Chapter 5: Lost

Theme 1: Paralel Biographies
1) "She was devastated. She was losing her son, and she was not sure how to turn the tide."(89) Wes 1
Joy Moore felt as though she was losing her son. Wes was doing poorly in school, hanging with a questionable group of people, and he wasn't trying to do better. Similarly in Baltimore, Mary Moore felt that she was losing her son as well. Wes 2 was a drug dealer, he had gotten a girl pregnant, and he tried to murder a guy that had punched him. Both mothers were struggling with their sons who were acting out and both mothers had trouble finding solutions. Both Wes 1  and Wes 2 were defying their mothers and chose to go down unhealthy paths in life.

Theme 2: Single Mothers
2) "My mother had written to family and friends, asking them to help her however they could. 'I wouldn't ask if I didn't really need it,' she wrote. Weeks later, she was still thousands of dollars short." (95) Wes 1
This is a prime example Joy Moore's struggle as a single mother. If Wes Moore Sr. had not died, financially Joy would have been able to pay the tuition for Wes Jr.'s boarding school because there would have been two incomes rather than one. Because Joy was a single mother, it was harder for her to take care of all of her children's needs because she had two consuming jobs that payed very little. But, with the help of her parents and other family members and friends, Joy was able to send Wes to military school to correct his behavior. However, sending to military school would have financially been easier if Joy was not a single mother.

Theme 3: Absent Fathers
3) "All he knew was his mom. He had no idea what his role would be in this new situation - he wasn't even sure he had a role." (101) Wes 2
Because Wes had only met his father three times in his whole life, he did not have a real concept of what a Father was supposed to be. This troubled Wes because he was soon to be a father and, without a father in his life, he had no one to consult for help or to mimic. The fact that Wes's father was absent put a strain on Wes's life and how he would treat his son.

Theme 4: Life Choices
4) "Wes and his friend traded shots and finally heard Ray scream as he fell behind a black Toyota just fifty feet from his house." (105) Wes 2
Wes made the choice to get his gun after he was hurt by Ray and he made the choice to run after Ray and try to kill him. This violent choice to try and murder someone landed him the backseat of a police car, an environment Wes was used to. However, this illegal act was more serious than being caught using/selling drugs or as a young child attacking someone with a knife: this choice will follow Wes Moore for the rest of his life and possibly land him in jail for a very long time.

5) "Bad grades, absence from classes, and an incident with a smoke bomb were just some of the reasons he rattles off as my mother sat silently on the couch with the phone to her ear. Her conviction was increasing with every bad report." (87) Wes 1
Wes made the choice to do poorly in school and to not try, despite the fact that he was a smart person. He chose to act up and to hang with people like Shea who police gravitate towards. His poor choices convinced his mother to change her son's environment and to to send him to military school. In this chapter, Wes blamed numerous people for the fact that he was in a place he hated, but he never blamed himself. Wes was the one who was put on academic probation. Wes was the one that used a smoke bomb. Wes was the one who continually spray painted the walls despite a warning from the police. Wes made these choices, and the outcome was that he was put in military school.