Commentary on Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka

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Commentary on Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka Wole Soyinka recollects vividly in Ake Mrs. Huti talking about white racism. He was thus mentally prepared to cope with the racism before he left for England. The race problem which has been treated with levity in the immigrant poems is treated from the poet’s personal experience in “Telephone Conversation.” “Telephone Conversation” involves an exchange between the black speaker and a white landlady. This poem more than any other is enriched by Soyinka’s experience of drama. It appears that the speaker is so fluent in the landlady’s language that she is unable to make out that he is black and a foreigner. But he, knowing the society for its racial prejudice, deems it necessary to declare his racial identity rather than be rejected later when she discovers that he is black. When he tells her that he is African, she seems stunned and there is “Silenced transmission of/Pressurized good-breeding.” When she speaks, her voice is Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled Cigarette-holder pipped. These details are evide...

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