Irony in The Mole People

In Jennifer Toth’s ethnography, The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City, she performs an in-depth study of the people living beneath the New York City subway and have been forced to make those tunnels their home. She meets a variety of people from different demographics such as age, gender and race. Although living on, and beneath, the streets of the dangerous city is a rough life, those forced into the lifestyle choose it, without hesitation, over city shelters. One of Toth’s characters mentioned his experience at shelter and states, “two nights ago a man tried to rape him at a city shelter where he hoped for sleep” (Toth 8).  These state funded institutions fail to achieve their intended goal. Instead of providing a secure place of rest for those less fortunate, they instill fear in those without a home. This fact is ironic on several levels; however, it is mainly portrayed because, “the ironic tone is conveyed by setting up a condition of unequal knowledge” (Killingsworth 132).  In this case, the government appears to be supplying homeless people with safe places to stay, sleep and eat. Yet, those intended to use this resource refuse because of the poor quality and increased risk.  Therefore, the unequal knowledge is that government knows of the mistreatment in homeless city shelters where as the remainder of the public does not. Toth is able to present the irony in this situation to her readers and therefore heighten their awareness of the happenings of New York’s homeless.