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The Death of Wes’ Father
This event had a large impact on Wes because it marked the last day that his father would be in his life, before he would have to navigate the world without a fatherly guidance. The absence of his father made him the man of the house and forced him to grow up without a male role model. -
The Other Wes gets a Job
Running low on money Wes decides to get a job as someone with a headset that alerts any nearby drug dealers about any patrolling police officers so they can avoid getting caught. Despite Tony's warnings Wes rationalizes the decision by thinking about how he is not actually selling or using drugs, he is just helping out the people who do. This marks the beginning of Wes' drug-related criminal life as he only gets deeper and deeper into drug dealing. -
Wes’ Admission into Riverdale
Getting into Riverdale makes Wes feel as if he doesn’t belong anywhere. He is too poor for the rich students at Riverdale and too rich for the poor kids in The Bronx which creates a divide between him and both groups. He is also unable to adapt to the new way of life in Riverdale. Instead of getting A’s like his mother had hoped he would; it is rare for him to get a B. He also gets suspended for fighting with other kids. Because her son is on a downward spiral she sends him to military school. -
The Other Wes Moore’s First Arrest
This event marks the first of many times the other Wes has gotten in trouble with the law. It shows Wes’ violent tendencies that tend to get him into conflict, like when he grabbed a knife in an attempt to harm another kid. It also foreshadows the dark path he would take in his adult life. -
The Other Wes Moore Tries Drugs for the First Time
The other Wes tries drugs for the first time after he finds his mother’s stash of marijuana. This foreshadows his eventually descent into drug addiction as he feels what it’s like to be numb to life and it’s problems. -
Wes’ First Day in Military School
A cocky Wes has a rude awakening after his first day at military school when the sergeants flip him off his bed and hand him a map that leads to nothing, but their laughing faces as they see he fell for their trick. Wes realizes he needs to be disciplined if he is going to survive the school. He also realizes he is going to have to earn respect through merit rather than beat it out of people. -
The Other Wes Gets in a Deadly Chase
Wes getting in this pursuit shows his further descent into the dangerous world of the hood. He has moved from alerting drug dealers about nearby police officers too sleeping around with girls, selling drugs, and shooting people with the gun he keeps in his closet. He also gets arrested for one of many times, but this time the charges are more extreme than the ones he faced before. -
Wes Gets Attacked by Drunk Teenagers
Wes gets referred to in a racially demeaning way by some drunk teenagers in a car before they later throw a hard object at him and speed away. His initial instinct is to chase them down and beat them, but he realizes that would not be the best course of action. Despite feeling embarrassed he walks back towards Valley Forge. This situation shows how Wes has been transformed from a street kid who would assault anyone that disrespected him to a man who knows when the right thing is to be passive. -
The Other Wes Has His First Child
Wes gets a girl named Alicia pregnant and she hopes that her, Wes, and the baby can become a two parent household like the one she never had. She knows that this is unlikely due to the fact that Wes seems completely apathetic about being a father likely because he never had his father in his own life so he does not understand the role. It also foreshadows the three other times Wes would find himself in a similar situation. -
The Other Wes Tries Job Corps
Wes tries to get a job at Job Corps, a federal program that gives people free vocational training and ends up pursuing carpentry. He ends up enjoying it so much that he builds his daughter a miniature house which is the most complex project out of his group. This new career path gives him a renewed sense of purpose and he feels like it can take his life in a new, crime-free direction. -
Wes Decides to Stay in the Military After Valley Forge
Although he’s great at basketball Wes realizes that there are still many players out there who are better than him after playing against nationally ranked players at tournaments and camps. He believed that schools need to know his name regardless of what he did on the basketball court so he decided to stick with the military. He also realizes that being a part of the military can help him achieve racial equality in America in a way being in the NBA could never do. -
The Other Wes goes Back to Making Crack
After seven months in the Job Corps Wes returns to his small Baltimore apartment with a job as a landscaper making no more than $9.00 an hour. This job fails to support not only him financially, but his two ex-girlfriends, four daughters, and mother as well. To combat this Wes starts to make drugs again so he can bring in enough money for everyone who needs it. -
The Other Wes Moore Robs A Jewelry Store
The other Wes Moore becomes an accomplice in a jewelry store robbery and murder of a police officer. This decision is the one that decided the course for the rest of his life. He gets charged with 10 different criminal activities before being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This marks the final nail in Wes’ coffin. It is also the first time he thinks about his future and realizes that it has essentially come to and end. -
Wes Talks with Mayor Schmoke
After Wes talks with Kurt Schmoke, the mayor of Baltimore at the time, he finds a renewed sense of pride in being from his hometown while also leaving with a desire to explore the wider world. Mayor Schmoke asks him if he has ever Rhodes Scholarship to which he replies with a yes. After applying he goes to South Africa and gains a wider cultural understanding of a different country and how the people within that country live. -
Wes Talks with His Host Family's Mother
Wes talks to his host family's mother (who he refers to as Mama) They talk for three hours about their lives before she mentions how her husband fought against apartheid. When Wes asks how she is able to move on so quickly she says it is because Nelson Mandela asked the people of South Africa to do so. Wes is initially confused, but this answer makes him see that not every oppressing entity needs to be dealt with through violence. -
Wes Sees a Man Wearing all White
While walking down the street Wes sees a man wearing an all white outfit symbolizing that he has shed his boyhood and is now a man. Upon seeing this Wes thinks of men back home and how the young men in both places have to navigate many struggles. A difference he observes however is how the man in white wears his manhood as a sign of accomplishment and pride whereas passing into manhood in The Bronx leads to apprehension.