The Mole People by Jennifer Toth

Jennifer Toth is a British journalist and writer. She graduated with an MA in journalism from Colombia University.

The Mole People was published in 1993
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(This post is a review, not a summary)


Strangely enough, this book has been sitting on my shelf for years unread, but it seems that only recently has it captured my interest, probably because I've ventured into my personal challenge of reading a book a week for a year. Given that I'm in the fourth month of the year, I have already passed the checkpoint of making this constant reading (and obsession to spend all my money on books) a solidified habit. By virtue of this, my curiosity has expanded to new horizons I would have never thought I'd reach willingly. But looking back in hindsight, I wonder why I've never had the urge to pick this up. I've never lived in New York City, but I certainly lived near it, and spent more weekends than I can count in the midst of its presence, so surely it must have had some meaning to me. In any case, it has meaning to me now, and I suppose that's all that matters.
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It first struck me as a surprise that there was an underground society of homeless people that lived underground one of the busiest cities on the planet. One, in their ignorance, unconsciously paints a list of pre-conceived notions in regards to homeless people. Some may be a bit simple-minded, such as the common line of thought that depicts homeless people as inherent failures who've never tried or care to try to climb up the ladder of the supposed meritocracy this country boasts. Some others may be a bit more advanced or thought about, such as the line of reasoning that acknowledges that our economic system is not perfect, and nor are people perfect, which may result in people with even technical college degrees out of luck in finding themselves a job, which eventually leads to landlord evictions and such, and ultimately to men without homes.

However, this book makes sure to make the distinction between homeless people that roam around the streets, and homeless people that live underground in the tunnels. There is a whole culture that has been crafted by the people who live underground in the tunnels. Similar to a Palahniukian Fight Club, it features its own set of unspoken rules, the first of which is implied, namely that one shall not speak of its presence willingly and blatantly, especially to people from "up there" who live above ground. The second rule is one that serves as an illustration of tunnel life being divorced from the law, namely that a homeless man shall not inform authorities on matters that involve other homeless people, for doing so risks the integrity of some major tunnels, and submits the tunnel life to being under the scope of the law. One doing so can also land himself in some life-endangering trouble if caught by other tunnel dwellers, which is what is thought to have supposedly happened involving Toth, and a victim of a murder by a tunnel dweller named Blade, Near the end of the book, Jennifer Toth describes her frightening experience with Blade, who was a friend in many respects for a grand majority of time spent with him, as he accused her of contacting the authorities after he thought she witnessed a man being murdered by his hand. This was speculation on Blade's part however, for it was based upon her not picking up the phone when she was called by Blade over a weekend where she was out of the city and unable to pick up.

A grand majority of the homeless tunnel dweller stories did have a few elements in common. The first is that they almost all come from really dysfunctional families. Fathers beating mothers, fathers and/or mothers absent, foster home jumping, the parturition of crack-addicted babies and the like, drug addicted parents, little to no education, rape cases, and the list goes on. The second thing I found was a common denominator in these stories was the passionate hate for society above ground. They truly believe society failed them in every respect, and the only way to truly live life is to live underground. They convince themselves that it is objectively better to live like this, because it entails an ultimate freedom.

The conditions are rough. The average life span for a homeless man living in New York City is around 45. Through Blade's account, some homeless people will kill other homeless people for anything without mental burden, whether it be for a place to sleep or for $5. Since it unanimously claims to be divorced from the law, it's a society that is riddled in anarchy.

The variety of homeless people was surprising to me. Some interviewed held degrees in biology and chemistry. Many studied literature and philosophy. In the end however, most of them seemed to revert to a scope of the world that viewed society as a system that would ultimately fail you in every respect. Of course, this is not the case. In reference to the types of people that live in the tunnels, children raised in the tunnels go to school, and people who are called "runners" are responsible for obtaining food, clothing, newspapers etc. for the rest of the community. Women who live in the tunnels have almost no freedoms of their own. They must seek protection from other men in order to survive, otherwise they would be hurt and raped.

Ironically, tunnel life is a lot safer for the homeless than the shelters built for them. Homeless shelters in New York City are notorious for the violence that ensues inside them. Some homeless men are beaten almost to death by other homeless men while they're asleep, just so they can obtain a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes. It's kill or get killed, which is why many prefer the tunnels as a potential safe haven both from society, and from outside violence.

This book gave me powerful insight on how homelessness not just affects your views on how economic insecurity can cripple anyone, but also how it changes your views on society, and maybe ultimately the fundamental principles that tether the deepest parts of your psychology. So much so that you start to become both incredibly keen with reality in some situations, and absolutely delusional in others. There are several quotes that stuck out to me in the book, but the one I got a nudge from was: "The thing about being homeless in New York City is, you'll never go hungry. There's just too much food around!"