The Mole People

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses 'The Mole People' which is a fascinating anthropological analysis about a category of homeless people. The writer notes that one might be tempted to believe that it is clear what the book is about from the title, but at a deeper look, it will be obvious that it is a lot more than just a presentation of the lowest part of our society - it is the story of these people told by them. The writer maintains that the author was brave in trying to get to the myth of underground cities and see which part was true and to what extent. However, the writer concludes that the author failed in separating fiction and myth from reality, a reality that she could prove in a more analytical way. Even so, the writer claims that 'The Mole People' is a remarkable attempt to reveal the mysteries beneath NYC.

From the Paper:

"Believed to be an urban legend, the mole people prove to be a very real part of New York as it is shown by Jennifer Toth's incursion into the abandoned tunnels of NYC. All the research took the author about a year to complete the book, a period in which Toth found and interviewed several people in order to discover what their story is and how they managed to live underground."
"Even if Toth's interviews are done with only few of the members of this sort of underground society, they are representative in analyzing whether the underground life is becoming a sort of society or not. The types of people found by Toth underground vary as she interviews assassins, artists, families, employed and unemployed people, mentally challenged people and so on. These people's stories are stories of despair, poverty and incapability, but they are also stories of hope."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Toth, Jennifer, The Mole People: Life in the tunnels beneath New York City, Chicago Review Press, 1993

More papers on The Mole People:

• Essay # 63490 : "The Forest People" by Colin Turnbull"
• Book Review # 92122 : "The Forest People"
• Essay # 23071 : "Melanoma in Australia"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: