Chapter 3

The Search for Belonging

“He sensed my frustration at living in mutually exclusive worlds […] I was becoming too “rich” for the kids from the neighborhood and too “poor” for the kids at school. “ Pg. 53

Caught between two very different worlds, Wes Moore struggles to find belonging and acceptance within his two communities. It is clear that the society Wes grew up in was highly stratified, demonstrating that individuals place expectations on others in order for them to belong in a place, halting processes of self discovery, or even self acceptance. Humans look to be part of larger groups and communities, and being unable to be involved in an accepting community can lead to people feeling worthless or unneeded.

Drugs and Dangerous Communities 

“The mayhem spread from the gangs to the rest of the neighborhood. Everyone felt threatened. Everyone was defensive. From the early 1980s to the end of the decade, there was an almost 61 percent jump in the murder rate.” Pg. 51

The Bronx is further described by Wes Moore as a dangerous place due to the presence of drugs. The statistics above detail the dramatic effects of the presence of drugs and how they can have a widespread effect on entire communities, tearing people and places apart and endangering all. The people of the Bronx are unable to feel safe in their city, all simply because a few individuals spread the usage of drugs, demonstrating the devastating toll they take on communities.

“He didn’t bother thinking about Tony’s warnings, that no matter what job or position you took within it, this was a game for keeps- you could be in jail or dead in a matter of months.” Pg. 59

The “other” Wes makes a decision to engage himself in the drug trade, regardless to his older brother’s warnings. The doomed future of this Wes clearly illustrates that small actions can accumulate into larger issues, and any degree of involvement with such activities puts lives at risk. Wes, like many other kids, saw drug dealing as a way of earning money, yet this snowballing processes demonstrates the constant desire to increase material wealth, and the fact that the idea of failing sometimes is unseen by humans. The young boys believe that they will prevail regardless to the threat of death. 

“ …The drug- smoking it, feeling its effects, recovering from it- made him forget everything else. And he understood, faintly, how addictive that feeling could be, and how easy it would be to make some money off selling that feeling to people who needed it.” Pg. 62

The “other” Wes clearly sees that the addictive effects of drugs can make for easy money. This bleakly portrays that some people take advantage of others simply for material profits, and use drug addicts as a way to make their own money, destroying the lives of others to only slightly better their own.

“We were starting to feel the fear that crept around the edges of our consciousness at dusk […] Never look people in the eye. Don’t smile, it makes you look weak. If someone yells for you, particularly after dark, just keep walking.” Pg. 51

Living in the Bronx, a particularly dangerous area during the time, Wes Moore demonstrates the conditions that many children must face. The serious way in which he lists the rules of simply walking the streets shows the danger of his home city. Although merely children, Wes and his friends cannot feel safe in their neighborhood, and must adapt to living under the conditions in order to survive. Faced with such conditions, people must learn to adapt to living at risk, all to simply survive.