To think that whether people are exemplary chefs, diligent businesswomen, or simply high school students, we are all just products of our environment. Many people overlook this little detail in their lives just like two young boys from Baltimore did. Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore lived in similar neighborhoods and both had grown up without a father but, even though they shared the same name, they had two different destinies. Moore uses the contrasting details in both boys' lives to demonstrate that the environment around people, whether they realize it or not, shapes them into who they will become in the future. Many believe that the mother's role in a child's life is a huge contribution to the child's development as he or she grows up. This is clearly seen in both the life of Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore: each mother was an example to her children who later educated them in the choices they made. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In The Other Family by Wes Moore readers see that the mother, Mary, was simply a mess and couldn't get her life together and when Wes "found his mother's stash of weed" it didn't improve her things. With this new discovery at hand, Wes found it normal to start taking drugs. Mary was the reason Wes chose to start dealing drugs, which ultimately led to disaster. Meanwhile, Wes Moore's mother, Joy, made every effort to ensure that her son did not get involved in drugs and violence. She went so far as to take Wes out of public school and enroll him in military school. Both kids had different backgrounds, one had access to drugs and the other had a caring mom, that's why one kid became a drug dealer and the other a decorated veteran. Not only did their mothers influence their way of life, but where they grew up influenced them as well. Some people have seen that the place that children call “home” also affects the way the child develops, not just because it is the surrounding environment. them but because in that house they encounter things on a daily basis that could influence them in the future. Alice Goffman states that "these two parallel journeys play out simultaneously: the kids who attend those elite private universities, and the kids from the adjacent neighborhood, some of whom make it to college and many of whom get sent to prison." This is an accurate depiction of the lives of Wes Moore and the other Wes Moore because, even though they lived so close to each other in Baltimore, the differences in their homes really led them down different paths. They were really just products of their environment, Wes had a cramped house and the other Wes Moore had a drug-polluted neighborhood. Wes puts it simply: “the chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay Two stories but one name. It's crazy to think that the simplest details, like the house a person lives in or the way their mother treats them, can influence their development as a person. It's almost like a domino effect. Certain things in life, good or bad, add up in a person's life and at some point end up making him stumble and fall. On this occasion the other Wes Moore was surrounded by terrible circumstances that ultimately caused him to stumble in life and Wes Moore was surrounded by circumstances that made him a leader.