Among 62% of Americans, they believe in control of their destiny, 32% in the absence of control over our destiny and the rest is limit. In both stories, “Learning to Read” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and “Chapter 1: The Boy Left Behind” by Mark Matousek show how much control the characters have over their destiny. Harper had more control than Enrique due to the situation they were in. Francis Ellen was born into a black family during slavery, teaching slaves to read was illegal at the time, but that didn't stop her. She continued to read and even stole a book just to read. She later became a poet and writer. Enrique was born into a poor Mexican family, without a father figure and with a mother who would later abandon them to move to the United States to find a job so he could go to school. Enrique will later go looking for his mother by crossing the border and taking dangerous risks to find her. Enrique's destiny had already been mapped out since his mother left them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay First, Harper was born in a slave state. Slaves were not supposed to learn to read, their only type of reading source was a Bible and some books stolen by other slaves. In Harper's poem "Learning to Read", he shows how Harper begins his reading: Our masters have always tried to hide the learning of books from our eyes; knowledge disagreed with slavery: “two makes us all too wise.” //But some of us would try to steal a little from the book. And put the words together, and learn by hook or by crook. (Harper)Harper would learn to read by guessing until she was right. She struggled while the rebels “sneered and frowned.” Later, she would find a home and feel independent. On Enrique's side, the only independence he received was traveling to Mexico in search of his mother. Enrique is a Mexican who will end up crossing the border like the other teenagers. Since his mother emigrated to the United States, he has already decided his fate by searching for his mother like the other 75% of Texas. In the story “The Boy Left Behind” by Mark Matousek it says, “…the unaccompanied children he catches. Of them, counselors say, 75 percent are looking for their mothers. He falls into the category of unaccompanied children who go in search of their mother. Finding his mother has become a mission for Enrique as for other Mexicans crossing the border. In the story “The Boy Left Behind” it says: “Many, including Enrique, begin to idealize their mother. They remember how their mothers fed and bathed them, how they accompanied them to kindergarten... Finding them becomes the quest for the Holy Grail. Enrique only remembers his mother from his childhood, which gave him enough motivation to search for her in the United States. Harper had more control over his destiny than Enrique because of the people around him. Harper had northern teachers to help him. read, while Enrique ventured out alone without any help. In Harper’s poem “Learning to Read,” stanza 1 states: “Pretty soon the Yankee teachers came down and started the school; ” and stanza 7 states, “Well, the Northerners kept sending/ The Yankee professors;/ and they stood up and helped us” (Harper). Harper received assistance from the North to help slaves at the time learn to read. With Enrique's situation at..