Ashes Of Roses

The first- and second-class passengers disembark at the harbor, but the steerage passengers board a ferry for Ellis Island. Rose is apprehensive because she has heard stories of how many people get turned away at Ellis Island. The officers divide the passengers into lines: one for men, one for women with children, and one for women alone. Margaret Rose goes through the line with Maureen, and they face several health examinations, which the girls find embarrassing and frightening. They are required to take down their tops for the inspectors to listen to their breathing and heartbeats, even though Maureen has nothing on under her dress top. The inspectors use a buttonhook-type tool to pull down their bottom eyelids, which is painful. After her inspections, Margaret Rose finds her father in a waiting room. She learns that her Uncle Patrick, who is waiting for them in New York, told her father about the eye exams, but Da didn’t tell the children because he didn’t want them worrying about it the whole trip. Through the window, Margaret Rose sees the impressive New York skyline. Da says that a husband is out there for her, but at 16, Margaret Rose hopes that her American life will help her to avoid an early marriage and childrearing. Ma enters with Joseph and says that he didn’t pass the eye exam. Margaret Rose sees that the letters “E.C.” are chalked on his coat. Ma says that the inspectors gave him eye drops. Enraged that Joseph’s eyes seemed fine until then, Da gets into an argument with the inspectors but is unable to change the verdict on Joseph. Rose knows that her baby brother can’t enter America, and that might mean that the rest of them can’t, either.

Da tells the family that Joseph has trachoma (a contagious bacterial eye infection). There is only enough money for one of them to take Joseph back to Grandma Nolan in Ireland. Margaret Rose spots Maureen and tells her what’s happening. Maureen is just as adamant about staying as Margaret Rose is. However, when they return to the family area, they learn that Da is planning to travel back with Joseph. His mother will take care of Joseph while Da works. When they have enough money, they’ll join the rest of the family in America. Saying goodbye to her father, Margaret Rose wonders why her mother doesn’t go instead. Da tells her that Ma wasn’t too keen to come to America in the first place, so if she returns to Ireland, he insinuates that she might not ever rejoin them. The official comes to separate the family. Ma cries and screams, and Margaret Rose holds her back. It is only after Da and Joseph are gone that she realizes she didn’t get to kiss her brother goodbye.

Ma, Rose, and Maureen go to the registry room and wait their turn in a pen, which is surrounded by other pens filled with people from all over the world. Margaret Rose notes that they all share the common expression of fear. Believing that their name has been called, they get up, but the registrar says that he was calling for “Cohen,” not “Nolan.” In the meantime, another family has taken their seats, and a guard orders the Nolans to find seats. Maureen sasses him, and the guard directs them to a bench way at the back. Ma reprimands Maureen for talking back. When they finally get to the registrar, he questions them about how they will support themselves without Da. Sensing that the registrar is about to send them back, Ma embellishes Margaret Rose’s experience with sewing and claims that she is also a seamstress. They have to be careful to make it clear that they don’t already have work lined up, as that is illegal, but they have to seem ready and able to find work quickly. The clerk makes a comment about women always believing that the men will return for them. When asked her name, Margaret Rose tells the man that her name is just “Rose” because so many women in Ireland, including her mother, have double names beginning with Margaret. Although the exit is not at all grand like she imagined, Rose feels triumphant as they pass through the gates and into America.

The Nolans make their way to the pier, with Rose and Maureen hauling the trunk between them. They see a guard tell a young mother with her baby and toddler that she cannot leave until relatives come get her, because unescorted women are not allowed to leave Ellis Island. If her relatives do not come for her, the guard says, she’ll be sent back to where she came from. In line for the ferry, Ma smiles at a man next to her and pretends that he is the relative they have been waiting for. When the man gets onto the ferry without them, Rose tells a guard that he is their uncle and they cannot be separated, so the guard lets them on.

They were supposed to wait for Uncle Patrick, but Ma was afraid that if he didn’t come, they would be sent back to Ireland. Maureen wonders if the government would pay the passage home for someone who was denied entry if they had no money. Afraid that the idea would tempt Ma, Rose tells them that the government only pays for criminal to return, not harmless people like themselves. When they disembark from the boat, two men with handcarts accost them, claiming that they will help with the luggage. The girls hold tight to their belongings, however, and fight the men for control of their trunk. A police officer sends the men running, and his Irish accent surprises and comforts the Nolans. He gives them directions to take the train to Uncle Patrick’s apartment, and he also gives them some coins to pay the fare.

Carefully hauling and guarding the trunk and their feather bed, the Nolans ride the train to the stop that the officer suggested. Soon, another Irish police officer approaches them and gives them directions to the apartment. Ma prepares the girls to meet Uncle Patrick and his family, smoothing their hair and reminding them to behave. A blond woman named Elsa opens the door and eyes them with suspicion. She is about to close the door on them when Uncle Patrick appears behind her and invites the Nolans in. Though Ma is happy to be with family, Rose notes that Elsa and the two daughters, Trudy and Hildegarde, do not look happy to have them there. They stay for dinner, and the Nolan girls eat sauerkraut for the first time and find it horrible, especially in comparison to how they used to prepare cabbage in Ireland. Ma learns that Uncle Patrick hasn’t received any letters from Michael (Da) about their arrival, so he and Elsa were not aware that the Nolans would be staying with them. Although Patrick welcomes them, Rose sees Trudy and Elsa having an angry discussion about them in the next room.

Uncle Patrick’s apartment has five rooms, two of which are bedrooms. Though there is more space than in the Nolans’ home back in Limerick, Rose senses the inconvenience that their stay is causing for her uncle’s family. Ma picks up on this sentiment as well and suggests that they sleep on their feather bed in the parlor instead of staying in the girls’ room or in Patrick and Elsa’s room. Rose overhears Trudy and Elsa’s concerns that the feather bed is infested with vermin and their declaration that the family is dirty and does not use soap. This enrages Rose, who knows how carefully her mother kept the feather bed from the ship’s bedding and how difficult it was to bathe in steerage. Though Elsa’s overt behavior is kind, Rose detects the disdain hidden beneath her words and actions, such as when Elsa and Trudy beat the feather bed outside for a half hour or when she offers Rose a bar of lavender soap to use as a special treat. Having indoor plumbing, especially hot water taps, is a rarity where the Nolans are from, and Rose understands that Uncle Patrick’s wife and daughters look down on them for their lack of experience with it. Despite these difficulties, Rose is impressed by the bath. However, she makes sure to clean the tub after using it so that Trudy will have no evidence that they are dirty. She gets into bed with her mother and two sisters after her bath and reflects that although Uncle Patrick is similar to Da in demeanor, his wife and children see them as dirty foreigners.