The Other Wes Moore Critical Analysis

Everyone goes through rough patches and struggles in their lives. People go through grief, addiction, loneliness, pain and all kinds of hardships through important points in their lives. What defines most of us and makes us who we are however, are these tragic and painful moments of struggle. The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore taught me that my own struggles and obstacles shouldn’t and cannot ever bring me down. In the introduction of the novel, Wes Moore says that “…our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path, or a tentative step down the right one.” His statement has truly spoken to my soul, to inspire me to truly never give up and to never surrender to paths that will permanently pull me down. An important lesson I learned from this
I have battled depression for four years. After her death, it relapsed dramatically. For the next few months, I could not stop the thought or shake the fear of death. At 17 years of age I could not stop pondering what would happen to me after my time on Earth was done. I couldn’t stop wondering if I’d have a life after my death. I began pondering whether or not it would have been better if my life was taken instead of my cousin’s. I began falling down a wrong path myself, very similar to the ones that Wes Moore mentioned in both his and the other Wes Moore’s story. I felt like I was trapped and I would never find my way out. My faith in myself, in religion, and in other people disappeared. My faith was quickly brought back again when someone who saw that I was struggling came to help. Like many of the mentors Wes had to steer him in the right path, I had found mine. My math teacher that year noticed my decline and pulled me aside. I told her my cousin’s story and then my decline that followed. She sat for a long moment and then asked me, with conviction in her voice, “Will it change anything- if you know what will happen?” I sat there pondering for a very long moment.