Tell Me How It Ends

by Valeria Luiselli
Alina is a woman from Honduras living and working in the United States. She is also Manu’s aunt. Having originally come to the United States on her own to send money back to Manu and her two daughters, Alina eventually sees that it’s too dangerous for her loved ones to stay in Honduras. She realizes this when Manu narrowly escapes murder at the hands of a gang. When this happens, Alina makes arrangements for him to come to live with her in Hempstead, Long Island, paying a “coyote” (a guide) $4,000 to escort him across the Mexico-U.S. border. Shortly after he arrives, she learns that gang members have also started harassing her two young daughters, and although she doesn’t have the money, she puts herself in debt to bring them to live with her and Manu in Hempstead.

Alina López Quotes in Tell Me How It Ends

The Tell Me How It Ends quotes below are all either spoken by Alina López or refer to Alina López. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Migration and Personal Sacrifice Theme Icon
).

Chapter 4 Quotes

But not all schools are complying. For months now, Alina has been trying to find a different school for Manu. The two girls are not as vulnerable to gang coercion, she thinks, provided that they keep to themselves. But she tells me that Manu can no longer go unnoticed. For a while he was admitted to a school in Long Beach, but then they told him his English wasn’t good enough and that he needed to take language classes first. Other schools said he didn’t meet the eligibility criteria, or that he’s missing some document or another, or that there’s simply no space.

Related Characters: Valeria Luiselli (speaker), Manu López, Alina’s Daughters, Alina López
Page Number and Citation: 93
Explanation and Analysis:
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Alina López Character Timeline in Tell Me How It Ends

The timeline below shows where the character Alina López appears in Tell Me How It Ends. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: Home
Language and Storytelling Theme Icon
...he is a sixteen-year-old boy from Honduras living in Hempstead, Long Island with his aunt Alina. She asks where his mother and father live, and when he shrugs, she writes “?”... (full context)
Migration and Personal Sacrifice Theme Icon
International Relations and Political Responsibility Theme Icon
Gang Life vs. Community Engagement Theme Icon
...Honduras with his grandmother, but that she died six months ago. He tells Luiselli that Alina has always sent money back to Honduras, where her two daughters (his cousins) also lived... (full context)
Migration and Personal Sacrifice Theme Icon
Gang Life vs. Community Engagement Theme Icon
...police never did anything,” Luiselli writes. The night his best friend was killed, he called Alina and told her what happened. Horrified, she made immediate arrangements for him to come to... (full context)
Migration and Personal Sacrifice Theme Icon
Gang Life vs. Community Engagement Theme Icon
Manu tells Luiselli that Alina paid a “coyote” $4,000 to bring him to the United States. Now, Alina has paid... (full context)
Migration and Personal Sacrifice Theme Icon
International Relations and Political Responsibility Theme Icon
Gang Life vs. Community Engagement Theme Icon
...two missing front teeth to prove it. “After the incident with Barrio 18, his aunt Alina worried he would end up in trouble because MS-13 boys saved him from losing the... (full context)
Migration and Personal Sacrifice Theme Icon
Gang Life vs. Community Engagement Theme Icon
...months after meeting with Manu and his new lawyers, Luiselli speaks on the phone with Alina. Alina explains that she spent years working in the United States so that she could... (full context)
Migration and Personal Sacrifice Theme Icon
Gang Life vs. Community Engagement Theme Icon
Alina tells Luiselli that she had to pay $7,500 to get her eldest daughter out of... (full context)