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
book is that I can’t let my struggles I face prevent me from reaching my goals or prevent me from achieving happiness. This past January, my cousin passed away.
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.
Facts were facts. Someday, I will die. I then realized that it didn’t matter when that time would come. I realized that I needed to live my life for the fullest. “Then you must live,” she said. “Live for you- and for her too.” That statement really spoke to me. My cousin unfortunately didn’t have the same opportunities as I do now. After that talk with a very important mentor, I was able to pick my head up. After that day, I decided that I had to live for myself and that life itself was truly a beautiful thing. I don’t know what will happen when my time is over on this Earth. I probably won’t know until that time comes. What I do know though is that I don’t have to let my depression and my struggles control me- and they won’t. They could’ve steered me down a path of rebellion, drugs, and suicide, but they didn’t- and they won’t. They could’ve prevented me from achieving my goals and being happy, but they didn’t- and they won’t. In conclusion, The Other Wes Moore taught me that my struggles will never prevent me from achieving success. Unfortunately, the other Wes Moore let his environment and struggles steer him down a wrong path, and now he has to live like that for the rest of his life. My depression may never truly go away. There may be times where it will drag me down, but I know that if I stay strong with the help of great mentors in my life like my math teacher that I had in my junior year of high school, I can achieve anything I want to. I will take the lessons that I learned in Wes Moore’s book to the end of high school, all through college, and through the rest of my life. My cousin Madeline unfortunately is not physically on this Earth anymore. She is still with me though, in my heart, and she always will be. It’s time that I start to live my own life and make her – and myself- proud.