Underground Hope too often Over-shadowed by Societal Ignorance
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October 31, 2001 An analysis of The Mole People by Jennifer Toth. "Modern society is guilty of intellectual terrorism" (Toth 120), according to Bernard Isaacs, a black man who has lived underneath New York City, in the subways and tunnels, for thirteen years. Isaacs expresses his optimism about the state of those who live under the city of New York in The Mole People: "We human too, more human than most I would say" (39). Like so many of the underground houseless, called mole people, Isaacs recognizes that humanity aboveground causes his underground comrades to lose the hope they have gained; hope through the expression of art, hope through community, and hope through possibility. Above ground society in general causes members of the underground communities to have negative feelings towards various groups including the government, the police, and homeless advocacy groups -- each of which claims it is there to help the underground residents. The mole people have disdain towards these groups because each promises to help them through their own little pet projects, but, in the end, the groups themselves are always the sole beneficiaries. The executive director of New York's Mental Health Association has compared the difficulty of rehabilitating the underground houseless to "taking a wild animal and attempting to domesticate it" (40). Likewise, track maintenance crews call the mole people "CHUD people" for "Cannibalistic Human Underground Dwellers" (74). Apparently it is too difficult for the above ground groups to realize that some people want to preserve their privacy and live their lives as they see fit -- without the high hand of government, police, or special interests invading their lives. Just as one mole man is content with "just being, and not being seen" (9), another resident expresses a "disdain for humanity" (101). Not only do the mole people have to deal with the different agencies trying to "protect" them, but they also have to deal with the wanderers. The wanderers are different gangs of youth who roam the tunnels for helpless prey. The wanderers feel they should be thanked for "getting rid of these moles" (188). The mole people know about the wanderers: "They just kill for fun" (190) according to one mole person. It is important for many of the mole people to be alone because "people will flip on you like the International House of Pancakes (16)," according to underground resident Seville Williams. Bernard Isaacs has been called everything from "nigger" and "worthless leach" to "sorry shit" (8). It is not uncommon for the mole people to be called names when they come out from their homes, and that's why some of them don't come up for years at a time. Despite the fact that the mole people have to deal with the whims of aboveground society, the tunnel dwellers feel an immense amount of hope. Graffiti art is an important venue that gives the mole people a chance to express themselves, their ideas, and their dreams. The art pieces are "not just graffiti," according to Bernard Isaacs, but they're "works of art, and they mean a lot to us" (119). According to Lee, a member of the Fabulous Five, New York's most notorious graffiti gang, the graffiti art fulfills the necessity of "self-assertion" among youth whose "creativity is stifled" (132). The tunnel artists have a need to "define themselves differently than society has" and a need to "feel in control" of "the surroundings they deeply fear" (132). Despite the fact that the NYC Transit Authority commits "artistic genocide" (133) by ruining the pieces and operating graffiti-proof trains, the artists always come back to finish their work (133). To leave their work unfinished would tell other graffiti artists that they had "lost the game" (131) or run away. Society, perhaps unknowingly or uncaringly, wants to take away their most defining characteristics -- the need to express their "individuality, continuity, and survival" (132). The mole people also have bright ideas for the future, theses on government, and philosophies about how the world should work. Hope through the possibilities of what they might achieve or what the world might become is of dynamic importance to these mole people. A surprising amount of the underground population has an education. An underground dweller named Mac believes that "the world is going to end soon" (32) and that those underground will be the "presidents and heads of state" (32) in the future. Another mole person named Carlos says that he would change the world "so there would be a place for us" (148). Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Teddy wanders around New York City each day looking for odd jobs. Teddy did well in school and was considered gifted. But being intellectually brilliant, unfortunately, doesn't get anyone anywhere on the dangerous slums of the city. Teddy dreams of going to college one day (143). If Mac's theory proves true, then it will be possible for Teddy to make it. Even if not, Teddy still has hope. The most important place where hope arises is hope through the presence of community. Belonging to a community is "more important" (87) than a warm apartment and a cleaner life aboveground according to many underground residents. Often times, unrelated members of a single tunnel area use terms of endearment with one another: honey, mama, papa, and brother. When members of the community are feeling sad, other community members come to their aid. "The best way to deal with it [sadness] is to help others" (147), according to fifteen-year-old Felicia, who left her Iowa home because her step-father molested her. Almost all of the tunnel dwellers consider themselves part of one community or another. The underground communities they share "provides them with a sense of physical and psychological security" and sets the underground houseless apart from the aboveground homeless (88). According to J.C., a spokesman for one of the tunnel groups, there is a loose federation of more than twenty communities within about a single mile of the underground station. Community brings about a sense of belonging, a reassurance of hope that many of the dwellers haven't felt for long periods prior to arriving underground. Indeed the only characteristic that the majority of mole people share -- hope -- is in jeopardy because of society's apathetic, cold-shouldered approach to the problem. "That's the only thing we got, is hope" (139), according to Felicia. The underground houseless are fighting for their independence, their chance to live freely. Seville Williams dreams of becoming a welder, and talks about it with "the same enthusiasm and conviction of a high school senior who talks about becoming a doctor after failing chemistry" (11). Jennifer Toth has confidence that Seville will fulfill his dreams because he is "living a life that others [are] afraid to even imagine". In addition to their hope, they also have stalwart determination. Night after night, the houseless Gary Bass is evicted, but he "always refuses to go to a shelter" (56). Bass' hope is taken from him when he is left vulnerable in the homeless shelters, where rape, theft, and abuse run rampant. As Jennifer Toth explains, there is really "A city below New York City: a fantastic underworld of men, women, and children who are born, live, and die in the darkness beneath the streets." Besides the overwhelming presence of AIDS, crack, death, and violence among the mole people, "All of us are gonna make it" (139), according to Felicia. Her sense of hope -- through art, community, and possibility -- isn't known by the aboveground world due to ignorance and close-mindedness. Without hope, Felicia will fall into the tunnels and deteriorate slowly. With hope, Felicia will become a housewife, a lover, a welder, a construction worker, a mother, and beyond. |
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