The Intuitionist and the End

    The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead, is an interesting book.  It tells the story of Lila Mae Watson--the first black female elevator inspector--who sets out to unravel the plot behind an elevator crash that occurred on her watch. 

     Her identity as a woman, and as a person of color, and as an Intuitionist is at the very core of this book.  She was proud to be an Intuitionist, and she believed heartily in all of Fulton's work.  Being a woman, she often slid under everyone else's radar, and also being colored caused her to blend into the segregated background of people in service positions.  She worked hard to make good grades in school and get a good job, even though she struggles with the feeling that "her role...is limited to window dressing--evidence for the new, progressive face of the Elevator guild..." (15).  And she also feels that sometimes her status as a colored woman might get her assignments she otherwise would not have obtained, "the colored gal gets the job" (14). 

     Whitehead's book is a detective novel that challenges the "stereotypical white male in a trenchcoat and fedora" model.  Lila Mae Watson is a colored woman who is almost invisible to everyone around her.  (And her last name reminds readers of Sherlock Holmes's sidekick, Watson.)  But she is no less determined or cunning than any white detective has been.  The book also has its share of surprising twists, like double agents. 

     This is a very difficult book to read.  It has beautifully (or frighteningly) detailed and original descriptions that really add to the flavor of the book and make it outstanding.  One example is "as if pain were a viruoso and his screams the very libretto of hell" (95).  But it is so full of symbology and double meanings that it is hard to decipher.  It could be read as "a book about elevators and elevator inspectors," which is what it seems to be on the outside.  But it really tells a deeper story about segregation and the utopian dream of equality. 

1. Do you think Lila Mae would have been as passionate about solving the mystery if she were not black or a woman or either?  If she were a white man, would her sense of identity have been invisible to herself like she, as a black woman, was to everyone else? 
2. Have you read any other detective novels that were deep or allegorical, or a book from another genre that completely broke the mold? 
3. What was your favorite original description in The Intuitionist? 

----------------------------------------------------

    The Intuitionist was our final reading for Dr.Olmsted's class.  So, this will be my final post.  I hope that you (our classmates and any other readers who might have stumbled upon this blog) have enjoyed reading our posts and found them to be interesting. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  May you all be safe and warm and have a wonderful New Year!