Summary

The short story “Aline’s Journey” by Edwidge Danticat begins with the narrator, Aline, being told by her mother to pick a dress to wear during her journey to the United States. Aline picks her favorite blue dress. She and her family leave Haiti in the middle of the night, by boat, without Aline being able to say goodbye to her friends. Several other people they know in town are also on the boat.

They land on a beach in the Bahamas and change boats to get to Miami. On the way there, they are confronted by a large ship, and someone advises them by loudspeaker to remain on the boat. Aline and her family disobey and jump into the shallow water, making their way to shore.

On the beach, they are arrested by a policeman, along with the rest of the people on the...