Telephone Conversation Wole Soyinka
Unit – 4
Telephone Conversation
Wole Soyinka
Summary of the poem
“Telephone Conversation” is a poem by the Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka that exposes racism. The poem describes a telephone conversation between a landlady and the speaker, who is black, about renting an apartment.The opening line shows that the black man is aware of the double standards. He makes a phone call to confirm if the room is truly available for a black man. It also reveals that the black man has had bitter experiences in the past. At first the landlady seems ready to move forward with renting to the speaker, even swearing that she lived off premises. But when the speaker makes a “self-confession” about being “African,” she is shifting the conversation abruptly to a discussion of skin tone.The landlady demands to know how "light" or "dark" the speaker's skin is. In response, the speaker cleverly mocks the landlady’s ignorance and prejudice, demonstrating that characterising people by their skin colour diminishes their humanity.The speaker, who is black, makes fun of a white landlady who won’t rent to the speaker until she knows whether the speaker’s skin is “dark” or “light.”According to the speaker race and identity are complicated and multi-faceted. Judging a person based on their skin colour, is thus ignorant, illogical, and dehumanizing..As the poem closes, the landlady is about to hang up on the speaker— which clearly suggests that, as a white person, she still holds the power in society to effectively silence the black speaker.
Telephone Conversation- Poem Analysis
At first the landlady seems ready to move forward with renting to the speaker, even “swearing” that “she lived / Off premises.” She can’t detect the speaker’s race through the phone.But when the speaker then makes a “self-confession” about being “African,” the conversation abruptly shifts to a discussion of skin tone. the speaker is being ironic in the use of “confession” here, to undermine the racist notion that being “African” is a bad thing. Clearly, the speaker understands how less the chances are for black people to get housing which are unfairly limited by a racist society.
It was for sure, that, in response to this “confession” the landlady asks whether the speaker’s skin is “light” or dark”—a question so unreasonable that the speaker briefly wonders if he or she has “misheard.” . The only thing that matters to her, then, is how black the speaker is. Instead of asking about his profession, or about his family or his habits ,the landlady rhe landlady is worried about his skin colour.
the speaker instead of answering her question directly is offering a series of clever replies that reveal the landlady’s question to be not just offensive but also utterly illogical. Instead of directly telling his skin colour in one word the speaker describes him as “West African sepia” in the speaker's passport.Also to make the point that human body is not just one colour the speaker describes that his face is “brunette,” but his palms and foot soles are “peroxide blonde.”
The speaker is deliberately trying to bring out the point that race and identity are far too complex to be reduced to a simple, binary choice between “dark” or “light,” between “Button B” or “Button A.”
The speaker doesn’t just criticize the landlady’s blatant racism, then, but also critiques the way she thinks about race itself. The speaker refuses to let the complexity of human identity be reduced by the ignorant choice that the landlady offers. For all the speaker’s cleverness, however, the poem does not end on a triumphant note. As the poem closes, the landlady is about to hang up on the speaker— which clearly suggests that, as a white person, she still holds the power in society to effectively silence the black speaker.
I Answer the following in two or three sentences each:
1. Where did the landlady live?
The landlady lived off premises.
2. What was the self-confession made by the poet?
The poet makes a “self-confession” that he is “African,”
3. How did the landlady respond to it?
When the speaker makes a “self-confession” that he is “African,” the conversation abruptly shifts to a discussion of skin tone.in response to this .The landlady asks whether the speaker’s skin is “light” or dark”—a question so absurd that the speaker briefly wonders if he has “misheard.”
4. What is the colour of the skin compared to?
The landlady asks whether the speaker’s skin is “light” or dark” .The speaker is then asking her whether he needs to tell whether she meant the colour of plain or milk chocolate.He then answers that his face is “brunette,” but the palms and foot soles are “peroxide blonde.” The speaker is being deliberately ironic in the comparisons here,
5. Identify the tone of the poem in the end?
The tone of the poem was satirical ,sarcasm and humour. The poet conveyed his feelings on racism, through a telephone conversation with a landlady. He compared the education level between himself and the landlady and expressed his anger towards this incident; on the other hand, he also mocked the landlady as his own enjoyment.
II. Answer the following in a paragraph each:
1. How does the conversation take place in the beginning of the poem?
At first the landlady seems ready to move forward with renting to the speaker, and it seemed like a good price and the location was also fine. The landlady promised that she didn’t live in the building. As she couldn't detect the speaker’s race through the phone, she didn't seem to have any problem in renting the apartment.The only thing left for the speaker was to confess something important about the speaker.
2. Why is the landlady reluctant to rent out the accommodation to the prospective tenant?
The landlady is reluctant to rent out the accommodation to the prospective tenant,when the speaker makes a “self-confession” about being “African,”.The conversation abruptly shifts to a discussion of skin tone. In response to this “confession” the landlady asks whether the speaker’s skin is “light” or dark”—a question so absurd that the speaker briefly wonders if he has “misheard.” The landlady is playing into the ignorant idea that black people with lighter skin and, as such, whose skin is closer in appearance to that of white people are superior to those with darker skin. The key thing that matters to her, then, is how black the speaker looks. Instead of asking what the speaker does professionally, or what speaker's habits are, all that matters to the her, is his skin colour. Racism, the poem thus makes clear, is inherently reductive and dehumanizing.
3. Comment on the sudden change in the tone towards the end of the poem.
The speaker doesn’t just criticize the landlady’s blatant racism, then, but also critiques the way she thinks about race itself. In doing so, the speaker refuses to let the complexity of human identity be reduced by the ignorant choice that the landlady offers. For all the speaker’s ingenuity, however, the poem does not end on a triumphant note. As the poem closes, the landlady is about to hang up on the speaker—suggesting that, as a white person, she still holds the power in society to effectively silence the black speaker.
4. Discuss the use of irony in the poem.
In the opening lines of the poem "The price seemed reasonable, location / Indifferent" the reader may assume that the speaker meant unbiased and impartial by the use of the word indifferent. Instead of the apartment's location being neither good or bad, and is unbiased and impartial, from the following lines the reader learns that it is exactly opposite to what initially told. In reality location of the apartment is the exact opposite of what mentioned and the speaker is rudely denied the ability to rent the property because of bias towards his skin colour.
Again there is irony in the line 4 as we can see that the speaker begins his "self-confession" about his skin colour . It is ironic that this is called a self-confession since the speaker had not done anything wrong to confess. He warns the landlady that he is African, instead of just informing her. In the line"Caught I was, foully" he says after listening to the silence of the landlady .The word caught again connotes that some wrong had been done, that the speaker was a criminal caught committing his crime. By making the speaker actually seem sorry for his skin colour, Soyinka shows how ridiculous it really is for someone to apologize for his race.
The landlady, on the other hand, is described in lines 7 to 9 with nothing but positive terms. The speaker mentions her "good-breeding," "lipstick coated" voice, "long gold-rolled/Cigarette holder," all possessions that should make her a respectable lady. These words regard nothing with respect to her personal character, it allows that she could be a good person. Her goodness is seemingly confirmed later in line 17 when the speaker says that she was "considerate" in rephrasing her question .In lines 20-21 her response to the caller's question included only "light / Impersonality" . Although she was described as being a wealthy woman, she was seemingly considerate and only slightly impersonal. The speaker seems almost grateful for her behaviour. Of course, these kind descriptions of the woman are teeming with verbal irony. Readers know that she is being rude indirectly even while she is seeming to be so pleasant.
In line 10 ,after recording the all-important question, "How dark?," the poem pauses for a moment and describes the surroundings to give a sense of reality that shows that the ridiculous question had really been asked . The speaker describes the buttons in the phone booth, the foul smell that seems to always coexist with public spaces, and a bus driving by outside. His description gives us an image of where the speaker is located: a public phone booth, probably somewhere in the United Kingdom. The lines 13 -14 mentions the "Red booth," "Red pillar-box," and "Red double-tiered / Omnibus" are all things that one might find in Leeds, the British city in which poet had been studying prior to writing this poem . In addition to the literal images that this description creates, a sense of the anger running through the speaker's mind is portrayed by the repeated use of the word red. This anaphora is the closest that that the speaker ever comes to openly showing anger in the poem. Although it is hidden with seemingly polite language, a glimpse of the speaker's anger appears in this quick pause in the conversation.
In the end, in line 23, the landlady repeats her question and the speaker is forced to reveal how dark he is. "West African sepia," he says, citing his passport . She claims not to know what that means. She wants a quantifiable expression of his darkness. His response in lines 28,30 and 32, feigning simplicity is that his face is "brunette," his hands and feet "peroxide blonde" and his bottom "raven black" . Even though the speaker knows that she just wants a measure of his overall skin-colour to categorize him, he refuses to give it to her. Instead he details the different colours of different parts of his body. As it was meant to, this greatly annoys the landlady and she hangs up on him. In closing, he asks the then empty telephone line, "wouldn't you rather / See for yourself?" (lines 34-35). The irony in these lines lies in the fact the speaker still pretending politeness and ignorance , is actually mocking her racist mentality by asking whether the landlady would like to meet him in person to judge his skin colour for herself.
A different form of irony is created throughout the poem, by the speaker's use of high diction, which shows the education of the speaker. Although the landlady refuses to rent an apartment to him because of his African heritage it is clear that the speaker is clearly a well educated individual. The words like "pipped," "rancid," and "spectroscopic" used in lines 9, 12, 23 shows his quality of education. His intelligence is further shown through his use of sarcasm and wit in response to the landlady's questions. Although he pretends politeness the entire time, he includes subtle meanings in his speech. The fact that a black man could outwit and make a white woman seem foolish shows the irony in judging people based on their skin colour.
III. Answer the following in a page or two:
1. How is racial discrimination presented in the ‘Telephone Conversation’.
“Telephone Conversation” is a poem that satirizes racism. The speaker, who is black, makes fun of a white landlady who won’t rent to the speaker until she knows whether the speaker’s skin is “dark” or “light.” In contrast to the landlady’s simple, reductive ideas about race, the speaker suggests that race and identity are complicated and multi-faceted. Judging a person based on their skin colour, the poem argues, is thus ignorant, illogical, and dehumanizing. But when the speaker then makes a “self-confession” about being “African,” the conversation abruptly shifts to a discussion of skin tone. in response to this “confession” the landlady asks whether the speaker’s skin is “light” or dark”—a question so absurd that the speaker briefly wonders if he or she has “misheard.” The landlady is playing into the ignorant idea that black people with lighter skin (and, as such, whose skin is closer in appearance to that of white people) are superior to those with darker skin. The key thing that matters to her, then, is how black the speaker looks. Instead of asking what the speaker does professionally, what the speaker's habits are—that is, instead of treating the speaker like an actual human being and potential tenant—the landlady reduces the speaker to a single attribute: skin colour. Racism, the poem thus makes clear, is inherently reductive and dehumanizing.
2. Comment on the telephone conversation between the landlady and the prospective tenant.
Telephone Conversation in the first five lines brings up the issue of race. A black man who is looking for a room for rent finds an offer at a reasonable price in the advertisements. He makes a phone call to the landlady of the property and confesses that he is a black man. The opening line shows that the black man is aware of the double standards. He makes a phone call to confirm if the room is truly available for a black man. It also reveals that the black man has had bitter experiences in the past.
The next lines in the poem, describe the reaction of the landlady when she hears the confession. When she comes to know that a speaker is a black man, she goes silent. She does not reveal her true dislike and disapproval for black people. The poet says that the lady is like the so-called white people of good breeding. These people call themselves educated but they continue to harbour racial prejudice towards black people. The landlady is careful in not using the taboo word, ‘black’. Instead, she asks an indirect question on the degree of darkness. To the black man, it appears as if he is asked to make a choice. He wonders if he should press ‘Button A’, or ‘Button B’ in the telephone dial pad much like he would do to choose a language over an automated call.
The next lines in the poem expose the hypocritical nature of white individuals in society.the poem, describe the reaction of the black man on hearing the lady’s question. He can smell the bad breath of hypocrisy. White people hide their racial discrimination in public but they practice it in private. The double standard behaviour angers the black man. He sees red in his eyes. The telephone booth, the pillars, a bus passing by, all appear red to him. But the black man also agrees that the lady should be considered polite. She was considerate of putting the question gently. However, the black man looks at such racial discrimination as oppressing. He compares it with a double-decker omnibus squelching the black tar on the road.
In the next lines the black man describes himself. He tells that he is a West African. In a way, he is also not ready to use the word, ‘black’. But he tells her that he is black indirectly. This expression of the black man reveals how he hesitates to declare himself black even though he is ready to confess that he is an African. He brings the terminology used in his passport as evidence and support. This shows that he is also not ready to accept that he is black. Numerous bitter experiences of racial discrimination must have made the black man vary.
The following lines of the poem, shows how the different shades of the black man’s colour are being discussed. While the black man says that he is not completely black, the landlady willingly calls brunet as dark. The black man tries to explain that the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet are not black. But the landlady is not ready to listen to him. The black man comes up with a poor excuse for sitting for a long time as the reason for the blackness of his backside. He is even ready to come up with a reason for his black ears. This shows how desperate he is to get a room for rent. He is made to apologize for being black. He is forced to endure the shame of his colour.
The concluding lines of the poem, Telephone Conversation, describes the land lady’s action and the man’s position. On confirming the man’s blackness, the lady hangs the telephone indicating that she is not ready to do business with a black person. He asks the landlady to meet him in person before coming to a decision. But the landlady refuses any further dealing with the man, once she confirms that he was black.Racism, the poem thus makes clear, is inherently reductive and dehumanizing.
A Character-William Wordsworth
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