Like most books that delve into an author or character's teenage years, this one explores Wes's search for identity. Exactly who is he? Is he the good student, the graffiti artist Kid Valentine, the thug, the cadet, or several other roles? He curses at his mother as part of that search, trying on new words as he tries on a new persona.

As the book advances, we can see Wes try, and discard, each of these characters until he reaches a literal and figurative "dead end," lost in the dark woods. At that point, he begins to discover who he is, and which way he is going—completing military school, attending Johns Hopkins, and becoming a Rhodes Scholar, a respected political voice, and, today, head of one of the largest anti-poverty groups in America.

Cursing at his mom is part of that journey—it shows the frustration of the child fighting to become a young man of respect. The fact that his mother doesn't back down helps to form him (unlike the "other" Wes Moore, whose mother loses herself in partying and loses her son at the same time).