Telephone Conversation – Summary & Analysis

Short Summary

In Wole Soyinka's poem "Telephone Conversation", a Nigerian man calls a British landlady about renting an apartment.
The conversation takes a discriminatory turn when she asks about his skin color.
The speaker sarcastically describes his complexion in exaggerated terms, exposing the absurdity of racial prejudice while maintaining his dignity and intelligence.

Telephone Conversation: Line-by-Line 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."

The speaker begins by explaining that the rental seems like a good deal. The price is fair, and the location does not matter much to him. Additionally, the landlady assures him that she does not live on the premises, which might be a relief for those who like privacy.

With everything seeming fine, there is only one final step—the speaker feels he must reveal his race before proceeding further. He calls this a "self-confession," as if being African is something he needs to admit, almost like a wrongdoing. He warns the landlady by saying, "Madam, I hate a wasted journey—I am African." This shows that he expects rejection based on his race and wants to avoid the effort of traveling to the place only to be turned down on racial ground.

Soyinka sets up the scene in a practical and neutral way, making the reader think that this will be a straightforward rental inquiry. However, this normalcy is soon disrupted in line 5 by the mention of the speaker's racial identity. This line also sets the stage for the main conflict—how will the landlady react to this "confession"?

Lines 6-9

Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped.

The speaker experiences a long, uncomfortable silence after revealing that he is African. This silence is unnatural and feels forced, as if the landlady is trying to maintain her politeness while struggling with her racist instincts. The phrase "Silenced transmission of pressurized good-breeding" suggests that she is trying to suppress her immediate reaction, likely because social etiquette demands that she act with politeness. However, the silence itself becomes oppressive, exposing the tension between her internal prejudice and the outward courtesy expected in society.

When the landlady finally speaks, her voice is described as "Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled cigarette-holder pipped", creating an image of artificiality and refinement. She seems wealthy and elegant, symbolized by her lipstick and a luxurious gold cigarette holder. The phrase "Cigarette-holder pipped" suggests that she takes a small action, perhaps tapping the cigarette holder or taking a breath before speaking, as if composing herself to address the uncomfortable situation.

Here, the silence is not merely an absence of speech—it is an active, almost violent suppression of her immediate reaction, revealing the underlying racism beneath polite social behavior. The lipstick-coated voice suggests that her politeness is as artificial as makeup—it is applied superficially but does not change what lies beneath.

Lines 9-11

... Caught I was foully.
"HOW DARK?" . . . I had not misheard . . . "ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK?"

The speaker feels trapped and insulted by the landlady’s reaction. The phrase "Caught I was, foully" suggests that he is taken aback by her sudden and direct question about his skin color. The word "foully" implies that he feels humiliated, as though he has been tricked into an unpleasant situation.

Then, the landlady bluntly asks, "HOW DARK?", making it clear that she sees his race as a determining factor in whether he can rent the room. The speaker is shocked and wonders if he misheard her, but she immediately clarifies by asking again, "ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?" This shows that she is not just curious but is judging him based on his skin color. The fact that she demands a specific answer highlights how deeply racism is ingrained in her thinking.

By asking "Are you light or very dark?", she is implying that lighter-skinned people may be more acceptable to her than darker-skinned individuals. This reflects the colorism present in many societies, where lighter skin is often unfairly valued over darker skin. The phrasing of her question also reduces the speaker to his skin color, completely ignoring his personality, achievements, or humanity.

Lines 11-14

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!

The speaker refers to "Button B, Button A," which were part of old British telephone booths. These buttons were used for making calls—Button A allowed a person to connect the call, while Button B refunded coins if the call wasn’t completed. The mention of these buttons suggests a moment of indecision or anxiety— whether to continue the conversation or to leave the place — reflecting his discomfort after hearing the landlady’s racist question.

He then describes the foul smell in the telephone booth—"stench of rancid breath"—which symbolizes the unpleasantness of the situation. The phrase "public hide-and-speak" suggests that phone booths provide a space for private conversations, yet they also expose people to uncomfortable situations, much like the racism the speaker is experiencing.

The repetition of "red" in the description of the booth, pillar box (mailbox), and double-decker bus emphasizes the environment around him. The red color could symbolize several things: the British identity, anger, or even danger. The phrase "squelching tar" creates an image of the bus moving through the sticky, black road, possibly symbolizing how deeply racism is embedded in society.

Finally, the speaker realizes that the situation is not just a bad dream—"It was real!" He is truly experiencing this racist encounter, which reinforces his feelings of shock and frustration.

The contrast between red and black (the red of British structures vs. the blackness of tar) may symbolize the shiny outside versus the racial inside of the so-called civilized society.

Lines 14-18

... 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.

The speaker is overcome by shame and left speechless after hearing the landlady’s blunt question about his skin color. He does not know how to respond, and in that moment, he experiences an internal struggle—should he continue the conversation, or should he walk away? His silence is not just hesitation but a feeling of powerlessness, as though he is being forced to comply with something degrading.

The phrase "surrender pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification" suggests that his shock gives way to a need for clarity—he reluctantly asks for more explanation because he cannot believe what he just heard. Even though he knows the meaning of her words, he hopes that perhaps she meant something else or that asking for clarification might make the situation less painful.

The landlady, sensing his hesitation, repeats the question with slight variations— "Are you dark? Or very light?". This false politeness does not change the fact that she is still reducing him to his skin color. So, the use of the words "Considerate she was" is ironic and suggests that actually she was not and highlights her pretention to be considerate by merely altering the wording of her previous question.

At this moment, the speaker has a realization—"Revelation came." He now fully understands that she is not interested in him as a person but only in his racial identity. He sees that no matter how politely she phrases it, the discrimination remains the same.

Lines 19-23

"You mean--like plain or milk chocolate?"
Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,
I chose. "West African sepia"--and as afterthought,
"Down in my passport."

The speaker responds to the landlady's insensitive question by using humor and irony. Instead of answering directly, he compares his skin tone to different types of chocolate—"plain or milk chocolate?" he asks for clarification. This is a sarcastic way of pointing out the absurdity of reducing a person’s identity to a simple color.

The landlady’s assent (confirmation) to the speaker's question is "clinical" and "crushing in its light impersonality." This means that she responds in a cold, detached way, as if she is conducting a scientific examination rather than speaking to a human being. Her tone is emotionless (impersonal), and her response feels more like a medical diagnosis than a normal conversation.

Realizing that he must play along to continue the conversation, the speaker quickly adjusts to her way of thinking. He "rapidly, wave-length adjusted", meaning he forces himself to communicate on her level, even though it is demeaning. Instead of arguing, he answers with "West African sepia," a more technical-sounding description of his skin tone.

As an afterthought, he adds, "Down in my passport," which implies that even official documents categorize him by his skin color. This highlights the bureaucratic racism that exists beyond just personal interactions—it is also institutionalized.

Lines 23-26

... Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece. "WHAT'S THAT?" conceding
"DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS."

After the speaker responds with "West African sepia", there is a brief silence, during which the landlady seems to be thinking deeply or imagining something. The phrase "spectroscopic flight of fancy" suggests that she is trying to picture what this skin tone might look like, almost as if she were analyzing it under a microscope. The word "spectroscopic" refers to the scientific study of light and color, which humorously implies that she is treating his skin tone like a complex experiment rather than a simple fact of identity.

However, this moment of curiosity or imagination is abruptly cut short by reality. The speaker describes this shift as "truthfulness clanged her accent hard on the mouthpiece." This suggests a sudden, almost violent realization—the landlady snaps out of her daydreaming and reacts with confusion and disbelief. Her voice becomes harsh and demanding: "WHAT’S THAT? DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS."

Her reaction shows that she is not actually interested in understanding—she is simply looking for a straightforward answer that confirms her racial bias. She does not care about nuanced descriptions like "West African sepia"; she only wants to know whether he fits into her simple categories of "light" or "dark."

The word "clanged" evokes a loud, unpleasant sound, emphasizing the harshness of her tone. It shows how racism is often masked by politeness but quickly turns into hostility when challenged.

Lines 26-32

... "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 blond. Friction, caused--
Foolishly, madam--by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black--

The speaker, in an attempt to clarify his skin tone, compares himself to a brunette, a term commonly used for people with dark brown hair. The landlady immediately asks, "THAT'S DARK, ISN’T IT?", again showing her need for a clear racial categorization. She does not want complexity—just a simple label.

Instead of giving her a straightforward answer, the speaker responds with humor and irony. He explains that while his face is brunette, other parts of his body are different colors. He describes the palms of his hands and soles of his feet as "peroxide blond," which refers to the artificial lightening of hair with strong bleach. This is a joke about how certain parts of the body tend to be naturally lighter, especially for people with darker skin.

He continues his sarcastic response by saying that friction from sitting has turned his bottom "raven black." This exaggerated statement makes fun of the landlady’s obsession with skin tone, pointing out how ridiculous it is to reduce a person to just their color. The phrase "foolishly, madam" makes the joke even sharper, implying that the landlady’s question is itself foolish. Again, the word "friction" could symbolize the struggle and hardship faced by Black individuals in a racist society, where constant pressure and oppression leave lasting marks.

By breaking down his body into different shades, he exposes how ridiculous it is to fixate on skin color. The landlady is likely expecting a simple answer, but he deliberately confuses her by highlighting the natural variation in his skin. The humor in the response makes the scene powerful, showing how wit can be used as a form of resistance against discrimination.

Lines 32-35

One moment, madam!"--sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears--"Madam," I pleaded, "wouldn't you rather
See for yourself?"

The speaker realizes that the landlady is losing patience. He can hear her preparing to hang up the phone, indicated by the phrase "Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap about my ears." This imagery suggests a loud, abrupt action, as if she is slamming down the phone in frustration. The word "thunderclap" emphasizes the sudden and intense nature of her reaction—she does not want to continue the conversation any longer.

In a last attempt to keep the conversation going, the speaker pleads with sarcasm: "Madam, wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?" Instead of giving her a definitive answer about his skin color, he challenges her to meet him in person and judge for herself. This response is meant to be ironic, since the landlady has already shown her obsession with classifying his race—he knows she would never agree to such a meeting.

This final moment in the poem reinforces the absurdity of racial discrimination. The speaker’s sarcastic invitation exposes the landlady’s unwillingness to see beyond skin color. At the same time, the thunderous way she ends the conversation highlights the harsh and irrational nature of racism, where individuals are judged and dismissed without true understanding. The poem ends on this note of bitter irony, leaving the reader to reflect on the deep-rooted prejudices in society.

Word Notes: Telephone Conversation

Key Vocabulary

Indifferent: Not important or not cared about much. The speaker finds the location neither good nor bad.
Swore: Promised strongly. The landlady promises she lives off the premises.
Self-confession: Admitting something personal, like a secret. Here, it means revealing his race.
Silenced transmission: A quiet pause where words are blocked. Shows the landlady's shock.
Pressurised good-breeding: Forced politeness under pressure. The landlady tries to stay polite.
Lipstick-coated: Voice sounds fancy or fake, like covered in lipstick.
Gold-rolled cigarette-holder: A stylish tube for holding cigarettes, showing class.
Pipped: Made a sharp sound, like a bird or the holder tapping.
Foully: In a bad or unfair way. The speaker feels trapped badly.
Stench: Bad smell. Describes the nasty feeling of prejudice.
Rancid breath: Rotten, bad breath. Symbolizes hidden racism.
Hide-and-speak: Public phone booth where people hide while talking.
Squelching tar: Wet, sucking sound of tar on the road. Bus moving on hot road.
Ill-mannered silence: Rude quietness. Makes the speaker feel ashamed.
Dumbfounded: Shocked and speechless.
Beg simplification: Ask to explain in simpler words.
Varying the emphasis: Changing stress on words. Landlady repeats question differently.
Revelation: Sudden understanding.
Assent: Agreement.
Clinical: Cold and without feeling, like a doctor.
Crushing: Overwhelming or hurtful.
Impersonality: Lack of warmth or emotion.
Wave-length adjusted: Changed way of talking to match her.
Sepia: Brown color, like old photos. Describes skin tone.
Spectroscopic flight of fancy: Imaginative thinking about colors, like science analysis.
Clanged: Rang loudly or harshly.
Conceding: Admitting reluctantly.
Friction: Rubbing that causes change.
Peroxide blonde: Bleached white hair color. Used for palms and soles.
Raven black: Very black, like a raven bird.
Thunderclap: Sudden loud shock.
Rearing on the receiver: Pulling back from the phone in shock.

Publication

Wole Soyinka's "Telephone Conversation" was penned in 1962 and first published in 1963. It emerged during a period of significant literary and political activity for the Nigerian writer. At the time, Soyinka was gaining international recognition for his plays, which were being performed in Nigeria and London.

The poem was written while Soyinka was in England, and it reflects his experiences with racism and prejudice as an African man in a predominantly white society. The poem’s inclusion in various anthologies since its publication has solidified its place as a powerful and widely studied piece of postcolonial literature. Its publication in the early 1960s, a time of great social and political change, including the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the ongoing process of decolonization in Africa, underscores its relevance and its contribution to the global conversation on race and identity.

Context

"Telephone Conversation" is deeply rooted in the personal and socio-political context of its author, Wole Soyinka, and the era in which it was written. Soyinka, a Nigerian playwright, poet, and political activist, spent time in Britain during the 1950s and 60s. This period was marked by the aftermath of colonialism and the migration of people from former colonies to the UK, which often led to racial tensions and discrimination.m

The poem is a semi-autobiographical account of the subtle and overt racism that Black people, particularly Africans, faced in their daily lives, such as when seeking housing. The 1960s were a time of rising anti-racist consciousness globally, with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum. Soyinka's work, including this poem, was part of a broader movement of African writers and intellectuals who used their art to critique colonialism, racism, and social injustice. The poem’s dramatic and conversational nature also reflects Soyinka's background as a playwright.

Setting

The immediate setting of "Telephone Conversation" is a public telephone booth in England. This confined, impersonal space is significant as it physically and metaphorically traps the speaker, limiting his ability to express himself fully and forcing him into a dehumanizing exchange. The telephone booth symbolizes the speaker's isolation and the narrow, restrictive nature of the landlady's prejudice.

The broader setting is an unnamed British city in the 1960s, a society grappling with the realities of a post-colonial era and the presence of a growing immigrant population. The ordinariness of the setting—a simple phone call about renting a room—highlights the insidious and everyday nature of racism. The "rancid breath of public hide-and-speak" suggests a society where prejudice is poorly concealed beneath a veneer of civility. The speaker's observation of the "red booth," "red pillar-box," and "red double-tiered omnibus" grounds the poem in a distinctly British landscape, while also symbolizing his rising anger and the emotional violence of the encounter.

Title

The title, "Telephone Conversation," is deceptively simple and ironic. On the surface, it suggests a mundane, everyday interaction. However, the conversation that unfolds is anything but ordinary. The title highlights the central theme of communication—or the lack thereof. While a telephone is a tool for communication, in the poem, it becomes a medium for miscommunication and the perpetuation of prejudice.

The physical distance between the two speakers, connected only by a wire, emphasizes the emotional and racial chasm that separates them. The landlady cannot see the speaker, so she reduces him to a single, crude attribute: his skin color. The title also carries a satirical weight. A "conversation" implies a two-way exchange of ideas and understanding. Here, the dialogue is a one-sided interrogation, exposing the absurdity of racism and the landlady's ignorance. The speaker's witty and intelligent responses, in stark contrast to the landlady's blunt and offensive questions, turn the "conversation" into a masterful indictment of racial prejudice.

Form and Language

"Telephone Conversation" is written in free verse, meaning it does not adhere to a regular meter or rhyme scheme. This lack of formal structure gives the poem a natural, conversational feel, as if the reader is eavesdropping on a real phone call. The poem is essentially a dramatic monologue, with the speaker recounting his side of the conversation. The landlady's words are embedded within his narrative, often highlighted by capital letters to emphasize their crudeness and volume.

The language of the poem is a mix of sophisticated, intellectual vocabulary and simple, direct speech. The speaker employs wit and sarcasm as his primary weapons against the landlady's bigotry. His choice of words like "spectroscopic," "sepia," and his playful deconstruction of his own skin color showcase his intelligence and education, creating a stark contrast with the landlady's ignorant and reductive questions. The use of enjambment, where one line flows into the next without a pause, quickens the pace of the poem and mimics the flow of a real conversation. The tone shifts from initial weariness to anger, and finally to biting satire, effectively conveying the speaker's emotional journey.

Meter and Rhyme

As a free verse poem, "Telephone Conversation" deliberately avoids a consistent metrical pattern or a structured rhyme scheme. This freedom from traditional poetic constraints is crucial to the poem's effect. The absence of a regular rhythm mirrors the unpredictable and jarring nature of the conversation itself. The rhythm is dictated by the natural cadence of speech, with pauses and shifts in pace that reflect the speaker's thoughts and emotions.

The lack of rhyme contributes to the poem's realistic and serious tone. A rhyming poem might have trivialized the subject matter of racism. Instead, the unrhymed lines give the speaker's voice a sense of authenticity and gravity. The poem's structure is organic, growing out of the dialogue it portrays, rather than being forced into a preconceived poetic form. The occasional use of internal rhyme or assonance, such as in "stench of rancid breath," adds to the poem's musicality without creating a formal pattern. This allows Soyinka to maintain a conversational style while still crafting a highly literary and impactful piece of work.

Themes

Racism and Prejudice

This is the central theme of the poem. "Telephone Conversation" exposes the absurdity and cruelty of racial prejudice in a stark and unflinching manner. The landlady reduces the speaker's entire identity to his skin color, asking "HOW DARK?" as if it were the most important piece of information. The poem critiques a society where a person's worth and eligibility for something as basic as housing are judged based on their race. Soyinka masterfully uses satire to highlight the irrationality of racism, making the landlady a caricature of bigotry.

Communication and Miscommunication

The poem is a study in the breakdown of communication. The telephone, a device meant to connect people, becomes a barrier that facilitates a dehumanizing exchange. The physical distance between the speakers allows the landlady to be more blunt and offensive than she might be in person. The speaker's witty and intelligent responses are largely lost on her, as she is only capable of thinking in simplistic, racialized terms. The poem suggests that true communication is impossible when one party is blinded by prejudice.

Identity

The speaker's identity is at the heart of the conflict. The landlady attempts to impose a narrow, one-dimensional identity on him based solely on his skin color. The speaker resists this by asserting the complexity of his being. His satirical deconstruction of his body into different colors is a way of mocking the very idea that a person can be defined by a single shade. He reclaims his identity by refusing to be categorized and by using his intellect and humor to expose the foolishness of the landlady's worldview.

Symbols

The Telephone Booth

The telephone booth is a powerful symbol of confinement and isolation. The small, enclosed space reflects the speaker's feeling of being trapped in a racist society. It is a "public" space, yet the conversation is intensely and uncomfortably private. The booth physically separates the speaker from the world outside, just as the landlady's prejudice isolates him and denies him a place in her community. His inability to physically react or escape the situation emphasizes his vulnerability in the face of bigotry.

Red

The color red appears repeatedly in the speaker's description of his surroundings: the "red booth," "red pillar-box," and "red double-tiered omnibus." Red is a traditionally symbolic color of anger and danger. As the speaker is subjected to the landlady's offensive questioning, his perception of the world around him becomes tinged with red, reflecting his rising fury and the emotional violence of the encounter. It grounds the poem in a distinctly British setting while also externalizing the speaker's internal state of rage and humiliation.

The Cigarette-Holder

The "long gold-rolled cigarette-holder" is a symbol of the landlady's superficiality and her class pretensions. It suggests an attempt at sophistication and "good breeding" that is completely undermined by the crudeness of her racism. The image creates a stark contrast between her outward appearance and her inner ugliness. The cigarette holder, along with her "lipstick-coated" voice, represents a hollow and hypocritical society that hides its prejudice behind a thin veneer of civility.

Literary Devices

Irony:

The poem is saturated with irony, from the "self-confession" of being African to the speaker's "considerate" description of the landlady. The title itself is ironic, as the exchange is the opposite of a genuine conversation. The most significant irony lies in the contrast between the speaker's intelligence and articulacy and the landlady's blunt, ignorant racism. This use of irony serves to ridicule the landlady and the prejudiced society she represents.

Sarcasm:

The speaker's primary defense and weapon is sarcasm. When he asks, "You mean—like plain or milk chocolate?", he is not genuinely seeking clarification but sarcastically mimicking her simplistic and offensive logic. His elaborate description of the different colors of his body is a masterpiece of sarcasm, designed to mock her obsession with skin tone.

Metaphor:

Soyinka uses several powerful metaphors. The "stench of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak" is a metaphor for the pervasive and disgusting nature of hidden racism. The "thunderclap" of the receiver is a metaphor for the sudden and violent end of the conversation, and the shock the landlady feels when confronted with her own bigotry.

Imagery:

The poem is rich in sensory imagery. The visual imagery of the "lipstick-coated" voice and the "gold-rolled cigarette-holder" creates a vivid picture of the landlady. The repeated image of "red" creates a powerful visual and emotional effect. Auditory imagery is also crucial, from the "pipped" sound of the cigarette holder to the imagined "thunderclap" of the phone being slammed down.

Repetition:

The landlady's repeated questions ("ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?") and the speaker's repetition of "madam" emphasize the key elements of the conversation. The repetition of "silence" at the beginning of the second stanza underscores the weight of the pause after the speaker reveals his race.

Enjambment:

The running of lines into one another without punctuation is used throughout the poem to create a sense of flowing, natural speech. It carries the reader forward and mimics the pace of the telephone conversation, contributing to the poem's dramatic and immediate feel.