Read the sentences from the "Ellis Island Oral History Project" excerpt. But, being children, I guess, had its advantages, in this case because we always tried to get out of there. We tried to go, get out of the steerage, get out of the babble of voices, get out of the heat and the stench and get on the main deck. We all were permitted to stay there for a little while but we were constantly chased.

What one word could describe the central idea of the sentences?

strength
regret
fairness
escape