dad for her boys." Wes had to grow up never knowing the love of a father, but also never really having to lose one. At the start of part one of the book, there is an excerpt from one of the Wes's meetings in the jail in which Wes says, "Your father wasn't there because he couldn't be, my father wasn't there because he chose not to be. We're going to mourn their absence in different ways." Both of these men were forced to go through life without a father, but the causes of their absence were very different and cause very different responses in the men. Wes Moore explores the impacts of their absences throughout the novel, and how the differences in the causes of their absences is important.

Another theme that is addressed in this chapter is that of the importance of education. When the other Wes Moore's mother finds out about the loss of the Pells grant, which was helping her pay for college, she is devastated. She is forced to leave the college and turn her temporary job at the Bayview Medical Center as a secretary into a permanent position, since her goal for better work was crushed due to her lack of education. Since she was a little girl, her mother always told her that she had to go to school so she could make something out of her life. Now, that option became impossible. On page 18 it says, "She told herself she was down but not out...but she couldn't deny it: without schooling she was worried." The author chooses to include this story to show just how crucial education is. If Mary had been able to graduate college, she would have found a much better and more satisfying job, and Wes's life may have been completely altered. Instead, his mother feels hopeless and is unable to achieve her goals, which disheartens Wes as well.