# Another "mole people" question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 10, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mole-people-question/223789 "2004-01-10T05:07:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mole-people-question/223789/1 "2004-01-10T05:07:33Z")
The January 9 question about “mole people” makes this comparison: “homeless people who live in subway tunnels, sucking down electricity and other resources for free a la Ellison’s Invisible Man.” I never read _Invisible Man_ (shame on me), but I did read “The Man Who Lived Underground”, a short story, almost a novella, by Richard Wright. Might this be what “Gina G.” was thinking of? Or did the protagonist of _Invisible Man_ also spend some time in subway tunnels? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mole-people-question/223789/2 "2004-01-10T06:45:38Z")
[Mole people column.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040109.html) At the end of _Invisible Man_, he falls down a manhole, can’t get out, evaluates his life, and eventually chooses to stay underground. [http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmInvisible50.asp](http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmInvisible50.asp) My understanding is that it was not meant to be literal “he went and lived in the subway tunnels” _Omega Man_ sci-fi stuff, but that it was meant to be symbolic. So I dunno what Gina G. is talking about, exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mole-people-question/223789/3 "2004-01-10T08:17:21Z")
I see. Thank you.