Topic: Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka

Paper: 14

Paper Name: The African Literature

Prepared by: Drashti Mehta

Roll No:7

PG Enrollment No:PG13101021

Sem:4

Gmail id: drashti.mehta.111993@gmail.com

Submitted to: Smt. S.B. Gardi, Department of English,

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinghji Bhavnagar University

Bhavnagar University

Bhavnagar(Gujarat-India)

• Born July 13, 1934

• Nigerian playwright, poet

• Denounce the slogan of Negritudeas a tool of autocracy

• Awarded the Nobel prize inLiterature.

Poetic Satire

against the

widely –spread

racism in the

Modern

Western Society.

The poem is about the way people– fail to communicate clearly about matters of race

First Person Narrative’s Point of view

Ridiculous question

Seems to be tired of his life conditioned by racist prejudices.

Judging by the raw emotions that this poem subtly convey…

…those of anger, rage, shame, humility and an acute sense of disgust at the apathy and inhumanity of humans who won’t judge a book by its cover but would turn down a man for the color of his skin.

Soyinka’s personal experience

Two characters

The Narrator

The speaker

Witty

Intelligent

Use of high diction and quick wit

The Land lady

Shallowly stubborn racist

Lack of intellect

Verbal irony, positive terms

Seems to be undereducated

Instead of discussing price, location, amenities, and other information significant to the apartment, she is interested to discuss more about speaker’s skin colour

Nationality as a persona

•Seeking to rent a home- in England

•Identity as a Black African

•Landlady completely changes her attitude

Colour

• Raven Black Peroxide Blond Brunette

• It seems as if his crime is….his colour

• His remorse is solutionless

• To modern western thinkers, it seems almost comical that anyone should be so submissive when he has no wrongdoing

Telephone Booth & Silence

Means for conversation

Silence powerful issues that need to be voiced, and the so called civilized world, has these…

Silence- the consequence of Land lady’s sophisticated

upbringing

•An instrument that primarily transmits voices,•A Medium for silence

A Universal Message

Prejudice-

ridiculous ideas

The superstitious

narrow-mindedness of

caste and colour

Timeless

message

Contemporary time

• In Today’s world, racism might be a dying concern; but that does not mean that discrimination against other minorities has been completely eradicated.

• Despite the progressing times, people continue to harbor prejudices and illogical suspicions about things they do not understand:

• May it be other ideals, religions or traditions and customs

Red pillar box

“Red booth”,

Anger is hidden with seemingly polite language

Repeated use of word “Red”

“ Red double-tiered/ Omnibus”

Sense of anger

huge bus squelching the black tar

Language

Limited choice of words

Imagery

Irony and Racism

Repetition

Irony and Racism

Absurdity of racism

What appears to be- what really is

• Puns, irony and sarcasm

Verbal irony

• Ironically the man is ashamed by the tense and awkward silence

Limited choice of words

Simple object of comparison

Affluent economic status, linguistically impoverished character “You mean- like plain or milk

chocolate?”

Language; imagery

1)“Voice, when it came/ Lipstick coated, long gold –rolled/ cigarette- holder pipped.”

Poet’s imagination, higher social class.

2)Witticism and Ingenious sense ofHumor

“The Price seemed reasonable,location indifferent”

• His reply,

• “West African Sepia…Down in my passport”, which was then responded with the landlady’s

• “silence for spectroscopic /Flight of fancy”,

• Double alliteration of “s” and “f” produce a special sound effect, makes the atmosphere fearfully spooky, landlady -dumbfounded.

Alliteration

Alliteration

“HOW DARK

ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK”

I had not misheard,

“You mean like plain or milk chocolate?”

This is the most apt response as dark chocolate is certainly

more tempting than plain chocolate.

Button B. Button A

automation imagery

Repetition

Confusion

“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.”

Self-confession

• “Madam,” I warned,

“I hate the wasted journey- I am African”.

How can one apologize for one’s race?

He has no reason to be sorry for something

which he was born with and has no control over

The speaker, a West African Man, uses

words like “confession” and “caught” yet he’s

done nothing wrong, he just need a place to live

Conclusion

• In closing, he asks the then empty telephone line, “Wouldn’t you rather/ See for yourself?”

• Speaker’s ignorance

• Readers know that the speaker offers to show his backside to the racist landlady.

• It sounds as though he is asking whether the landlady would like to meet him in person to judge his skin color for herself