The King of Mulberry Street

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains a discussion of religious discrimination, gender discrimination, and child abuse.

When third-class passengers disembark, they wear numbers pinned to their jackets. Despite having no identification, Dom follows the crowd off the boat and into customs. From there, everyone is ferried to Ellis Island. Told to leave their belongings, people take clothes and valuables from their luggage while others refuse to leave anything. Dom finds others from Napoli, so he can understand what they say. Doctors examine people before they are allowed into a registration room. Some are marked with chalk to indicate that they are not healthy.

Dom waits in line and watches a translator assist an English-speaking inspector. Listening to conversations, Dom learns that padrones—men who pay passage fees to gain child workers in America—are illegal and that he should say he is staying on Mulberry Street. As Dom waits, he thinks of his mother. 

At the front of the line, he refuses to give his name but announces his desire to return to Napoli. Since he is wearing nice shoes, the translator, Giosè, assumes that he is lost. As a result, Dom must stand next to the translator until a family member arrives.