Telephone conversation by Wole Soyinka :  As an Indictment of Racial Discrimination and Prejudice 

 Telephone conversation by Wole Soyinka :  As an Indictment of Racial Discrimination and Prejudice 

Question : The poem is an indictment of racial and colour prejudice and discrimination in some societies. Discuss with close reference to the poem.

 Answer:   The poem “Telephone Conversation” written by Wole Soyinka, is a poem concerning the racial discrimination between Caucasian and African. It presents a powerful critique of the deeply rooted racial and colour prejudices present in western societies.

    The poem focuses on the conversation between a white land lady and a black person who wants to have accommodation on rent. The poet uses this situation to expose the mindset of the white people who discriminate on the ground of colour and race.

   The poem opens with the African speaker clarifying the essential information about the location, the cost and similar business details. The man is aware of his his black colour and expected dislike of the white lady. It reveals that this kind of discrimination is not an isolated example. It is a usual happening. So he decides to  “confess” that he is an African – 

   ” ….Madam, I warned, I /

   hate a wasted journey – I am African”

      The African man confesses to the landlady that he is black, as if he had done a crime. He feels sorry about something that he was born with and had no control over.

   At first the lady remains silent, which he first interprets as her well mannered. However she then asks with a sarcastic tone  – 

  “HOW DARK ?….. I had not misheard.…ARE YOU LIGHT  /

    OR VERY DARK ?…”

    This question is so absurd that the speaker briefly wonders if he has misheard. The lady’s only concern is how dark the speaker is, instead of asking other relevant questions like his profession, habits family and so on, she reduce it to a single attribute which is his skin colour. He finds the “rancid breath” within her words and he quotes  as –

  “……shamed /

  by ill mannered silence, surrender /

 Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification”

   The man knows the possible demeaning attitude of the white people towards the black Africans, but now he is in a real such  situation. He is so chocked and “dumbfounded”, he shouts that he can not understand what the woman wants to know. Consequently, he requests the woman to explain her question in a more simple way.

    He shows his anger by repeatation of red colour – 

    “Red booth, Red piller – box, Red double tiered / 

    Omnibus squelching tar…..”

         He refers to the colour of the booth, the piller – box and double tiered omnibus ; all red. This focus on colour also refers to the racism being portrayed d in the poem.

   The woman repeats her question, as roughly as she had done previously. Her repeated questions about his skin – colour are irritating, annoying and insulting. At first he calmly answers her question but the moment he realises the woman’s derogatory attitude towards black, he gets annoyed and starts responding in an ironical and sarcastic way. 

    He refuses to answer the woman’s questions directly, instead offering a series of clever replies that reveal the landlady’s question to be offensive and illogical.

     He describes himself as “West African sepia” which is noted in his passport. But the landlady is unable to recognise and fails to conceal her ignorance and apathy towards him. 

    Again, she asks hinted a question about the colour of his skin. He clarifies that he is “brunette” facially brunette, but the palm of his hand and soles of his feet are “peroxide blonde”.

    The man is being very sarcastic about his colour but the landlady can not accept the fact that he is black.

      The speaker does not just criticise 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.

    When his sarcasm reaches at the highest point, he sensed that the landlady is going to hang up on him. This suggesting that, as a white person, she still holds the power in the society to effectively silence the black speaker. 

    He suddenly stops and says – 

  “Madam’, I pleaded’, wouldn’t you rather /

    see for yourself ?”

    The woman’s silence at the end of the poem is also suggestive. She doesn’t bother to tell the speaker whether she is to let the accommodation to him or not. It speaks of her understanding about people’s mindset. She seems to believe that everybody understands, realises and perhaps accepts racist thoughts.

    Thus, the poem gives a strong message – that making judgement about a person’s character based solely on the colour of their skin is the key absurdity of racial prejudice.