E. Annie Proulx's Accordion Crimes

Accordion Crimes is a difficult book to place in a single time period because the story takes place over about 100 years, originating in a small Sicilian village, but the main setting and focus is the United States.The various settings introduced in the book influenced the characters in various ways, but one instance of influence was great enough to cause his death. The accordion maker was literally ruled over by his setting. The setting around him was one of oppression that worked against him because he was Sicilian. "… The accordion maker saw the approaching men with searing clarity, the loose thread on a coat, mud-spattered trouser legs, a logging chain in a big hand, the red shine of the engorged faces, a man with one blue eye and one yellow eye. Even then he hoped to be saved.

He was innocent! Pinse held his revolver loosely in his hand, had lost his staff in the rush up the stairs, so crowded it had been, looked at the Sicilians knotted in the corner, their wicked eyes glittering, some of them pleading and praying - the cowards! He thought of the rat king, fired. Others fired.A barrage of bullets and shot of every caliber and weight tore the Sicilians. The accordion maker reared twice and fell back." A character that has a great deal of intrigue is the accordion maker. The most interesting fact of this character is that he has no name, only an occupation.

This is symbolic of all the millions of faceless immigrants that came to America in search of their dreams, but very few found them waiting, much less at all. "...He had his theory, his idea of the fine instrument; with the proof of this one, he planned to make his fortune in La Merica." The accordion maker himself was a large man, but more sensitive that most like him. He despised working through problems and simply let his wife handle them when she could. Once in La Merica, the accordion maker had to deal with squalid living conditions, but when one man wanted an accordion like the one he had made for himself, the accordion maker readily agreed.

Despite the squalid living conditions, the accordion maker still had high hopes, "... He was fortunate to have the room - many slept in the streets and docks and every morning lifeless forms were carried away, throats slit and pockets turned inside out, even young children.