Monday, February 9, 2009

Third Reading Assignment

Comments:
Comment #1
Comment #2
Comment #3

The Mole People
Jennifer Toth

Summary:
This book is about one woman's encounters and experiences with the "mole people." She writes in detail about where they live--the underground tunnels of New York City. Unseen by many, these tunnels exist many stories below ground and stretch for miles beneath the city. Though they are dark, damp, and lonely, these tunnels are home to an untold number of people.

The author writes of her interviews with teens, men and women, gangs, and entire communities she meets living under the streets of New York. She hears stories of abuse, addiction, and depression. She seems to clear up some of the misconceptions ordinary people might have about the "mole people." It seems that some of them are just ordinary everyday people who are just down on their luck. Others don't feel like they fit in with normal society and have simply chosen to live underground, separating themselves from the world above. In the end, her life is put in danger over a simple misunderstanding, and she is forced to conclude her research and leave the city.

Discussion:
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. We go about our lives in the world around us, never really stopping to think what might exist below our feet. It's disappointing to think that people would actually choose to live that type of lifestyle...some of them anyway.

True, the druggies and addicts are going to do whatever they must in order to support their drug habit. This often means spending everything they make and disregarding their real financial responsibilities. After they are kicked out of their homes, they are forced to live on the street. Living with the constant fear of being raped, robbed, or murdered, some of them move underground into the tunnels.

The author talked to several tunnel-dwellers who had college degrees--this I don't understand. With a college degree, I find it hard to believe that people are unable to find a minimum-wage job of any kind. Some of these people were engineers, nurses, teachers, etc. These people can't expect to receive help when they don't appear to be trying to help themselves. I guess I'll avoid discussing politics.

New York City sounded like it could be a pretty dangerous place during the night. The author came across one gang that claimed to kill people for $20. If you looked at them in the wrong way--dead. If you annoyed them in some way--dead. Sadly, some of these people land in jail only to return to the streets. I suppose we sometimes take our safety for granted.

They live tough lives and do what is necessary to survive. Living underground without a real home, they are sometimes forced to eat rats and even dogs. The author did mention a few fortunate people who managed to successfully move out of the tunnels.

It was an interesting read and provided a view into a world that little know about. It showed that the "mole people" are just regular people who might be down on their luck, slaves to an addiction, or victims of other hardships. Though some of them seem perfectly content with living in the tunnels, some of them hope that one day they will overcome their adversities and return above ground to continue their lives.

Ranking:
#1- The Mole People
#2- The Design of Everyday Things
#3- The Media Equation
#4- Doing Ethnographies

2 comments:

Brian Salato said...

Your points about not realizing the dangers that some people have in their everyday lives. Part of your points I think speak more to the problems in New York City over just the Mole People's lives. As you pointed out with the $20 murders, you realize that there are parts of cities you really don't want to go to. You speak of the people with college degrees who can't get minimum wage jobs, but I also remember them talking about the people who had the minimum wage jobs but couldn't afford housing.

Jared said...

Killing someone for $20 does sound profitable...If you killed by the 100s. Those mole people did sound like they were either just too lazy to try and get another job or they just wanted to stay down in the tunnels because they liked it better and they purposefully made the choice to be detached from society.