Discovering Wes Moore

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2012

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-11

Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Key Figures

Wes Moore

Westley Watende Omari Moore is named after his father, Westley Senior, who is described as a “gentle, forgiving spirit” (7). Wes Moore’s father loved the meaning of the word watende, meaning “revenge will not be sought.” Wes looks up to his older sister Nikki and his younger sister Shani, whom he defends on a few occasions in the book. Moore’s relationship with his mother is the most tumultuous until he accepts the guidance given to him at Valley Forge. As Moore matures into a dedicated student, his relationship and the welcome financial relief of scholarships helps mend their bond and inspires them to hope for a better future.

Discovering Wes Moore is largely focused on writer Wes Moore’s teen years through after he finishes college and adapts Discovering Wes Moore from The Other Wes Moore. He is passionate about motivating young readers to find themselves and become better at whatever their goals may be in life. Moore is empathetic, nostalgic, caring, and hardworking. He worries about his friends and family while away at school and traveling. Over the course of the book, Moore grows to accept the advice of respected individuals in his life, such as his mother, his mentors, and guidance counselors.

Writer Wes Moore discovers the story of the other Wes Moore when his mother calls him at the end of his trip to Cape Town. When he can’t shake the story while he’s away at college, he decides to write to him. Moore feels regret for writing the letter, as he doesn’t want to be perceived as generating sympathy for the murder of Sergeant Prothero. As a young man, Moore finds himself humbled by the life story the other Wes Moore shares with him and the world. He remains haunted by the fact that things could have gone similarly for each of them.

Moore hopes to provide thought-provoking questions for young readers at a turning point in their lives, much like what he endured as a student commuting out of the Bronx and in Valley Forge military academy. Moore drives home the impact of self-reflection and practicing empathy toward others no matter their circumstances. Moore’s focus on connection and humanity as a whole is seen from the first memory when he is a toddler to the conclusion of the epilogue.

The Other Wes Moore

Wes Moore is serving a life sentence along with his brother Tony and two other men involved in the murder of Sergeant Prothero. By the end of the book, the other Wes Moore spends time with his brother during religious services and looks forward to visitations with his mother, children, and grandchildren. He expresses to writer Wes Moore that he holds regret for what he’s done and has sacrificed being present for his growing family over an act of senseless violence.

Moore agrees with Writer Wes Moore that is it important to try and help the next generation struggling to make decisions. The other Wes Moore believes it is not only your own choices but also the choices of others that affect your direction. He struggles to believe that any good outcome could have happened for him. Writer Wes Moore disagrees, as he believes in the humanity the other Wes Moore has. He believes the other Wes Moore has potential and had potential before his crimes to succeed in his dreams.

Joy

Joy is the hardworking and caring mother of Wes and his sisters. She is introduced in the first chapter of the book during a memory of Wes’s when he was three. Joy yells at Wes to not put his hands on a woman when he wrestles with Nikki. Wes eventually learns about Joy’s abusive relationship with Nikki’s father. Wes’s father was a better father to Nikki than her own. When Westley Senior unexpectedly passes away, both Nikki and Joy are completely broken by grief. Nikki’s father disappeared, no longer competing with Westley, and Joy sleeps on the couch for months, unable to enter her bedroom.

Joy is an emotional and reactive character in Moore’s life. She is strong-willed and strict at times. Her hopes and worries for her children force her to be the tough parent, as she can only rely on her parents for extra help with raising the kids. Moore admires his mother for her unconditional love for her children and the sacrifices she made to work constantly and send them to Riverdale Country school and Moore to Valley Forge.

Justin

Justin is a dedicated student in high school and remains friends with Wes after he goes to Valley Forge. His father, Eddie, has an important role in Wes’s life, as he is one of the few male Black role models he has had up until that point in his life. Justin worries about Wes when his grades start slipping and he stops studying for exams and showing up for class. Wes attempts to make excuses about how he doesn’t have a father, and he’s living with his grandparents, but he realizes the hypocrisy in his statement when he thinks about Justin’s life.

Justin struggles to help his mother. When Wes is at Valley Forge, and Justin tells him about his sister’s arrest and his mother dying in the hospital, Wes wishes he could be there for him. Justin expresses his concern that his obligations are piling up, he’s exhausted, and he’s not able to focus in school anymore. Justin’s continual belief in finishing his education and trying your best no matter the circumstances remain traits Wes admires him for.

Tony

Tony, the other Wes Moore’s brother, is his idol growing up. Wes is influenced by Tony’s ability to purchase whatever he wants for himself. He wears grills and jewelry and expensive shoes. His wants to maintain his reputation, and he will use aggression and violence if he has to. The example of using aggression as power instills in his younger brother that he needs to be tough too. When Wes is in juvenile detention for shooting another teenager, he thinks about how Tony told him not to let anyone mess with him.

During the trial for the death of Sergeant Prothero, it is stated that Tony was the one who pulled the trigger and killed the officer. His reactionary behavior and use of violence for power and reputation is the closest example of a role model the other Wes Moore had growing up. Tony is influenced by his own father, with whom he sells drugs. There is an apathetic way of life in how they were brought up, as Tony continues to do what he saw his father doing when he was growing up. Wes had followed in Tony’s footsteps, and when his attempts to get out failed he fell back into the same cycle of selling drugs. Tony and Wes’s mother, Mary, tried everything to avoid the outcome of what happened to her sons. Tony and Wes remain close as they see each other during religious services in prison. Mary is helping raise their children and grandchildren.