Hernandez 1

Gabriel Hernandez

Professor Morgan

English 1A

CRL #5

6 October 2017

The Two-lane highway

From the start of the novel, Wes Moore created this atmosphere of comparing himself to

his parallel, the other Wes Moore, in a rather creative way. He introduces this idea of

comparisons due to his unquenchable need to learn more about a man who, by name, had

become as far different as he ended up. Their relationship grew as they conversed more and

more and eventually you see Moore develop an emotional appeal to the other Moore. The start of

the novel begins almost generalizing anecdotes about each but as you delve into the last chapters,

you see this development of details and emotional connection. The start, talking about the

families of each, starts off with general facts. But once you get to where one Moore goes through

this recognized regime of military while the other goes to Job Corps, you see this divide yet

consistency between the two. While both end up in different places, it is important to see their

similarities first. Regardless of their outcomes, few characteristics remain the same for both.

One would be natural intelligence and perseverance both have. In the authors scenario,

he attends military school and ends up at top of his ranks in no time. One of the youngest

commanders to say the least. He is recognized as a leader at a mere eighteen years old. While at

first, he tried to run away, he was left with the fortunate consequence to stay and he learned from

it and surpassed his own expectations. As for the other Moore, he natural ability to learn made

him a very developed leader in the trading business. His instincts and street smarts help him
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make up to four thousand dollars a day. Now while this ends up on the wrong side of the moral

spectrum one would want to be, he kind of makes up for it when he changes his life around. He

quits the drug business and goes to receive his GED. His intelligence and hard work there grants

him excellent grades while at Job Corps and he soon finds non-illegal ways to make money.

Both demonstrated the courage to step up and surpass everyone elses expectations in the long

run. While their destinations may have been different, their mindsets and motivations might be

arguably similar.

As I read more into the book, it is easier to switch back and forth between the two

atmospheres due to understanding where each is coming from but also from see the similarities

between the two. Instead of seeing both mens lives as separate identities, it may be helpful to

see it as more of a Venn diagram. Each contains his own experiences and challenges but in end

of the day, they show some overlap. This overlap creates a new atmosphere I think that goes

unrecognized. To understand the overlap helps to understand the motives of each and why

exactly they strove off in different paths or even if what happened to them was their doings. By

seeing both the differences and similarities of each others lives, we start to understand why

exactly Moore writes about his experience with this other Moore. Contrary to belief, I think

Moore is showing us that both lives are not as different as we thought or even to put it in a larger

sense, it may be possible to see that all human beings may not be as different as we thought as

well.