Summary

‘Telephone Conversation‘, as the title suggests, is a conversation over the telephone. It is

between a black man seeking a room for rent and a white landlady who had advertised such an
offer.

Over the conversation, the hypocritical nature of the landlady as a racist is brought to light.

An African man is looking for a room to rent, and he finds an advertisement in a newspaper. The
ad says that there is no problem with race – white or black. As the man had bitter experiences
with such ads earlier, he makes a telephone call to the landlady from a public telephone booth.

He tells the lady that he is a black man and asks if it is acceptable. The lady hesitates for a
while; she wants to know if he is completely black or half-black. When the man says that he is
not completely black because his palms and soles are white. The lady goes silent and hangs
the phone even though the man pleads with her to at least meet him in person to see for herself
if he is totally black.

The poem shows how racial discrimination prevails hidden in the hearts of individuals. Even
though there are laws against discrimination in the country, they become ineffective if individuals
do not change their mindset. The landlady shows double standards. Publicly, she shows that
she is not a racist, but privately, she shows her true attitude. The poem also captures the
frustration of the black man.

He is angered by the double standards of such individuals as the landlady. First, he is angry
over the lady’s questions about his exact shade of color. Then, he becomes enraged and sees
red all over. But, at the end of the telephone conversation, he is found pleading with the
landlady to consider him.

Detailed Analysis
Lines 1-5

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.”

Telephone Conversation in the first five lines brings up the issue of race. A black man who is
looking for a room for rent finds an offer at a reasonable price in the advertisements. He makes
a phone call to the landlady of the property and confesses that he is a black man. The opening
line shows that the black man is aware of the double standards.
He makes a phone call to confirm if the room is truly available for a black man. It also reveals
that the black man has had bitter experiences in the past. He must have believed the ‘no
difference’ point in the advertisements and must have approached the landowners. They should
have refused him after coming to know that he is black.

Lines 6-11

Silence. Silenced transmission of

Pressurised good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
(…)
‘HOW DARK ?’… I had not misheard… ‘ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK ?’ Button B. Button A. Stench

These lines in the poem, ‘Telephone Conversation,’ describe the reaction of the landlady when
she hears the confession. When she comes to know that the speaker is a black man, she goes
silent. She does not reveal her true dislike and disapproval for black people. The poet says that
the lady is like the so-called white people of good breeding. These people call themselves
educated and, therefore, decent.

They do not speak out against black people, but they continue to harbor racial prejudice towards
black people. The black man can stereotype the white landlady just by hearing her voice over
the telephone. He imagines that her lips must be painted red with lipstick, and she must be
smoking and using a gold-tinted cigarette lighter. The poet reveals that both white and black
people show prejudice because they tend to stereotype people.

The landlady is careful not to use the taboo word, ‘black.’ Instead, she asks an indirect question
on the degree of darkness. To the black man, it appears as if he is asked to make a choice. He
wonders if he should press ‘Button A’, or ‘Button B’ on the telephone dial pad much like he
would choose a language over an automated call. These lines in the poem expose the
hypocritical nature of white individuals in society.

Lines 12-16

Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.

(…)
Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.

These lines of the poem, ‘Telephone Conversation,‘ describe the reaction of the black man on
hearing the lady’s question. He can smell the bad breath of hypocrisy. White people hide their
racial discrimination in public, but they practice it in private. The double standard behavior
angers the black man. He sees red in his eyes.
The telephone booth, the pillars, and a bus passing by all appear red to him. But the black man
also agrees that the lady should be considered polite. She was considerate of putting the
question gently. However, the black man looks at such racial discrimination as oppressive. He
compares it with a double-decker omnibus squelching the black tar on the road.

Lines 17-24

Considerate she was, varying the emphasis—

‘ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?’ Revelation came.
(…)
“down in my passport.” Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness changed her accent

These lines of the poem, ‘Telephone Conversation,’ describe how the black man describes
himself. He says that he is a West African. In a way, he is also not ready to use the word ‘black.’

But he tells her that he is black indirectly. This expression of the black man reveals how he
hesitates to declare himself black even though he is ready to confess that he is an African. He
brings the terminology used in his passport as evidence and support. This shows that he is also
not ready to accept that he is black. Numerous bitter experiences of racial discrimination must
have made the black man vary.

Lines 25-30

Hard on the mouthpiece. ‘WHAT’S THAT?’ conceding

(…)
Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused—

These lines of the poem, ‘Telephone Conversation,’ show how the different shades of the black
man’s color are being discussed. While the black man says that he is not completely black, the
landlady willingly calls the brunette dark. The black man tries to explain that the palms of his
hands and the soles of his feet are not black. But the landlady is not ready to listen to him.

The black man comes up with a poor excuse for sitting for a long time as the reason for the
blackness of his backside. He is even ready to come up with a reason for his black ears. This
shows how the black man is desperate to get a room for rent. He is made to apologize for being
black. He is forced to endure the shame of his color.

Lines 31-35

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 ?’

The concluding lines of the poem, Telephone Conversation, describe the land lady’s action and
the man’s position. On hearing that the man is black, the lady wants to confirm it. On confirming
the man’s blackness, the lady hangs the telephone, indicating that she is not ready to do
business with a black person.

The black man confesses that he is an African, but he says that he is not completely black. He
describes how some of his body parts are not totally black. As the poem comes to an end, the
black man appears to plead for a chance. He asks the landlady to meet him in person before
coming to a decision. But the landlady refuses any further dealing with the man once she
confirms that he is black.

Central Theme
In this poem, ‘Telephone Conversation’, Wole Soyinka exposes the prevalence of racial
discrimination in society regardless of the stringent laws against it. He brings to light how it is
practiced covertly by many white people. He highlights the hypocritical nature of these people in
the poem. Through a simple telephone conversation, the poet provides an insightful observation
on how the racially discriminating society functions.

Structure and Form

Wole Soyinka’s ‘Telephone Conversation’ is a lyric poem written in free verse. The poem is a
dialogue involving a black man and a white woman. The two are indulged in a phone call
throughout the poem. The poem, to a considerable extent, follows the question and answer
pattern. That is, the white landlady fires away one question after another and the black man,
who is desperate for a place to stay, patiently answers them all. Also, a major chunk of the
poem is written in the present tense.

Literary Devices

Although ‘Telephone Conversation’ appears to be a short and simple poem, it is layered and,
therefore, complex due to the techniques used in it. The techniques used, in terms of the use of
language, make the ultimate message of the poem heard loud and clear. It does the same
without deviating from its focus, and neither does it give room to ambiguity.

On one hand, for the most part, Soyinka uses repetition to emphasize the idea of the practice of
racism by the so-called elites. The words “dark,” “light,” and “red,” which are often used in the
poem, could be cited as examples of repetition used to emphasize racism. On the other hand,
the use of words describing colors and shades serves as a reminder of the prevalence of racism
in white society, where everything light and very light represents the upper class, and everything
dark and very dark represents the lower class.