"These incarcerated men, before they’d even reached a point of basic maturity, had flagrantly—and tragically—squandered the few opportunities they’d had to contribute productively to something greater than themselves."
This quote is a way that the theme of adolescent decision making gets developed. It shows that when in difficult circumstances people of a low maturity level tend to make bad decisions. These decisions cause many peoples incarceration including the imprisonment of Wes Moore. The problem is that the people in similar situations as Wes Moore do not have the proper guidance to make appropriate decisions. Therefore, the decisions they make might be beneficial in the short term but are truly devastating in the long term. Additionally since there is not enough parental guidance regarding their decisions, the circumstances in which they make the decisions can have extreme repercussions. This is how many people take small steps towards becoming criminals.
2. A role model's profession can be seen as more important than their guidance.
"He knew why his brother felt obliged to warn him off. But it was clear that Tony himself didn’t have any better ideas or he would’ve made those moves himself.
The quote shown is able to define one of the underlying themes of the Other Wes Moore. It shows that when someone is looks up to a role model they want to be just like them. Therefore when there are role models who have a bad background and want a better life for the people they are guiding, it can be hard seeing that they contradict what they are talking about. This is how the dynamic of Wes and Tony is; Tony wants more opportunities for Wes but since Wes looks up to Tony, he wants to be just like him. This makes guiding someone in the right direction difficult especially when the thing the role model does seems beneficial similar to how Wes sees drug dealing.
"Wes had to a role model. But the more he tried to be like his brother, the more his brother rejected him. The more he copied him, the more Tony pushed back. Wes wanted to be just like Tony. Tony wanted Wes to be nothing like him."
This quote is a perfect example who role modeling and guidance can completely backfire. Although Tony wanted the better than what he got for Wes, Wes wanted the complete opposite. This demonstrates that although role models want the best for the people they are guiding, those people being guided sometimes just want to be exactly like their role model, and that can be a bad thing.
3. The drug game appeals to many people in poor socio-economic circumstances.
"And the truth was, Wes now had more money in his pocket than he’d ever had before, which kept him outfitted in new clothes—including the two-hundred-dollar Cross Colours set now covered with grass stains and dirt."
This quote shows how the drug game benefitted Wes in the short term. It shows with dealing drugs, people can have a way to make easy money, fast. Therefore, people who do not have that much money to buy nice clothes or shoes will see the appeal of getting into drug dealing. This is another way in which people in the same circumstances as Wes take another step towards their own imprisonment.
4. It is hard to not get involved into criminal activity when criminals were respected.
"First off, Shea was one of the most respected young hustlers in the neighborhood. He was a worker, we all knew that—and while some of the kids were smart enough to be disgusted by what he did, other kids, even the ones who weren’t in the game, respected his position."
This develops the theme because it shows how drug dealers who were high up in the drug dealing pyramid where respected amongst the people of the neighborhood. This shows that if criminals are respected, people will be more include to participate in criminal activity due to the respect they eagerly seek.
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