TELEPHONE CONVERSATION

-WOLE SOYINKA

THE POET
Wole Soyinka is a renowned Nigerian playwright, poet, and essayist who was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. Born on July 13, 1934 in
Abeokuta, Nigeria, Soyinka's works often explore themes of identity, culture,
and the struggles faced by individuals in a post-colonial society. He is known
for his powerful and evocative writing style, blending traditional African oral
storytelling techniques with Western literary forms.

In the context of the poem ‘Telephone Conversation’, Soyinka addresses the

racial prejudice and discrimination experienced by Africans. The poem depicts
a conversation between the poet and a landlady as he seeks accommodation.
The landlady's questions about the poet's skin colour and her insistence on
categorising him based on racial stereotypes highlight the absurdity and
ignorance of racial prejudices.

Through the use of irony, humour, and sharp social commentary, Soyinka
exposes the racial biases ingrained in society and challenges the notion of racial
categorisation. He subverts the landlady's expectations by cleverly playing with
the concept of skin colour, emphasising the complexity and diversity of
individual identities.

Soyinka's ‘Telephone Conversation' is a powerful critique of racism in modern

society, showcasing his ability to confront societal issues through thought-
provoking and often satirical poetry. His works, including this poem, continue
to resonate with readers as they explore the complexities of identity, the impact
of colonialism, and the struggle for equality.

THE PLOT
The plot of the poem, ‘Telephone Conversation ' by Wole Soyinka revolves
around a phone conversation between the poet and a landlady as he seeks
accommodation. The poet starts the conversation by stating that he is African
and warns the landlady about his dislike for wasted journeys. The landlady,
caught off guard by his African identity, responds with silence before finally
asking about his skin colour.

The landlady's questions about the poet's complexion become progressively

offensive and racially insensitive. She asks whether he is light or very dark,
reducing his identity to a simplistic categorisation based on skin colour. The
poet, feeling compelled to simplify the situation, compares his skin colour to
“West African sepia” and likens it to "plain or milk chocolate”.

As the conversation continues, the poet playfully challenges the landlady's

assumptions about race and beauty. He mentions that although his face may be
brunette, other parts of his body have different pigmentation. He humorously
attributes the discrepancy to friction caused by sitting down, claiming that his
bottom has turned “raven black” while the palm of his hand and soles of his feet
are "peroxide blonde".

Throughout the conversation, Soyinka highlights the absurdity and

dehumanising nature of racial stereotypes and discrimination. The landlady’s
insistence on categorising the poet based on his skin colour reveals the deeply
ingrained prejudices of the time. By employing wit, irony and satire, Soyinka
challenges these prejudices, exposing their inherent ignorance and emphasising
the complexity and individuality of human identity.

The poem concludes with the poet's plea for the landlady to see him in person,
implying that superficial judgements based on skin colour cannot fully capture
the essence of a person. The plot of ‘Telephone Conversation' serves as a
critique of racism and discrimination, inviting readers to reflect on the absurdity
of judging others solely based on their appearance.

SETTING
The setting of the poem ‘Telephone Conversation ' by Wole Soyinka is
primarily a telephone booth where the conversation takes place. The poet is on
one end of the line, while the landlady, whom he is speaking to, is on the other
end. The booth is described as red, along with a red pillar-box and a red double-
tiered omnibus squelching tar, suggesting a vibrant and bustling urban
environment.

The mention of a "squelching tar" implies that the booth is located on a busy
street, adding to the sense of noise and activity in the surroundings. This urban
setting reflects the poet's attempt to find accommodation, suggesting that he is
navigating a city or town in search of a place to stay.

While the physical setting of the poem is primarily the telephone booth, the
conversation extends beyond the booth to other locations through the dialogue.
The landlady's questions about the poet's skin colour indicate that racial
prejudice is a prevalent issue within the larger society. This broader setting,
influenced by the time period of colonialism, informs the tone and context of
the conversation.
Soyinka uses the setting of the telephone conversation to highlight the isolation
and detachment experienced by the poet. The physical distance between the two
characters is emphasised, with only their voices connecting them. This physical
separation reflects the emotional and cultural distance that exists between the
poet, as an African, and the landlady, whose prejudices shape her perceptions.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE

The title of the poem, ‘Telephone Conversation', holds significant meaning as it
sets the stage for the central theme and narrative of the poem. By choosing this
title, Wole Soyinka draws attention to the mode of communication and the
inherent limitations and complexities that come with it.

The telephone, as a means of communication, represents a connection between

two individuals who are physically separated. It allows for conversation and
interaction across distances, but it also introduces barriers and challenges. In the
context of the poem, the telephone symbolises the communication gap between
the poet, who is African, and the landlady, whose prejudices and stereotypes
influence their conversation.
The word "conversation" in the title suggests an exchange of ideas, opinions,
and experiences. It implies that there is an opportunity for understanding and
connection between the two individuals involved. However, the content of the
conversation in the poem reveals a stark contrast to the expectations associated
with a typical conversation. The landlady's questions and discriminatory
remarks hinder genuine dialogue and perpetuate racial biases.

The title also emphasises the irony within the poem. While the landlady and the
poet engage in a conversation, the conversation itself becomes a platform for
the poet to expose and challenge the racial prejudice he encounters. Through his
responses and clever wordplay, the poet subverts the expectations set by the
landlady and highlights the absurdity of judging individuals solely based on
their skin colour.

SUMMARY
'Telephone Conversation' by Wole Soyinka is a satirical and thought-provoking
poem that explores the themes of racial prejudice and discrimination. The poem
revolves around a phone conversation between the poet and a landlady as he
seeks accommodation.

The conversation begins with the poet warning the landlady about his African
identity, expressing his dislike for wasted journeys. The landlady responds with
silence and then proceeds to ask about his skin colour. Her questions about
whether he is light or very dark reveal her racially biased mindset and reduce
the poet's identity to simplistic categorisations.

The poet, employing wit and wordplay, cleverly challenges the landlady's
assumptions. He describes his skin colour as "West African sepia" and
compares it to “plain or milk chocolate." He playfully subverts her expectations
by explaining that different parts of his body have different pigmentation,
jokingly attributing the variations to sitting down and causing friction.

Throughout the conversation, Soyinka highlights the absurdity and

dehumanising nature of racial stereotypes. He exposes the landlady's ignorance
and challenges the notion of categorising individuals solely based on their skin
colour. The poem confronts the prejudice and discrimination faced by people of
colour, shedding light on the harmful impact of racial biases.

In the end, the poet urges the landlady to see him in person rather than relying
on stereotypes, suggesting that true understanding and appreciation of an
individual's identity can only come from direct engagement and personal
experiences.

THEMES
Racial Prejudice and Discrimination: The central theme of the poem revolves
around racial prejudice and discrimination. The landlady's questions and
remarks expose her biased assumptions and reduce the poet’s identity to his skin
colour. Sovinka critiques the dehumanising nature of racial stereotypes and
highlights the absurdity of judging individuals based on their skin colour.

Identity and Self-Expression: The poem explores the complexities of identity

and self-expression. The poet asserts his African identity at the beginning of the
conversation, but the landlady's questions force him to simplify and categorise
himself in a way that aligns with her limited perceptions. The poet’s playful
wordplay and descriptions challenge the notion of a singular, fixed identity.

Communication and Miscommunication: The mode of communication- the

telephone, becomes a symbol of the limitations and miscommunication between
the poet and the landlady. The landlady's silence, the poet's warmings, and the
misunderstandings that arise highlight the difficulties of genuine connection and
understanding in a society riddled with racial biases.

Satire and Humour: The poem employs satire and humour as tools to critique
and expose societal prejudices. Through clever wordplay, exaggeration, and
irony, Soyinka confronts racial stereotypes with wit and highlights their
absurdity. The use of satire adds depth to the poem's social commentary,
allowing for a critical examination of racial prejudice through a lens of humour.

Power Dynamics and Oppression: The power dynamics inherent in racial

prejudice are subtly examined in the poem. The landlady holds the power to
deny or grant the poet accommodation based on her biased judgements. The
poet's responses challenge these power dynamics, subtly reclaiming agency and
exposing the landlady's ignorance.

Social Commentary: "Telephone Conversation' serves as a broader social

commentary on the impact of colonialism and racial biases. Soyinka's
exploration of racial discrimination in this poem reflects the broader struggles
faced by Africans during that era. The poem critiques the societal norms and
prejudices that perpetuate discrimination and calls for a more nuanced
understanding of individual identities.

STYLE
The style of ‘Telephone Conversation' by Wole Soyinka is characterised by its
vivid imagery, sharp wit, and satirical tone. Soyinka skilfully employs literary
techniques to convey his message and engage readers.

The poem showcases Soyinka's mastery of language and his ability to create
evocative images through carefully chosen words and phrases. The use of vivid
descriptions, such as "lipstick coated, long gold-rolled cigarette-holder", or the
mention of a "red booth" and a "red double-tiered omnibus squelching tar"
paints a vivid picture in the reader's mind, immersing them in the urban setting
and enhancing the poem's sensory impact.

Soyinka's wit and satire are central to the style of the poem. Through playful
wordplay, irony, and exaggeration, he exposes the absurdity of racial
stereotypes and challenges societal biases. The poet's clever responses to the
landlady's questions, such as comparing his skin colour to “West African sepia"
or joking about his bottom turning "raven black” showcases his ability to use
humour as a tool for social commentary.

Furthermore, the poem's structure and rhythm contribute to its style. The poem
is composed of quatrains, with each line varying in length. This creates a sense
of fluidity and spontaneity, reflecting the conversational nature of the telephone
exchange. The use of alliteration and repetition adds to the musicality and
cadence of the poem, enhancing its overall impact.
 APPRECIATION OF THE POEM
Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka has received critical appreciation for
its skillful exploration of racial prejudice, its powerful social commentary, and
its effective use of literary devices.

One aspect that critics appreciate is the poem's ability to tackle the sensitive
issue of racial discrimination in a satırical and thought-provoking manner.
Soyinka's use of humour and irony allow him to expose the absurdity of racial
stereotypes, challenging the reader to critically examine their own biases and
assumptions. The poet's clever wordplay and witty responses to the landlady's
questions add depth and engage the reader in a dialogue about societal
prejudices.

The vivid imagery employed in the poem also garners critical acclaim.
Soyinka's skill in crafting evocative descriptions, such as the "Lipstick coated"
voice and the "Red booth" and “Red double-tiered/ Omnibus squelching tar",
immerses the reader in the scene and enhances the emotional impact of the
poem. Critics appreciate how the imagery works in tandem with the theme,
vividly capturing the complexities of racial prejudice and the power dynamics at
play.

Furthermore, the poem's structure and use of literary devices, such as irony,
alliteration, and repetition, contribute to its critical appreciation. The skilful
manipulation of these devices adds depth and nuance to the poem, highlighting
Soyinka's craftsmanship as a poet.

IMAGERY AND IRONY

Wole Soyinka mainly used two (2) literary devices to deliver the message of
anger and frustration, towards the racial discrimination at the micro level of the
society. One imagery, “lip stick coated, gold rolled cigarette holder piped” is the
mental image of the lady made by the African speaker by just listening to her
voice on the phone. His attitude towards her is that she is socially superior than
him and from higher strata.

The image of a huge bus crushing the black tar is highly symbolic of how the
major white community dominates and insults the minor African community.
He becomes so angry when she further asks about the darkness of his colour to
confirm his identity that he sees red everywhere.
Imagery like “stench of rancid breath” was used to show the dissatisfaction of
the poet towards racism. Since people would experience raging and unsorted
when they smelled something “stench” and “rancid”.

The other important poetic device is irony that, the poet uses in the poem. The
irony lies in the fact that the lady has given an ad about the flat stating that the
price is reasonable and indifferent, in the case of colour of the skin of any
people, but when the African room seeker confesses about his identity, she
holds silence and does not respond to him. Her words and action do not match
in any way. Her words appear to be liberal and generous, but in reality her
actions are full of hatred and indifference, just the opposite of her words. This
vehement irony is meant to attack the so called social equality created by the
whites.

The next irony is the African speaker’s self-confession about his identity to the
white lady, which vividly shows his loser mentality and lack of confidence in
his own colour of the skin upon which he does not have any control. He has to
be so meek and feel low as if he has committed any crime.

METAPHOR AND ALLITERATION

Metaphor was used to compare the lady’s mind with the equipment which was
used to judge a colour. The significance of using the metaphor was to show that
the landlady was eager to find out what colour the poet was.

Alliteration like clinical and crushing was used to emphasize the coldness in the
landlady’s tone, when she got to know he was African.

END-STOPPED LINE

The poem uses a lot of enjambments, meaning that his anxiety and discomfort
expresses themselves via sentences that spill from line to line as the speaker
tries to get through this racist telephone conversation. The poem’s end-stops, by
contrast, tend to appear in the speaker’s moments of self-assurance and
confidence.
 RACISM AND THE COMPLEXITY OF IDENTITY

Basically the poem ‘Telephone Conversation’ is a poem that satirizes racism.

The speaker, who is black, makes fun of the white landlady who won’t rent the
house to the speaker until she knows if his skin colour is “dark” or “light.” In
contrast to the landlady’s reductive idea 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 therefore ignorant, illogical and
dehumanizing.

At first, the landlady seemed 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, a fact that emphasizes that the speaker’s
identity comprises more than his race and that skin colour is irrelevant to the
speaker’s suitability as a tenant.

But when the speaker makes the 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, a word typically associated with the revelation of
something criminal; to determine the racist notion the being African is a bad
thing. Clearly the speaker understands how black peoples housing prospect are
unfairly limited by a racist society.

Indeed, in response to this confession the landlady asks whether the speaker is
dark or light, 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, whose skin is closer in appearance to that of white people, are
superior to those with darker skin. Her only concern was how dark the speaker
was, instead of asking other relevant questions, such as his profession, habits
and so on, she reduces it to a single attribute which was his skin colour. Racism,
the poem therefore makes it clear, is inherently reductive and dehumanizing.

As such, the speaker refuses to answer the landlady’s question directly, instead
offering a series of clever replies that reveal the landlady’s question to be
offensive and illogical. The speaker had to describe himself as “West African
sepia” a joke that goes right over the slow-witted landlady’s head; technically it
is like saying, well, in black and white photograph my skin is grey.

The speaker also notes that the human body is not just a particular colour, the
speaker’s face is like brunette, but the speaker’s palms and foot soles are
peroxide blonde. The speaker is deliberately tongue-in-cheek in the
comparisons here, but the point is that race and identity are too far complex to
be reduced to a simple, binary choice between dark or light.

The speaker does not just criticize the landlady’s action but also, the way she
thinks about race itself. He refuses to let complexity of human identity be
reduced by ignorant choice that the landlady offers. For the 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 the society to effectively silent the black speaker.

THE SPEAKER

The speaker in the poem ‘Telephone Conversation’ is an unnamed person from

West Africa. This person is living in a majority white country, implied to be
England, where Red phone booth “pillar boxes”, and double decker buses are
common. The speaker needs to rent an apartment in this country, but that’s
more or less all the readers learn about the speaker, though they do get a funny
and satirical account of the body. The fact that we the readers never learn
anything substantial about the speaker- where the speaker works, what the
speaker likes to do, and so on is part of the point. The speaker does not reveal
any of his personal information during the phone conversation with the
landlady, she never asked him to do so. She was only interested in the colour of
the speaker. By avoiding revealing anything else about the speaker, the poem
illustrates how racism reduces and dehumanizes people. It cuts away everything
that is human and vibrant about the speaker, until only skin colour is left.