Essay Sample on Underground Homes: Where Unwilling People Seek Refuge

Introduction

The ground is dug to pave the way for the construction of structures such as railroads. Poor individuals work in the rails to earn a living. Besides, the slaves are forced to work in such areas. Although underground is a place unfathomable to live, several people call it their home. People who live underground do not do so willingly but are forced to by a continuum of conditions that plague their lives. As a result, the underground home consist of people of different characteristics such as homosexuals, drug abusers, mentally ill, violent, and hostile. These individuals form a community of families with enormous diversities. While some are highly welcoming, others are violet and do not entertain people in their midst. The mentally ill individuals form the largest category of the communities. Underground has become a home for the homeless and is inhabited by huge populations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze literature in light of the book, "The Underground Population" by Jeniffer Toth. Although people living in the underground world have already found their homes there, they are living miserable lives unwillingly since the hard and challenging conditions have left them homeless.

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Some have decided to live underground freely, but some have been compelled to live underground by the harsh conditions they face in life. For instance, the Cimmerian priests have voluntarily decided to live underground to attend the subterranean oracles of the classical world. While in the underground, the priests visit each other ministering to the pilgrims visiting the shrines. Their rule was never to see daylight and as such preferred to live underground and travel during the night. Conversely, many other people live underground not by their own choice, but the harsh conditions have compelled them to dwell under the surface. For instance, the slaves of both Rome and Egypt worked and lived in the mines, and this became their way of life. O'Brien posited that slave trade was at its peak between late 19th and early 20th century and concentrated along the Oregon and Portland waterfront. In these regions, slaves stayed in the train tunnels and subways of New York (4). Such individuals did not live underground because they intended so but because their nature of work dictated that they live in the mines - also, people without nothing to eat live underground. According to Toth, the subway is inhabited by people who are poverty-stricken.

People who live in the underground are not always the poor, slaves, homosexual, drug abusers, and mentally challenged, some have decided to live there for a continuum of reasons one of them being safety. However, life underground is not pleasing but unsociable, unpeaceful, and critically suffering for not able to live on the ground. Due to the high demands required to survive underground, dwellers have become hardened and can sustain the painful ordeal they go through in their underground home. They live unanimous live hidden from the sight of the majority.

Despite the many problems they experience, the Mole People always live in fear of being evacuated by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and the regular police. Although the regular police have not been frequenting, the Amtrak is more feared than any other force. As a result, the Mole People live in fear of being destabilized by the corporation. An underground is a hiding place for those who run away from the social obligation to pay taxes, the family obligations, and hide from the policemen. While underground, people are not bothered by the children, and they live peacefully. The house is also smaller compared to living on the surface. Often, those living underground find it safe to live there than to live on the surface. As a result, underground home is the safest place to dwell. Living on earth requires that one pay rent if one has not built a home; however, living underground requires no rent and hence sustainable. Crime offenders find their way in the underground tunnel. It is, therefore, a hiding place for criminals who fear that the police might find them and arrest them. The underground tunnel is the bleeding place for criminals.

Even with fears from the Amtrak and the police, the underground dwellers fight against each other. Security and protection from themselves is hence something for consideration. Since they live in groups, one group can attack the other, and this explains the reason for living securely. As said by Mac, they hide the guns in the bricks on the tunnel wall. In the bricks, the underground dwellers store guns and ammunition to protect themselves from any person who can attack them. The ammunitions are smuggled pistols and semiautomatics, which are used by street gangs. Mac explains that guns are meant for security purposes. The fight between the various groups of people arises from the power to lead. Mac narrated that the significant reason for having guns is because they want the leaders of the future.

Although underground dwellers hide from responsibilities and obligations, it is never comfortable living underground. The weather is cold, and the rain makes life unbearable. The place is also tiny and squeezed, and people struggle to live a decent life. People have to fight to put their belonging together in small areas where they live. They seem to have succumbed to the dirt in the place. It smells dust and mold ad coexists with rats, cockroaches and other wild animals (O'Brien 194). They have even erected graffiti, which reads, "existence is flawed." This graffiti shows that despite them feeling safe underground, they are neither happy nor comfortable. Albeit, the place is considered safe, it is the railroad, and hence they have to watch out the trains passing so that they are not run on. The place can also be filled with exhaust fumes that contaminate the air making survival unbearable. As the trains pass by, they leave exhaust fumes in air and thus reduces the visibility and introduces carbon (IV) oxide to the air. The gases can suffocate people since the ventilation is limited underground to have the gases leave the tunnel it might take some time (O'Brien 197). The tunnel can also become humid, especially during summer.

The food people eat underground is majorly from wild creatures such as rats since getting out to get food is risky and may not be possible. They hunt the rats in the ten-high concrete wall and subway paths, and on finding one, joy fills their heart. The rat's carcass was prepared by first liting the fire, skewing the rat, and then setting it on flames. The rats, rabbits, and cockroaches are known to the underground dwellers. The main reason for having rabbits in plenty is because of the presence of the garbage and the feces soaked rag. Hence, the wild animals are attracted to the dirt in the place.

The underground people are scolded by other people and considered lesser human beings. According to Toth, underground people were deemed to be subhuman and given other funny names such as mole people, argillae, and johatsu in Japan. The names have meaning that describes the people living underground; for instance, Johatsu is a Japanese word which means an individual who has no identity. Such people live on the sidewalks on the railroads where the trains pass by. The descriptions given to underground dwellers show that they have been neglected by society and are considered useless on earth. According to Voeten, underground dwellers are people who have been rejected by the community and have, therefore, become invisible to them and a bother (1).

Some media reports say that underground people live luxurious and materialistic lives and point out that they own televisions, microwaves, fridges, and heaters, among other luxurious appliances (Voeten 1). Besides, the posited that individuals illegally tap electricity to benefit themselves without paying taxes and paying anything for the services they get. Luxurius life is a fallacy reported by individuals who do not understand the challenges that individuals living underground experience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, underground homeless people live miserable lives, but the hope and the care they accord each other make them survive the turmoil. Despite it being a strange and foreign home, they still get hope by the fact of it being their own making. Although some people have been compelled to live underground by the conditions in life, others have freely decided to live underground.

Work Cited

O'Brien, Matt. Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas. Las Vegas, NV: Huntington Press, 2007.

Toth, Jennifer. The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City. Chicago, Ill: Chicago Review Press, 1993.

Voeten, Teun. Tunnel People. Oakland, CA: PM, 2010.