20 25 30 35 TELEPHONE CONVERSATION Wole Soyinka In this poems, Soyinka reports ant incident of racial prejudice swith his characteristically satirical eye. Notice examples of wit and fiumor as you read the poem. How do they contribute to the poem's effectiveness? ‘The price seemed reasonable, location Indifferent. The landiady swore she lived Off premises. Nothing remained But self-confession. “Madam.” { warned. “Thate a wasted journey—I am African.” silence. Silenced transmission of Pressuriied good breeding. Volce, when it came, Lipstick-coated, long gold-rolled Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught | was, foully “wow oaax?”... [had not misheard ..."ARe YOU LIGHT ‘on vent oats?” Button B. Button A. Stench Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tieted Omnibus squelching tar, !t was real! Shamed By ill-manaered silence, surrender Pushed dumbfoundment to beg simplification. Considerate she was, varying the emphasis— “ane YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?” Revelation came, "You mear—like plain or milk chocolate?” Her assent was clinical, ccushing in tts light Impersonality. Rapidly, wave length adjusted, Ichose, "West African sepia""—and as an 122 sepia (st pak dark reddish afterthought. hae "Down in my passport” Silence for spectroscopic” Flight of fancy, til truthfulness clanged her accent fiard on the mouthpiece “wuat's eat?” conceding, Spow'r SNOW WHAT THAT i.” “Like brunette *quar’s Oaax, isw'T 17?" “Not altogether. 15. spectroscopic: hare, celates te the study ofa color spec Facially, | am brunette. but madam. you should see ‘The rest of me, Palm of my hand, soles of my & Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused—~ Foolishly, madarn—by sitting dowa, kas turned My bottom raven black—One moment madam!" sensing Her receiver reaaing om the thunder clag About may ears—"Madem" { pleaded *wouldett you See for yourself#Reader’s Guide TELEPHONE CONVERSATION Background Although Soyinka draws on his Yoruba heritage in his writing, he Primarily concerned with Africa today and he has criticized the négri- tude movement for excessive nostalgia. “A tiger does not shout its tigritude,” he once declared. The remark—as linguistically imaginative as itis witty and well observed—is pure Soyinka Since World War Ul, millions of people from British colonies and former colonies have traveled to England. Some. like Wole Soyinka, came to receive an education; others came to stay, hoping to find better life. Yet for many of these people, fe in England was marred by racial and ethnic prejudices. Soyinka had several such experiences when he went to London in the late 1950s to work with the Royal Court Theatre and see his plays produced. “Telephone Conversation"* | records one of these experiences. The poem takes place in a London telephone booth (they are painted red), where the speaker—an edy. cated black African—is phoning about an apartment he hopes to rent. Older, coin-operated telephones had two buttons, button A and button B, that the caller had to push to switch from a speaking mode to a listening mode, Writer's Response Write a few sentences describing how you would feel and how you might react if@ landiord retused to let you rent an apartment because | of your race or ethnic background | Literary Focus Satie is a kind of writing that ridicules human weakness vice, or folly in order fo bring about social reform, Satire often tries to percuade people t0 do or believe something by showing that their present be- havior or attitude is foolish. In“ felephone Conversation,” Soyinka | never states what he wants readers to think, but his mocking portrayal Of the rude and ignorant landlady makes his message cles: 218 The Twentieth CenturyWole Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation” This isa free verse poem, While its rhymes, meters, stanza forms, and line lengths may not be regular, ‘as you might find in a sonnet, this does not mean that they are random! The meaning of the poem and the form of the poem reinforce one another from beginning to end as surely as they do in a formally structured poem. The poem can be understood at a literal level ~ as a description of an incident, a conversation between a black man and a white landlady in London ~ and at a connotative level. The questions here are intended to guide you through a consideration of both. Instructions: Answer the following questions in full sentences on looseleaf. 1 This clearly isn’t the first time the speaker has looked for an apartment in this town! What checklist / criteria has he developed to determine where he will and will not live? (1-4) ‘Why does he “confess” his race over the phone? What does the word “confess” suggest about his race? What does Soyinka achieve in the first stanza? {n stanza 2, the speaker literally “sees red”: “red booth, Red pillar box. Red double-tiered / Omnibus” (13-14). This, like “public hide-and-speak,” may also be a pun. If he is “seeing red” in a figurative sense, what has raised his ire and shame? In lines 15-16, we can infer that the speaker asks a question which isn’t included in the text of the poem, What is it? What do you imagine is his tone of voice as he asks it? What does Soyinka achieve in the second stanza? In the third stanza, the speaker has a revelation ~ he conceives an alternative to confessions, hide-and-seek, confusion, and shame. Now recovered from his “dumbfoundment” (16, he “adjusts his wavelength” (21) and gains the upper hand. How does he take control of the conversation with the landlady? How does he, at the same time, demonstrate to the reader that he surpasses she who decides if he will have a place to lay his head? In the fourth stanza, silences cease as the speaker's revelation is fully revealed, both to the landlady and the reader. What does he offer / threaten to do as she hangs up? To the reader's eyes and ears, this final stanza rings of jubilant mischief, Does it also have a serious side? Does he at once speak in jest and in earnest? ExpialLITERARY CHALLENGES! Suggest two ways of interpreting the word “Indifferent” (2). To the speaker, the woman’s silence speaks; it conveys “pressurized good breeding” (7). What do you suppose he means by this? Is there evidence later in the poem that he too is well bred and subject to social norms and pressures? Explain, Soyinka uses inverted syntax (word order) in lines 9 and 17 (among others). Quote these lines, and suggest how syntax reinforces the meaning of the moment in the poem. : ‘The poem contains various kinds of imagery. Suggest what each of the following images contributes to the poem’s meaning and effects: "Voice, when it came / Lipstick-coated, long gold-rolled / Cigarette-holder pipped” (7-9); sight imagery “Stench of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak” (11-12); smell / olfactory imagery : ‘"truthfulness clanged her accent / Hard on the mouthpiece” (24-25); sound imagery In line 9, the speaker claims to be “foully” caught. In the context of the poem, what does the landlady regard as “foul”? the speaker? What is the point of view of this poem? How does the predominant effect of the poem depend on the use of this particular point of view. Explain Find 2 clear examples of alliteration. If you sense its effect, state it; if not, speculate about its purpose from Soyinka's perspective (as the artist at work!) Find a line or two in which the poet slows you down, Quote it, and suggest why Soyinka sees fit to put on the brakes at this point. Find a line or two in which the poet lets you accelerate, Quote it, and suggest why he sees fit to put the pedal to the metal.