Throughout the collection, Danticat depicts immigration as a life-changing event with lasting traumatic effects, regardless of the individual’s quality of life in their new country. While acknowledging the potential for immigrants to find a new, better life in America, the stories in this collection also highlight the violence that accompanies the act of immigration.

The final story in the collection, “Without Inspection,” offers the clearest example of the violence of the immigration process. The story’s protagonist, Arnold, came to America via boat in horrific conditions. He describes how “they had run out of clean water halfway through the trip from Port-de-Paix, on the northern coast of Haiti, and had to drink seawater or their own urine” (205). During the four-day journey, Arnold and the other passengers had “become both homesick and seasick, shrinking to sunburned skin and protruding bones” (206). Ultimately, the 13 passengers were “ditched in the middle of the sea and told by the captain to swim ashore” (203); at least half of the group drowned. The horrific details of this journey appear to Arnold as he falls to his death, suggesting that they have had a lasting, traumatic impact on his psyche.