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The Other Wes Moore

by Wes Moore

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Student Question

Why does the author detail Wes's failed drug deal in The Other Wes Moore?

Quick answer:

In The Other Wes Moore, the author shares considerable information about the other Wes's drug deal gone wrong to emphasize how random factors can influence a person’s future. He also conveys how Wes’s desire to make the maximum number of possible sales clouded his judgment.

Expert Answers

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In part 3, chapter 6 of The Other Wes Moore, the other Wes makes a costly mistake while he is on the street selling illegal drugs. Wes had been very successful in the street-drug trade: not only did he personally make many sales, but he also expanded his role into leadership, taking charge of his own team, or “crew.” The author details the kinds of positions that various crew members held and how Wes excels at team management. He also stresses that the trade was inherently risky for the street dealers because of potential violence from rival dealers and the likelihood of being arrested. He conveys as well that, despite making a lot of money, those dealers received a fraction of the total profit from the trade.

Wes was constantly engaged in a risk-to-reward calculation, trying to maximize his income while not taking any unnecessary chances. In terms of vulnerability to law enforcement, the author provides a list of tell-tale “ifs,” or indications that dealers always had in mind, which alerted them that they might be interacting with someone in law enforcement.

The author then details Wes’s thought processes and his actions when he made a sale that turned out to be to a police officer. Author Wes shows that the other Wes ignored the warning signs because he focused on the earnings. In addition, he ended up getting arrested over twenty dollars’ worth of drugs. Had he continued to walk away from the small-dollar potential sale, he could have avoided arrest that day.

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