The Intuitionist, a novel written by Colson Whitehead, illustrates many aspects of society through the parody of a detective novel. Since elevator inspectors have no detective talents, the idea is just a cover, underneath which lies a myriad of the author's opinions on society. The book, published only in the year nineteen-ninety-nine, is filled with miniscule clues that pilot one toward substantial metaphors. Among these are racism, politics, one's place in society, and so on and so forth. This novel is an ocean of allegories in its youth, its depths waiting to be explored.

Whitehead (1969 - present) began writing this manuscript with the idea that he could incorporate an elevator inspector into a mystery novel. In an interview with Dave Weich, he admitted:

[...] I wanted to see if I could write a plot, and a detective story has a lot of real backbone to work with. I thought...