Importance of Dardan, Pennsylvania

The German corner of Pennsylvania is Ondrej and Josef's next stop on their life's new trajectory. Early in the narrative, Josef tells the reader that he lives there in the year 1972, so the span of his life can already be seen. After the train accident that took his wife and made him a wealthy man, Ondrej takes his son to Pennsylvania to live among other immigrants. There life throws him another curve ball that sets his life in a third direction, again one that will affect his and Josef's live gravely. It is important because it is where Josef remembers his young childhood, and also where he chooses to retire in his older age.