Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka : ISC Rhapsody Solutions

  

  Line – by – line explanation :

  Line 1 to 9 :

 “The price …………..foully”

  Explanation :

The poem begins on a dramatic note. Here the poet / speaker is a black African, seeking for renting a place, and the price appears to be reasonable while the location does not particularly excite) r bothers him. The landlady has already assured him that she lives away from that house. As no other matter is left to be explained for the prospective tenant so he needs to “confess” that he is an “African”.

   Here, the use of the word “confession” suggests that being a black African is like committing a crime and is considered quite negative so he should have to confess that he is a black African. This line reveals the theme of the poem which is racial prejudice and discrimination on the basis  of colour of the skin. He does this as he does not want to waste his time and money on travelling as he fears that his being an African may create problems later.

   The woman on the other end of the telephone line goes silent on hearing this. Her silence convey that she belongs to a high class family, and she has been caught between her own possible prejudices and societal norms that dictate good manners. The  “pressurised good – breeding” refers that she is trying to maintain good manners by this silence and forced herself to not to react immediately. The moment she speaks, he can imagine that the woman’s lips are coated with lipstick. He can also think of the gold – coated cigarette holder in the woman’s hands. But he feel caught in a terrible and embarrassing situation.

  Line 10 to 17 :

  “HOW DARK ?……. emphasis”

  Explanation :

   The lady vividly enquires about the exact shade of the speaker’s colour, confirming his earlier doubt about racial prejudice. She bluntly asks about the exact shade –  “HOW DARK ?” in a bold tone. She doesn’t twist her words and asks directly if the colour of his skin is dark black or light black. Her question shocks the speaker making him totally realise that he had not  “misheard” and had not mistake her initial silence. 

   The man first thinks he has misheard but then realises that it 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 to choose. Here,  “Button B” and  “Button A” conveys the categorisation on the basis of racial discrimination and absurdity.

   The man is so disgusted that he can literally smell the stench coming from her deceptive words. As it is a conversation it implies that this question of colour is not new ; it is already there and one can easily realise its dirty nature. The speaker then notices the red colour of the telephone booth, the pillar box. The repeated use of  “red” could symbolise the anger and attention encapsulating his emotional state. It also refers to the domination of white people over the black African in their own country. The reference to  “Omnibus squelching tar” also points out that he knows the possible demeaning attitude of the white people towards the black Africans.

   Realising the landlady’s blunt racism, the speaker feels a mixture of shame and disbelief. Ironically he is the one who is ashamed by the tense and awkward silence, but his silence is not out of manners rather from being “dumbfounded” and he is so choked and shouts that he can not understand what the woman wants to know. The speaker is so taken aback by her questions that he has become speechless and wants her to ask her questions in a simplified manner and clearly. He realises that the woman is now shifting her focus. It makes him think that she is a considerate woman and she is really helpful by giving him options to choose from. Here  “varying the emphasis” refers to the superficiality of the lady’s attitude and her consideration.

  Line 18 to 26 :

  “ARE YOU DARK ? …………..altogether”

   Explanation :

   The woman continues to enquire about the man. She asks her question again to know if the colour of his skin is dark black or it is light. While the speaker is fully aware of her intentions. So he tries to bring some level of stupidity to the conversation by comparing his own skin tone as plain or milk chocolate. This line shows that the speaker metaphorically compare his skin with chocolate to highlight the absurdity and dehumanising effect of reducing an individual on the basis of his or her skin tone.

     The landlady’s tone is cold and clinical, devoid of any warmth of humanity. Suddenly the speaker’s thoughts change as he decides to answer her questions and describe himself as  “West African Sepia” as it is mentioned in his passport.

    At this stage the lady remain quiet for a while, not wanting to admit to her ignorance and it seems that she thinks of all the colours of a spectrum but still could not find the colour mentioned to her. She remains silent until her real concern forces her to admit that she doesn’t understand what colour the caller is referring to. Then the speaker tries to tell her that his colour is like brunette or brown, to make it easier for her to understand.

  Line 27 to 35 :

  “THAT’S DARK ………………….See for yourself”.

  Explanation :

   The woman on the phone emphasises that the colour of the of the speaker’s skin is black. Now the man has enough of her insensitiveness. He disregards all constraints of formality and mocks her outright, saying that he isn’t all black. The speaker plays with the idea of his skin colour, saying that while his face might be dark, but the other part of his body like palms of his hands and soles of his feet are as light as  “peroxide blonde”. He ridicules the woman by adding that sitting down has turned his bottom black like  “raven” due to the friction.

   He wants to say more but he realises the woman is putting the receiver down to end the call. He struggles one last time to make her reconsider, pleading her to at least, come and see for herself the colour of his skin. 

   The ending of the poem is full of irony and sarcasm. The black, prospective tenant’s comments about his own colour and his request to the woman to come and see him are an ironical and powerful criticism of the woman’s racist and discriminatory attitude.