Chapter 7: The Land That God Forgot

Theme: Fate Vs Freewill

Quote 1: " "Five minutes!" the jumpmaster yelled from the front of a C-130 military aircraft. "Five minutes!" my entire chalk of Airborne candidates yelled back at him in the military's famous call- and - response cadence. We all knew what was next, and now we knew how long we had before it was time to face it. Five minutes." (pg.129)
Analysis 1: This quote represents how freewill from Wes's mother which was to make him join the military school caused Wes to continue his study in military and continue in advancing in pursuing his future career. What I mean is force from Wes's mother to make her son go to military school is considered freewill. And what ends up happening due to her decision to make her son go to military school, is her son ending up succeeding in military school and continuing in advancing in this branch of study.

Quote 2: "I realized that I had to make sure these schools knew my name regardless of what I did on the ninety feet of hardwood that had brought me to their attention. Just as military school had slowly grown on me, so had academic life." (pg130)
Analysis 2: It was fate that caused Wes to end up staying at military school as well as to become a sergeant. Yes it was his mother's freewill that made him go there but it was definitely fate that caused him to stay there especially when Wes tried to run away for the first time. It was faith that forced Wes to stay until he started to grow a fond for it and start wanting to stay there for his own pleasure. From this quote we can see how happy and pleased Wes was with going to military school and how well his life was starting to turn out especially his academics and military life.

Quote 3; "Wes took the face of his third and fourth children's mother in his hands and began to shake her. She lay on the couch, saliva dripping out of corners of her mouth...her pupils dilated and rolling to the back of her head , heroin still flowing through her veins." (pg137)
Analysis 3: This situation of Wes2 meeting and making kids with Cheryl is an example that supports the theme of freewill. Wes had already had two kids with Alicia so the fact that he would continue to mess with other girls even though he already has a family of his own with Alicia was his own choice. Wes going down to mess with Cheryl was clearly his own decision , so the situation where he was having to wake up Cheryl due to her drug addiction ( which he despises) on page 137 was a outcome of his own freewill.

Quote 4: "Wes turned down Edmondson Avenue, walking toward his friend Levy's house. Levy was a bit younger than Wes but had managed to get out of the hustling game a few months back. At first, Wes had been confused by Levy's decision: why would he give up so much money to go straight? But days like today were making Wes think that maybe Levy was the smart one." (pg138)
Analysis 4: The choice of Wes2 to go down to Levy's house and talk to his friend about helping himself get out of the drug industry was his own choice. His own freewill. It was his own decision to start a new life and finish and get his diploma and get a new job even though it meant less money and harder work. Wes was willing to do whatever it took to get himself away from drugs.

Quote 5: "After seven months, Wes met his graduation from Job Corps with as much trepidation as excitement. No longer would he have to show up at the large parking lot on Sunday evenings waiting for the blue bus. No longer would he have to share a room with levy who, after a troubled start, was completing his GED requirements and starting his vocational classes. Wes would now be on his own."
Analysis 5: This situation more so reflects fate. I feel like the outcome of Wes's completion and success from Job Corps was fate. Because if fate didn't want him to succeed futher in life then no matter what Wes had done, he wouldn't have never got to where he stands right now. In this situation, Wes has just finished and graduated from Jobs Corps, he was now allowed to go back home and begin a new life. He was now free and had nothing to do with the drug industry anymore. 

Chapter 6: Hunted AND Justification Paper #2

Theme: Life Choices

Quote 1: "Woody was one of the students who made it across the finish line kicking and screaming... as he entered the area where all the students were sitting to prepare for the ceremony, he knew none of that mattered. All that mattered was that he was here. He had accomplished his mission of completing high school." (pg 109)

Analysis 1:  Out of all of Woody's friends he was one of the many that was actually able to get through the four years of high school and graduate. This was due to his life choices and decisions he made throughout high school. The fact that Woody was able to finish high school successfully shows a dark contrast between him and someone like Wes. Wes had made the decision to take school less importantly as how Woody had. Wes had decided that dealing drugs would get him further in life, so that choice of him eventually affected him and prevented him in going to school which caused him to not officially graduate and get his diploma like Woody. But instead someone like Woody, decided to stay in school and his result was an official high school diploma. This situation shows how important it is that you choose and decide on factors like this importantly because eventually, the result will follow up on you and affect you either negatively or importantly.

Quote 2: " Not surprisingly, without a high school diploma or job training-- and with a criminal record-- Wes found it almost impossible to find a job to support his growing family." (pg110)
Analysis 2: Due to Wes's decision to deal drugs, he ended up getting caught and got put in jail. This greatly impacted not only Wes's life but also the people that surround Wes and people that are involved in Wes's life such as Alicia or his mother or his friends. Alicia and her newly born baby with Wes had to strive and fight to survive together without Wes  financially such as money or where they live. They also had to survive physically such as food or health. With Wes this factor was already pretty complicated but with him in jail, made it especially hard for Alicia to survive not only herself but as a single mother. And all this was causede just because of Wes's choice to deal drugs and have sex at such an early age. If Wes had not decide to deal drugs, he wouldn't have been put in jail and would of been able to finish school like Woody. If Wes had not made to decision to have sex with Alicia so early, they wouldn't have never even have to go through the trouble of having a baby.

Quote 3: "As Wes took the money, their hands touched briefly. The man's hands were smooth, and his nails were clean. Damn...As he turned the corner, he heard a yell behind him. " Stop moving and get your hands up!"... He maintained the same pace until he caught sight of two men running toward him."(pg114)
Analysis 3: This quote greatly shows how greatly Wes's decision to sell his drug to a specific someone greatly impacted his life. In this situation, Wes was walking down his neighborhood until all of a sudden, a man Wes has never seen before around the community, asks him if he has any drugs on him that he can buy off of. At first Wes says no, because one of his rules that he lives buy to is to never sell to anyone that is a stranger and just randomly comes up to you for drugs. But because Wes desperately needed some money, he decided to walk back to the man and sell it to him. Not much later he ends up finding out that the man was a police in disguise and Wes gets put into jail. Wes's decision to walk back and sell the drugs to the man resulted in him getting caught and getting put into jail. If Wes was to continue walking that day and go home like how he was planning to, he would've never have gotten caught and maybe could of had the chance of finish high school and not have gotten a criminal record... just if he had continued walking back home.

Quote 4: "Even though I'd grown to love military school, I still had mixed feelings about being there, and they were eating at me. I wanted to be home, to talk to Justin after he left the hospital." (pg118)
Analysis 4: The choice of Wes Moore #1 to do poorly in school or act up got him put in military school. After Wes was put in military school, it not only improved his life but it also caused people around him to have to readjust. His family for example, had to do extra jobs or give up certain things just to get Wes in military school to get more disciplined. It also affected his friends like Justin, who was used to wes being there for him. But once Wes had to leave for military school, Justin wasn't able to relive his pain on anyone as easily as how he was able to when Wes was around. But due to Wes's decision to get him into military school, effected Wes by him being one of the most successful sergeants in the area. Having Wes in military school also helped him in education and college options.

Quote 5: "But I had to let this one go. I had to look at the bigger picture." (pg121)
Analysis 5: Wes was torn between fighting back some drunkies who had threw a bottle at him while he was walking down the street with one of his other sergeants, or just letting it go and head back on to the campus. Wes's first reaction was to fight back due to where he had came from. But after he was put into military school and promoted one of the best sergeants, he had to look at the bigger picture and see if fighting back was really worth it. And the end, Wes decided to let it slide and just run back to campus with Dalio. Because of Wes's choice to not fight back, he managed to keep Dalio safe and prevent himself in getting any more injured as well as keeping himself and Dalio out of trouble.

Justification Paper #2

     In part two, Choices and Second Chances was mainly focusing on how both Wes Moore's lives are gradually changing. How they each pursue their lives due to the choices that they've made earlier.And also how they try to fight to stand back up and slowly adjust their lifestyles for not only themselves, but also the people that surround them. Chocies and Second Chances is appropriate with the author's purpose because the title itself, is a message the author is trying to motivate those who feel like they've failed in life and can't get back up.
   Chapter four first starts off by showing the readers how Wes Moore2 has started to get more affiliated with drug dealing and how his brother is angered because he does not wish to see his brother follow his own footsteps and fail in life. On page 70, we see how angered Tony was when he started to find out about his brother dealing drugs and getting tons of money from it, "Tony grabbed Wes's shirt collar and pulled him in close."How many times do I have to tell you to leave this stuff alone, man?" His tone was low and serious, but he barked his words out." From this quote the author attempts to foreshadow Wes2's life later on in the book. The author did so by having, Tony already warning  him to stop and Wes wouldn't stop and he still wouldnt stop after he got caught the second time by Tony shows how Wes most likely will not stop until  maybe something big  and extravagant actually hits him. On page 118, we then learn that Wes Moore1 gets a second chance to restart his life by being forced to military school and how he is actually grateful for being put into there. If his mother had never took him out and sent him to military school, Wes could of had a high possibility of maybe being somewhat tied into drugs like Wes2 or just failing school and not going anywhere far with his life.
     In conclusion,Choices and Second Chances is appropriate with the author's purpose because the author was trying to encourage those who may have not dealt with life so well such as with various situations and end up failing, to stand back up and fight because there is always a second chance. He also tries to convey hope and say that there are always advantages that people can take to start a new life again. The choices part of the title represents the different choices that both Wes Moore's had in their life and how the choices that they made had impacted their lives greatly. The Second chances part of the title represents the second chances that both Wes Moores had to start over. 

Chapter 5: Lost

Theme: Overcoming Obstacles

Quote 1: " "Get up, get up, get out of your racks, plebes!" It was 5:30 in the morning, my room was pitch-dark, and the sound of half a dozen teenagers screaming at the top of their lungs startled me out of the light sleep I'd drifted into." (pg85)

Analysis 1 : This quote shows how Wes Moore was being comfortable and having a great sleep until all of a sudden someone is calling him to get up early in the morning. Yes, this is the life of a military scholar. This unusual routine of Wes having to get up early in the morning due to someone screaming to the top of their lungs represents an obstacle Wes is going to have to overcome as he progresses through military school.

Quote 2: " I turned around so I could face him and was met with a fusillade of saliva as he continued his tirade. Why in the world was he yellling so early in the morning? And who did he think he was, screaming at me like that?" (pg86-87)

Analysis 2: This quote again, also represents one of the many obstacles Wes Moore #1 is going to have to overcome at military school. Another obstacle includes him getting used to people yelling at him so harshly. 

Qoute 3: " When neither came, she reached back and unloaded another slap to my face. She looked at me again, waiting for a reaction... Every reflex inside said to strike back, but I didn't. How Could I? She was my everything," (pg88)

Analysis 3: After Wes was slapped in the face by his mother, he's usual response to anyone who would slap him is for him to fight back. But because this was his mother who had slapped him, he had to overcome to urge to fight her back and which he did.

Quote 4: " It had taken a while, but Wes was finally getting accustomed to the long route, the new school, and the new environment...but he soon discovered that the hood came in different shapes and sizes." (pg97)

Analysis 4: This quote introduces and foreshadows the newly life obstacles of Wes Moore #2 and what type of situations he would have to go through due to his newly environment he has moved to. it suggests that he would have to get used to the new school, the new way he would have to get to and from school, his new acquaintances and aside from school also some problems that he was already having to overcome back home such as gang violence or "hood problems" just they would come out in new different forms.

Quote 5: "Within two months of their meeting, Alicia told Wes that her period was late. Four tests and eight matching plus signs later, it was confirmed. They were going to be parents." (pg99)

Analysis 5:   This event of Alicia finally revealing that she was pregnant with Wes marks the beginning of a whole 'nother series of obstacles that Wes is going to have to overcome. Obstacles starting from telling his mother to obstacles such as him learning how to become a good father and be able to support Alicia and their child.   

Wes Moore Characterization Sonnets

Wes Moore #1 (Narrator)

Name is Wes Moore he,
A polished young African American little boy he is.
Life story much more complicated than thy can believe;
An interesting story is this

Who lost thou father a boy
Always asking for his missing father of his
Wasn't even left by thou father a toy
Ended up moving with the family of his

Didst always academically disappoint thou mother
Fitting in with acquaintances always a hard time
Yet always well respected by another
So protective of thou sister, almost hard to find words to rhyme

Youth so softly spoken
To thee it could be unbelievable that he is broken


Wes Moore #2 (the other Wes Moore)

Name of thou is Wes Moore
A life of a thug he has
A drug dealer thy can be sure
A life of his you would want to tour

A well respected youth
Yet has the behavior of the angered
Emotionally and physically strong in both
A boy who always lingered

Rough he is
That caused a disappointed mother
Protective thou brother is
The past to reoccur didn't want thou brother

A simple little boy
Whose world is like of a toy

Chapter 4 : Marking Territory

Theme: Parallel Biographies

Quote 1: " She felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. She sat down on the bed, unsure of what  to think. She wasn't only upset about the drugs, she was upset about the lying. She didn't even bother looking in the second box; she already knew all she needed to know. Both of her sons were drug dealers." (pg.73)

Analysis 1: This scenery included in chapter 4 was a scene where Wes 2's mom found out that her son was a drug dealer after he had told her that he was a DJ. After she found out about this truth, she was just greatly disappointed with her own son's actions to decide to sell drugs as well as that she trusted him so much and he ends up repaying this trust of her with a hard stab back of selling drugs.

Quote 2: " My academic failures had forced her to go through the stages of grief: denial,anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. She's been stuck in depression for a long time and hadn't quite made it to acceptance, no matter how much I'd hoped she'd get there." (pg76) 

Analysis 2: A similar story to Wes 2, Wes 1 (the narrator) has also disappointed his mother. His mother has done so much for him to be able to attend a well- educated school outside the community but he ends up repaying her with bad grades from school. This also effects the author's mom greatly, because she had such high hopes for her son to do well in school and the fat that he let himself get  such low grades, placed her in a bad and hard stage of coping with this truth. 

Quote 3: "The move to the Bronx had been hard on her. Nikki never fully adjusted to the new social and academic environment; she attended three different high schools in four years." (pg.77)

Analysis 3: This part of Nikki's life in very similar to Wes 1''s as well. Wes himself has a hard time adjusting and balancing his life between his life at his private school and his life with his friends back in his neighborhood. In comparison to Nikki, because Nikki has moved high schools so frequently, she was also never really given the chance to be able to balance out her social life and academic life.

Quote 4: "By the end of the story, I was furious. First, at Shani for not punching Lateshia back, but then at Lateshia, who had the audacity to go after my sister." (pg, 78)

Analysis 4: Although the details are completely different, the sibling relationship between Wes1 and his little sister Shani & the sibling relationship between Wes2 and his brother Tony assemble each other. The older sibling, having the mentality to always on the look out and protecting their younger ones.

Quote 5: "I was a little shaken as we walked back home in the twilight. little things like this had a way of escalating into blood feuds. Big brothers called bigger brothers, who called crews." (pg79)

Analysis 5: Just given of this description, kind of reminds or relates back to of Jusitn's cautious journey he would always have to do while traveling back home. 

Chapter 3: Foreign Ground AND Justification Paper #1

Theme: Overcoming Obstacles

Quote 1 : "My mother saw Riverdale as a haven, a place where I could escape my neighborhood and open my horizons. But for me, it was where I got lost." (pg.48)

Analysis 1: This quote is a foreshadow of the obstacle that Wes Moore would have to overcome later on the book. The obstacle would be him having to readjust and fit in both Riverdale and his friends in the Bronx that don't attend Riverdale. Wes Moore attending Riverdale would be considered an obstacle because Riverdale is known as a dominantly-white school. Therefore most of the people there he might have never seen and also because he is Black they may judge him and he might not be able to get along with them so well.

Quote 2 : " 'Nah, for real, what's up with Riverdale?' Pariis asked, bringing the topic back. His voice rose on the last word, as he made his best attempt at a proper British accent. I had to admit that Riverdale sounded a little like something out of Archie Comics. It was embarrassing." (pg49)

Analysis 2: The facr that Wes Moore now attends a private school across town from his neighborhood creates a social obstacle for him and his friends. Because his friends go to a public school in the area and the fact that Wes Moore doesn't creates a separation from his friends. His friends are able to make fun of him and pick on him because of that. 

Quote 3: "Justin lived a few train stops away from me, and taking the train home after dark was a different journey than the one we'd made earlier in the day.Justin knew the rules." (pg51)

Analysis 3: This introduces some of the obstacles that Justin has to go through sometimes when he has to get to his home. For Justin, his community is a little more on the violent side. So when he's going home, he has rules that he lives by while traveling back home especially in the dark.

Quote 4: " Every time I looked around at the building and the trees and the view of the river, I was reminded of the sacrifices my mother was making to keep me there. And every time I looked to my fellow students, I was reminded of how little I fit in." (pg52)
Analysis 4: This quote also puts an emphasis on Wes Moore's obstacle of trying to fit in with the rest of the kids at his school, Riverdale. The only thing that was really keeping him there at the time and pushing him to overcome the obstacles was his mother's sacrifices she made for him to be able to attend that school.

Quote 5: " I was becoming too 'rich' for the kids from the neighborhood and too 'poor' for the kids at school. I had forgotten how to act naturally, thinking way too much in each situation and getting tangled in the contradictions between my two worlds." (pg53-54)
Analysis 5: What Wes Moore was saying was that he wasn't the average kid in either his school where he came from a more poor community compared to the rest of the kids at his school. But at the same time because he was able to attend this rich school in Riverdale while the rest of his friends in his community attended a regular local school, he was considered rich compared to them. Because of this difference, Wes had a hard time balancing the way he should act that it was almost hard for him to be himself because he had to overcome the obstacle of balancing the way he associates with his friends from both school and those at home."

Justification Paper #1

     In part one, Fathers and Angels, we are introduced to the setting of the story and are acquainted to the different characters in the book. We soon learn that there are 2 stories being told at once in the book. We have the narrator, Wes Moore's story being told as well as another character name Wes Moore as well being told. We then later see that these two stories have both similarities yet differences in terms of their lifelong story.  The title, Fathers and Angels is appropriate with the authors purpose of introducing the role of what father's play in this book as well as how these father's had made a big impact on their son's life. 

   In chapter 1, pages 14-16 we see that Wes Moore #1's (our narrator)  father had passed away. We then later start seeing how his father's death had made a big effect on the family in chapter 2. The result was that on pages 36-38 the narrator's mother decides that she can't take care of her children alone anymore so she decides that they move up to New York with their grandparents. This decision to move later impacts Wes Moore's educational and social life. In chapter 1, starting from page 16 we are also introduced to the other Wes Moore, Wes Moore #2. We learn that he too, also has no father living presently with him and that he lives with his single mother, Mary Moore. In Chapter 3 starting from page 55,We then see the later side effect of Wes Moore2 not having a father which is him beginning to start messing with drugs. 

   In conclusion, the title Fathers and Angels is appropriate with the authors purpose of introducing the role of what father's play in this book as well as how these father's had changed the lives of their sons Wes Moore. The fathers part of the title ties a tie to the authors purpose by introducing how the father's nonexistence had made the short and long term impact of their families life. And more specifically to their son's.  The angels part of the title more so focuses on Wes Moore #1 and how the death of his father had changed from where him and his family now live to the type of people and situations Wes Moore #1 has to go through in the Bronx.