The
Other Wes Moore
Blog Activity #1
The
theme for the first chapter “Is Daddy Coming with Us?” had both
themes on life
choices and the importance of an education. For an example in the
book it said “As
the years passed, Joy kept hoping that Bill’s alcohol and drug use
would fade. She was caught in a familiar trap for young women and
girls—the fantasy that she alone could change her man. So she
doubled down on the relationship. They had a child together. She
hoped that would motivate Bill to make some changes. But his
addiction just got worse, and the physical, mental, and emotional
abuse he unleashed became more intense.” The choice Joy made caused
her life to get worse since she thought she could make a difference
and change him. Being a single
mother was a theme in the chapter since Joy had to make the decision
to leave her abusive husband. For an example it explained “Joy left
Bill after a particularly violent encounter ended with her battered,
but determined. Joy met her second husband, Westley, when she was
hired as a writing assistant for his radio show.” The single
parenthood also affected the Other Wes because his father was never
there because of his addiction to drugs. In the book it said “After
Mary met Wes’s father, Bernard, she was pregnant within a few
months with Wes. Unfortunately, Bernard was similar to Tony’s
father and was an alcoholic without a steady job. Bernard only tried
to be involved in Wes’s life on time, but he was extremely drunk so
Mary did not allow it.” The theme was also making life choices
since the Other Wes' mom Mary decided she didn't want a bad role
model near her son. I also felt like another theme was stereotypes,
because Wes' father was judged by his appearance and was told nothing
was wrong with him when he ended up collapsing and dieing because of
false information the doctor gave him. In the book it said “Westley
had not been feeling well all day, and eventually had to be taken to
the hospital. The doctors however did not know what to do for his
symptoms and sent him home. Later that evening, he collapsed and
ultimately, passed away from acute epiglottis.” My opinion is the
doctor didn't treat Wes' father the same way he would treat another
patient because of his race, and didn't take his health seriously.
