Poem & Analysis of 'Telephone Conversation' by Wole Soyinka

POEM

Telephone Conversation

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (born 13 July 1934)

The price seemed reasonable, location

Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived

Off premises. Nothing remained

But self-confession. 'Madam' , I warned,

'I hate a wasted journey - I am African.'

Silence. Silenced transmission of pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,

Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled

Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was, foully.

'HOW DARK?'...I had not misheard....'ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?' Button B. Button A. Stench

Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.

Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered

Omnibus squelching tar.

It was real! Shamed

By ill-mannered silence, surrender

Pushed dumbfoundment to beg simplification.

Considerate she was, varying the emphasis-

'ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT' Revelation came

'You mean- like plain or milk chocolate?'

Her accent was clinical, crushing in its light

Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted

I chose. 'West African sepia'_ and as afterthought.

'Down in my passport.' Silence for spectroscopic

Flight of fancy, till truthfulness chaged her accent

Hard on the mouthpiece 'WHAT'S THAT?' conceding 'DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.' 'Like brunette.'

'THAT'S DARK, ISN'T IT?'

'Not altogether.

Facially, I am brunette, but madam you should see the rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet.

Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused-

Foolishly madam- by sitting down, has turned

My bottom raven black- One moment madam! - sensing

Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap

About my ears- 'Madam,' I pleaded, 'wouldn't you rather

See for yourself?'

ANALYSIS

Racist Discrimination in Wole Soyinka’s Telephone Conversation

   The poem Telephone Conversation is written by Wole Soyinka. The poem is in first person narrative. It tries to grapple with the issue of racism that lurks within the minds of countless individuals. The poet has placed before his audience a telephonic conversation between a white landlady and an African man, with the latter looking for a place to rent. The poem is a bitter comment on racism and racist prejudices.

   In the poem Wole Soyinka talks about two strangers speaking over the telephone. It reveals the attitudes that some people have about others, particularly judging someone without knowing him or her personally but by just recognising the colour of someone’s skin.

   The initial lines make the readers aware of the reason behind the African man’s arrival at the phone booth that makes him to call a landlady. The price of the room and the location, and other essentials are agreeable to him. During the course of the dialogue, the man gets to know the premises. Then the moment comes when the man makes up his mind to consider the offer. But in the midst of his conversation, he mentions that he is black. At the other end of the line there is nothing but silence. The African man notices the abrupt silence and he takes it to be an impolite gesture of refusal.

   However, the silence is soon broken as the landlady starts to speak again and asks him to explain exactly how dark he is. At first, the man thinks that he might, have misheard the question but when the landlady repeats the same, he understands that it is something very important for her to know before she allows him to rent her house. This turns to be entirely devastating for the man. At that moment he feels disgusting with the question and fancies himself to be a machine, like a phone. He reduces to being a button on that phone. He   smells the stench from his words and sees “red” all around him.

   The idea behind the poem Telephone Conversation is to depict how brutal and devastating it can be for a man who is subjected to racial discrimination.

   The black African man is reduced to shame by the sudden silence at the other side and he gets into a state of make belief, when he sarcastically thinks that the lady has broken her silence and has given him the option to define “how dark” he is like “Chocolate or dark or light?”. Then he goes on to answer that his skin colour can be pictured as “west African sepia”. The man replies that it is almost similar to being a dark brunette.

   Meanwhile the man holds on to codes of formality which breaks down at the landlady’s insensitivity. The African man now shouts out loud saying that he is black but he is not that black for anyone to be put to shame. He also says that the soles of his feet and the palms of his rear are black as a result of  friction. He knows that the landlady will never be convinced with his black complexion and he senses that she might slam down the receiver anytime. At such a crucial juncture, he makes a desperate and silly attempt pleading her to come and take a good look at him but could not prevent the situation from getting better. Finally the landlady slams down the receiver on his face.

   The poem reflects the conflict between the black and the white landlady. The poem points at the absurdity of racism. The practice of judging someone on the basis of his colour/race/caste/social status instead of his inner capabilities presents the highly corrupt image of the society where individuality is at stake.

Pooja T.U

3rd Yr. B.A (HEE)

Sahyadri Arts College

Shivamogga