Telephone Conversation | Summary & Analysis | Commonwealth Literature

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 

Pressurised 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 dumbfounded 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 changed 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 ?’

SUMMARY

In the summary of Telephone conversation by Wole Soyinka, the poet talks about two people on the phone and the story goes on to narrate how the African man is looking for a house and the land lady has proposed a considerable price for the same. The poem strikes a positive note as the man gets to know that his privacy won‘t be hampered as the landlady doesn‘t stay on the premises. The African man is happy to know that and just before he makes up his mind to
consider the offer, he drops in to mention that he is black. On the other end of the line, there was nothing but silence which the African man takes it to be an impolite gesture of refusal. However, the silence is soon broken as the landlady starts to speak again asking him to explain exactly how dark he is. First, the man think that he might have misheard the question but when the landlady repeats, he understands that this is something very important for her to
know before she allows him to rent her house. This is something that came out entirely devastating for the African man and for a moment he felt disgusted with the question and fancies himself to be a machine, like the phone and that he has been reduced to being a button on the phone. He could also smell the foul from her words and he sees ―red‘ everywhere all around.

The idea of Telephone conversation is to depict how brutal it can be for a man who is subjected to racial discrimination. Thoughts of racism and pre-notions come blended with an element of irony that takes over the theme of ―Telephone conversation. The Afro-American man is reduced to shame by the sudden silence from the other side and he gets into a state of make belief where he sarcastically thinks that the lady broke her silence and gave him option to choose and define how dark he is. ―Like chocolate, or dark or light?

Then, he goes on to answer that he is defined as ―West African sepia in his passport. The lady not knowing how dark it could be didn‘t want to embarrass the man further by resorting to silence. So, she asks him to define what he means. The man replies, that it is almost similar to being a brunette but a dark brunette. All this while, the man has been holding on to codes of formality which breaks loose at the landlady‘s insensitiveness. 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 hand are all white but he is a fool that he sits on his rear which has turned black due to friction. He knows that the landlady will never be convinced with his black complexion and he senses that she might slam down the receiver on him. At such a crucial juncture, he makes a desperate and silly attempt to plead
her to come and take a good look at him but couldn‘t help the situation from getting worse. Finally, the landlady slams down the receiver on his face. 

Theme of Telephone conversation

The theme of Telephone conversation rests upon the conflict between the protagonist and the absurdity of racism that makes the antagonist take a negative stance towards him. The struggle begins with the protagonist‘s confession of being an African; a black man which
sparks up the notions of racism inside the landlady who denies renting him the house. The fear of being judged on the merit of being a black man, projects a heavily corrupt image of the society where individuality is at stake.

Soyinka‘s Telephone Conversation depicts a conversation between a white lady and an African American man which casts a harsh light on the racism and prejudice which grips society.

The title reveals the fact that two people are talking on the phone, so the beginning of the poem is on a positive note: The man is searching for a house and the land lady has named a considerable price, and the area where it is located is an impartial and not racially prejudiced.

Also the man could enjoy his privacy as the land lady does not live under the same roof. The African man is ready to accept the offer, but maybe there has been a similar incident in his past, for he stops and admits to her that he is black, saying he prefers not to waste the time travelling there if she‘s going to refuse him on that bounds. There is silence at the other end; silence which the black man thinks is the reluctant result of an inbred sense of politeness.

However he is wrong because when she speaks again, she disregards all formalities and asks him to explain how dark he is. The man first thinks he has misheard but then realizes that that is not true as she repeats her question with a varying emphasis. Feeling as if he has just been reduced to the status of a machine, similar to the telephone in front of him, and asked to choose which button he is, the man is so disgusted that he can literally smell the stench coming from her deceptive words and see red everywhere around him. Ironically he is the one who is ashamed by the tense and awkward silence which follows, and asks for clarification thinking sarcastically that the lady was really helpful by giving him options to choose from. He suddenly understands what she is trying to ask, and repeats her question to her stating if she would like him to compare himself with chocolate, dark or light?

She dispassionately answers and his thoughts change as he describes himself as a West African Sepia as it says in his passport. The lady remains quite for a while, not wanting to admit to her ignorance, but then she gives in to curiosity and asks what that is. He replies that
it is similar to brunette and she immediately clarifies that that‘s dark. Now the man has had enough of her insensitiveness. He disregards all constraints of formality and mocks her outright, saying that he isn‘t all black, the soles of his feet and the palms of his hands are
completely white, but he is foolish enough to sit on his bottom so it has been rubbed black due to friction. But as he senses that she is about to slam the receiver on him, he struggles one last time to make her reconsider, pleading her to at least see for herself; only to have the phone slammed on him.

Wole Soyinka uses two main literary devices to drive home the message of the poem. The first of the two is imagery. Right at the beginning, the imagery used to describe the mental image the man has of the woman: ―lipstick coated, gold rolled cigarette holder piped, just from listening to her voice shows one that he thinks that she is, socially speaking above him, from a higher social class. Then when he hears her question regarding how dark he is, he is so
humiliated and angry that he sees red everywhere.

The imagery of the huge bus squelching the black tar is symbolic of how the dominant white community treats those belonging to the minor black one. The next most evident use is that of irony. In the beginning of the poem, the African says that he has to ―self-confess when he reveals his skin color to the lady. The color of his skin is something that he has no control over, and even if he did, it is not a sin to be dark skinned, so the fact that the man feels ashamed and sorry for this is ironical and casts light on how ridiculous racism is that one should apologize or be differentiated against solely because of the color of one‘s skin.

Also, it seems almost comical that anyone should be so submissive when he has actually committed no mistakes. On the other hand, the lady is continuously described in positive terms, suggesting that she is of a good breeding and upper class. Even when the reader finds
out that she is a shallow and racist person who exhibits extreme insensitivity by asking crude questions, the man seems to think that she is considerate; and her clinical response to his question shows only light impersonality.

‘ The repeated and exaggerated assertions of the woman‘s good manners and sophistication drip with irony as her speech contradict this strongly. Also the basis of the woman rejecting to lease her house to the man is because of the prejudiced notion that African Americans are a savage and wild people. This idea is completely discredited by the ironical fact that throughout the poem the man retains better manners and vocabulary than the woman, using words such as spectroscopic and rancid, whereas she does not know what West African Sepia is and is inconsiderate in her inquiries. Using irony in this manner, Soyinka proves how absurd it is to judge the intellect or character of a man depending on the color of his skin only.

The poem deals with a foul subject, that of racism and prejudice, in a lighthearted, almost comical manner. A most important device which Soyinka has used to highlight this sense of racism, which was previously widespread in western society, is that of the telephone. Had the person been speaking face to face with the lady, this whole conversation would never have taken place. She would have either refused outright, or would have found a more subtle way of doing so.

The whole back and forth about how dark‘ the man is wouldn‘t have occurred. Thus the telephone is used to make the issue of racism clear and prove how nonsensical it really is. Written in an independent style and delivered in a passively sarcastic tone, this poem is a potent comment on society. Soyinka might be speaking through personal experience, judging by the raw emotions that this poem subtly convey: those of anger, rage, shame, humility and
an acute sense of disgust at the apathy and inhumanity of humans who won‘t judge a book by its cover but would turn down a man for the color of his skin. In today‘s world, racism might be a dying concern; but that does not mean that discrimination against other minorities has been completely eradicated.

Despite the progressing times, people continue to harbor prejudices and illogical suspicions about things they do not understand: may it be others ideals, religions or traditions and customs. Thus this poem remains a universal message for all of us, as Soyinka manages to
convey just how absurd all prejudices are by highlighting the woman‘s poor choice of rejecting the man just because he does not share the same skin color.Telephone Conversation‘ is a favorite, both for its excellent use of rich language and the timeless message it conveys.

Telephone Conversation," by Wole Soyinka is about racism; more specifically, it is about the way people -- both white and black -- fail to communicate clearly about matters of race.

The narrator of the poem describes a telephone conversation in which he reaches a deal with a landlady to rent an apartment. He feels that he must let her know that he is black:

Nothing remained But self-confession. "Madam," I warned,
"I hate a wasted journey—I am African."

This is where the lapses in communication begin. The landlady's first response is, "Silence. Silenced transmission of / Pressurized good breeding." She next asks the ridiculous question,
"'HOW DARK?...ARE YOU LIGHT/OR VERY DARK?'"

The narrator is "dumbfounded." Instead of telling her, "It's none of your business," or simply, "Let's forget about the apartment," he offers a cryptic response: "'West Affrican sepia.'"

When the landlady asks for clarification, the narrator only confuses matters further.

Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet Are a peroxide blond.

He makes matters even worse by saying that "friction" has somehow turned his buttocks "raven black."

Telephone Conversation" is actually a biting satire against the racist attitudes of whites in the 20th century. Overtly, the poem deals with a black, educated man who is ringing up a white landlady about renting an apartment and, we assume, is not allowed to rent the apartment because of the colour of his skin. However, if we look a little deeper, we can view this poem as a biting satire that attacks and ridicules the social evil and human weakness of racial prejudice. Consider how Soyinka places an educated, clever black person against an ignorant and prejudiced white person. The poem, through this contrast, shows the ridiculous nature of any racist claims of white supremacy. The horrendous nature of the question of the landlady, "HOW DARK?... ARE YOU
LIGHT OR VERY DARK?", makes a mockery of "civilised values," as does the absurd way in which the speaker responds:

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...

The insistence on the skin colour indicates that the landlady might accept a light-skinned tenant who could "pass" at being white. However, this only serves to increase her ignorance and insensitivity. The double meaning in the final, innocent question, "wouldn't you rather / See for yourself?", is hilarious because of the way that the speaker is actually asking the landlady if she wants to see his bottom to check the colour.

In 'Telephone Conversation', the poet conveys his disappointment and anger about being discriminated by the Caucasian unfairly just because he is an African by portraying the telephone conversation between himself and the British landlady.

The poem is in the form of free verse. It is because 'conversation' isn't something well-planned; instead, the speakers speak what they want during the conversation. Also, with the aid of end-stop lines and run-on lines, the outlook of the poem gives readers a sense of randomly formation, which fully suits the way of 'telephone conversation' flows.

Instead of talking something about the price and things concerning the house renting, the two speakers talk about their skin color. This issue was bought up by the landlady at first. There was a pun, 'indifferent', to shows the intention of the landlady. From the word 'indifferent', the landlady seems not too aware who her house is rented to, however, she does aware from what she asks the
caller, 'are you light of very dark', she determines not to rent her house to an Africa, she's obviously discriminating the dark people, which cause the speaker angry.

It is then the man decides not to rent the house, instead of telling the woman how dark he is directly, he play word tricks on the woman.

The poet describes the woman 'lipstick coated, long gold-rolled cigarette-holder piped', it seems that the woman is wealthy and well-educated, it's a bit ironic, from the outlook of the woman, it
seems that the poet want to convey the idea that the woman is good and 'considerate', however, the poet actually want to point out the outlook of a person doesn't mean anything, the woman is actually arrogant and impolite in the view of the poet.

The most sarcastic point is the woman doesn't understand what the man means when he says 'sepia' and 'brunette', which both mean very dark in color. From the words the man uses, he wants to convey that racism is not fair in the society because the Caucasian judge the African low class and uneducated only by looking at their appearance, however, he simply plays the word tricks on the woman, although it's a bit rude, and it show African can be more educated than the one who is white, this reinforces the point that African deserves high status in the society, it is not only the white people can take charge over the African.

In the last part of the poem, the poem make use of humor because the woman doesn't seem to understand what he is talking about, so he asks the woman if she wants to look at his whole body to see if it is whole black in color, he especially states 'his bottom is raven black'. Although the woman wants to suppress her anger and be polite, instead, she can't stand any longer and she offs the conversation first at last. The poet thinks there shouldn't have any racism existed, people can't judge other by only looking from their appearance, instead, they should see and know others fully so as to judge what kind of people he is.

Analyzing the Author's Argument

In "Telephone Conversation", we see the message that racism, or seeing people according to a limiting perspective of their color, degrades individuals and breaks down relationship between
people.

The fragmented and awkward syntax gives an impression of the interaction. We as readers work to decode the meaning of the lines reflecting their conversation.

Just as the sentences are stilted, we get the impression of stilted-ness and lack of connection between the narrator and the woman. The
conversation has been made awkward by the introduction of the race question. The narrator and the woman are not relating to each other. They are reduced to trying to figure each other out, or decode each other's meaning.

The author's special emphasis of the woman's statements about color bring into stark relief (literally with the type script) the most important words in the conversation. Soyinka shows us that the essence of the conversation is her concern about the narrator being either "LIGHT" or "DARK". This is what the conversation boils down to, and by extension their relationship boils down to in the end.

The final question, we assume is rhetorical given the tone of the conversation. However, it poses the essential question of the poem, which is why the woman is interested in race. The truth is, as
Soyinka shows with the last line, that she is not interested in seeing the narrator as a whole person, but instead has reduced or degraded him/he to having no identity out of a single descriptor. This shows the true evil of racism in reducing a person to nothing but a single word descriptor that places him/her either in or out of acceptance.

Written in the first person narrative point of view, the poem ―Telephone Conversation‖ by Wole Soyinka is a poetic
satire against the widely-spread racism in the modern Western society. The poem is about a telephone conversation in England between the poetic persona seeking to rent a house and an English landlady who completely changes her attitude towards him after he reveals his identity as a black African. The motif of a microcosmic telephone conversation, therefore, is employed by the poet to apply to a much broader, macrocosmic level where racial bigotry is
ridiculed in a contest of human intelligence, showcasing the poet‘s witticism as well as his ingenious sense of humour.

The poem starts with a somewhat peaceful atmosphere befitting the poetic persona‘s satisfaction for having found the correct house
- The price seemed reasonable, location indifferent. He was
also happy about the privacy that he believed that he would enjoy, for The landlady swore she lived / Off premises. At this stage, we get to know that the two were engaged in a telephone conversation, which, however, was to come quickly to an unpleasant end as the man decided to reveal his nationality
- Madam, I warned. / I hate a wasted journey – I am African.
A sudden, unexpected hush of silence is strengthened by a caesura in line 6 of the poem to emphasize the impact of the African‘s race being revealed to the landlady. Furthermore, the poet‘s use of the
word confession to describe an announcement of the persona‘s ethnic identity is very sarcastic in that being an African seems to be a sin which the persona committed, and which he needed to atone for.

An uneasy atmosphere ensues thereby. Following the caesura, there is ―Silenced transmission of / Pressurized good-breeding‖, with the word ―silenced‖ again to reiterate the landlady‘s sudden change, as well as the man‘s intuitive sensitivity towards the unfriendliness on the other end of the phone. There is a foreboding overtone, relevant to the change of the woman‘s attitude she would have towards the African man. And we get the first indication of the poet‘s sense of humour in the expression pressurized good-breeding, too, which is an ironical manifestation of the polite manners landlady was supposed to have for the job of renting premises. After a considerable period of silence, the landlady finally spoke again, ―Voice, when it came / Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled / Cigarette-holder pipped. It is interesting to note that when the landlady opened her mouth again, the feeling she gave off is immediately contrastive of what she was like before, as if her status in society was all of a sudden upgraded, which is indicated by her voice colourfully and olfactorially described. Such evocative language, which greatly appeal to our sensory impressions, conveys the poet‘s power of imagination dissecting the sound of an affluent
landlady‘s voice. And such use of subtly imagistic language is abundantly rich throughout the rest of the poem.

Tension rises with the explicitly racial discrimination in line 10 of the poem as the landlady asked ―HOW DARK? The poet uses capital letters here, and a lot more to come, to accentuate the
landlady‘s effort in seeking clarification for something that would have been irrelevant to their previous topic, yet it mattered a lot to her. ―I had not misheard, the persona reflected. Before he
was able to respond, the landlady asked again, ―ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK? reinforcing the racist overtone in the English society today. The woman‘s pushy, unequivocal stance in pursuing the answer dumbfounded the man, who was so confused and so taken aback by the landlady‘s sudden change of attitude that he suddenly appeared to have a blank mind. The automation imagery Button B. Button A that the poet uses here not only vividly shows the man‘s temporary confusion, but also humorously foreshadows the intelligence contest that is to follow. On a deeper level, the image of the readily available automatic selection also implies the rampant
racial discrimination taken for granted in the western society.

What makes him come to his senses from this sudden dumbfoundedness, however, is ironically the foul smell of the telephone booth, which the persona humorously refers to as a facility of children‘s play. ―Stench of rancid breath of public hide-and-seek‖ dragged him out from his dream-like world back into reality. The poet then uses sentence fragments, ―Red booth. Red
pillar-box. Red double-tiered / Omnibus squelching tar‖, to describe the persona‘s frantic attempt to ascertain the situation. The diction ―red‖, which is connotative of terror and disturbance, is
used three times to highlight the extreme mental discomfort of an African man, who referred to city buses, again humorously, as the idiomatic ―omnibus.

Such extensive use of symbolically chromatic images points out the setting of this poem, for the first and only time, to be London. Thereby arises the sense of irony as the place where the persona was facing such ostentatious racism is in London, a city seen as a symbol of the developed western world, where equality and justice are supposedly valued above all. ―This is real!‖ the persona‘s exclamation only serves to delineate his bewilderment at the situation.

Instead of describing the justifiable indignation that the poetic persona was supposed to have felt at the moment, the poet chooses to characterize him an a pacifist, or a humble and meek man who
would rather not stand up to face the situation. The telephone conversation between the two conversationists continues as the African man hoped to get on with their previous topic instead of
starting a new, awkward one on a politically sensitive issue
– ―Shamed / By ill-mannered silence, surrender / Pushed dumbfoundment to beg simplification.

However, regardless of his thoughts, the landlady, who was unequivocal in seeking the clarification, continues to question him, ―Considerate she was, varying the emphasis – ―ARE
YOU DAARK? OR VERY DARK? The African man, now probably fuming with anger inside remained silent, while the ruthless landlady continued with her racist inquiry: ―You mean – like plain or milk chocolate?‖ The limited choice of words as well as the simple object of comparison that the poet uses to describe the landlady suggests her to be a linguistically impoverished character despite her affluent economic status. Furthermore, her tone was cold and bordering on aggressiveness, as is established by the persona‘s interpretation accurately brought forth with clarity and specificity - ―Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light / Impersonality.

Deciding not to stay silent for any longer, and as if answering a passport control officer, he replied ―West African Sepia... Down in my passport, which was then responded with the landlady‘s ―silence for spectroscopic/Flight of fancy. Here, the character of the poetic persona is seen to undergo a rapid development as he started to react against the landlady‘s racist comments, by first forcing her into submission with his superior vocabulary.
The double alliteration of ―sand ―‖ produce a special sound effect, making the atmosphere almost fearfully spooky, illustrating the mental status of the landlady whose turn it was now to feel dumbfounded. Also worth noting is the metaphor of spectroscope, hilariously befitting not only the skin colour of the persona, but also the specific locale of England, where modern science and technology still inexplicably intermingle with superstition. Either the case, the instant victory he had over the landlady in this part of the conversation demonstrates the obvious difference in their education
and knowledge, also illustrating the fact that beyond the landlady‘s lavish exterior, she was simply a shallow judgmental racist.

The contrastive images that the poet has so far established of the persona of the African origin and the landlady of the western European society serve to increase the tension in the atmosphere,
precipitating the conflict to its climactic moment. Although the African man had already provided an answer, the landlady did not understand as she was not only bigoted, but also definitely under-
educated, as compared to the poetic persona.

She continued asking rudely, ...till truthfulness changed her accent / Hard on the mouthpiece ―WHAT‘S THAT?‖ conceding / ―DON‘T KNOW WHAT THAT IS. Paying no attention to the landlady‘s disrespect for him, the persona started to turn the table completely against her, as he took a firm control over the conversation, defending the dignity and integrity of his ethnic identity from the ruthless onslaught of the racist landlady. To effectively show this, the poet juxtaposes various major European hair colours together in a deliberately confusing manner, suggesting that although being an African, the persona is nonetheless a person no different from any Europeans.

Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see / The rest of me. Palm on my hand, soles of my feet / Are a peroxide blond. Priction, caused
–
/ Foolishly, madam
–
by sitting down, has
turned / My bottom raven black
–
One moment, Madam!‖ Sensing the landlady‘s ―receiver rearing on the thunderclap‖, which indicates the landlady‘s slow but finally furious realization that she had been outwitted, he rushed to ask sarcastically, ―Madam, ......wouldn‘t you rather / See for yourself?‖ The quasi politeness of the tone the poet uses here can hardly conceal the ultimate insult, which shows how indignant the man was as he outwitted her by inviting her to see his bottom, thus ending the poem with a tremendous sense of humour, apart from the obvious sarcasm.

To conclude, through his poem ―Telephone Conversation, Soyinka is able to satirize the racist society in the west. By showing that a dark African persona is eventually capable of confronting the racial discrimination aimed towards him, and retaliates against it by outwitting the landlady, the poet sends out a clear message - dark skinned people are no less intelligent than people that are lighter in skin colour.